Hazelford Funding, a small-business funding service in Lebanon, Tennessee, helps restaurants, cafes, coffee bars and food counters in Wilson County, TN request equipment financing for kitchen lines and coolers, working capital for food and payroll, and term loans for remodels or second locations. Merchant cash advances are available too and are not loans. Partners review card and bank statements and decide.
| Limited-service restaurant employers, Wilson County, TN | 135 payroll sites in the 2023 CBP release |
|---|---|
| Sit-down restaurants with payroll | 80, CBP 2023 |
| Snack and coffee bar employers | 41, CBP 2023 |
How money moves through a Lebanon, TN restaurant
Restaurants are unusual among small businesses because revenue arrives every day, mostly by card. That makes the cash cycle easy for a partner to read. The pressure points are elsewhere: food and beverage suppliers expect payment on short terms, payroll is a major cost, and equipment failures are sudden and expensive. A broken fryer or a dead compressor costs a night's covers before it costs a repair bill.
Restaurant working capital covers the food order and payroll in a slow week. Equipment financing covers the line. A term loan covers the remodel. Matching each cost to the right shape keeps the payments in step with sales.
Counting Wilson County, TN kitchens: the 2023 Census
| Type (NAICS 2017) | Employers | Employees | How many run with under five people |
|---|---|---|---|
| Counter-service restaurants, NAICS 722513 | 135 | 2,942 | 19.3% |
| Sit-down restaurants, NAICS 722511 | 80 | 2,096 | 20.0% |
| Espresso, smoothie and snack counters (722515) | 41 | 467 | 31.7% |
| Bars and taverns, NAICS 7224 | 5 | 38 | not published |
Restaurants are larger employers than most small businesses: only about one in five limited-service or full-service restaurants had fewer than five employees in 2023, against 52.3% for all employers in the county (County Business Patterns 2023). In ZIP 37087, the main Lebanon, TN ZIP, there were 53 limited-service and 28 full-service restaurant employers (ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023).
Food businesses without payroll are far fewer here than in other trades: 36 limited-service and 31 full-service nonemployers in 2024 (Nonemployer Statistics 2024, a separate program).
Commercial kitchen and restaurant equipment financing
Ranges, fryers, hoods, walk-in coolers, ice machines, dish machines and POS hardware are standard requests. Partners want the quote and, for used gear, the age and condition. Buying used restaurant equipment can save money but carries risk: compressors, gas valves and hood systems should be inspected, and a partner may shorten the term to match the item's remaining life.
Coffee shop equipment financing
Espresso machines, grinders, brewers and refrigerated cases are a smaller ticket than a full kitchen but just as essential. The county had 41 snack and coffee bar employers in 2023. The equipment financing page explains leasing and buyout options.
Remodels and second locations
A dining-room refresh, a patio build-out or a second location is a defined project with a defined cost, which makes it a term loan request. Partners will look harder at the first location's deposits than at projections for the second. Check zoning and permits before signing a lease; the city's process is covered in the Lebanon, TN zoning and permit checklist.
Kitchen costs and the funding shape for each
| Need | Funding shape |
|---|---|
| Food order and payroll in a slow week | Working capital |
| Range, hood, walk-in or espresso machine | Equipment financing |
| Recurring slow stretches | Line of credit |
| Heavy card sales and a near-term need | Merchant cash advance, a receivables purchase |
| A remodel, or a second spot | Term loan |
A business line of credit for a restaurant fits owners who see the same slow weeks each year. An advance is collected from card receipts and is a purchase of future sales, not a loan.
Kitchen headcount and payroll, by our arithmetic
County Business Patterns 2023 gives Wilson County, TN limited-service restaurants about 21.8 employees per location and full-service restaurants about 26.2. Payroll per employee works out near $20,072 for limited-service and $25,644 for full-service, figures that blend part-time and full-time workers (our division of the published totals). For a kitchen with twenty-plus people, a missed delivery or a dead cooler costs a shift of labor as well as the food.
Used kitchen equipment: an inspection list before you ask
- Compressor age and refrigerant type on coolers and freezers.
- Gas valve and pilot condition on ranges and fryers.
- Hood and fire-suppression tags, and whether the system must be recertified after a move.
- Seller's proof of ownership and any existing lien.
- Delivery, rigging and hookup costs, which belong on the quote.
A partner reading a used-equipment request wants the same facts. Bring them with the quote, and the equipment financing request reads as a planned purchase rather than an emergency.
How to get funding for a restaurant in Lebanon, TN: the partner's checklist
- Three to six months of card processing and bank statements.
- Time in business at the current location and the lease terms.
- Quotes for equipment or remodel work.
- Existing advances or loans, which partners will ask about.
Illustration only: a cafe with $42,000 of monthly card sales wants a $16,000 espresso and refrigeration package. On a loan, the payment is fixed; on an advance, a share of each day's card sales would be collected instead. Writing both out side by side, as total cost and as daily or monthly cash out, shows which fits the cafe's slow months. These numbers are an example, not an offer.
County figures for all sectors are on the Lebanon, TN page; other food and drink businesses are on the industries page.
