Business loans for hospitality
February is your quietest month. Rent and wages don't notice.
Finance for Australian cafés, restaurants, bars, and venues that understand the difference between a busy Saturday night and actual cash flow.
Apply now
2 minutes · Soft check only · Free
Best fit: $10K+ monthly revenue · 12+ months trading · Active ABN · Loans from $10K
After you submit:a broker calls within 2 hours — often from a mobile or private number, so please pick up. They’ll send a 30-second privacy form to e-sign, then ask for your last 6 months of business bank statements. Have those ready and you could have quotes today.
Overview
Why hospitality businesses choose Avoir
Hospitality runs on the thinnest margins of any industry in Australia. Your busiest month can still end with less in the account than your quietest — because COGS ran hot, a piece of equipment died, you had to pre-purchase stock for a function, or the December rush left you with a January hangover nobody warned you about. Banks look at your annual revenue and see a viable business. They look at your net margin and pass. Avoir's network includes lenders who understand that 68% food cost weeks happen, that July is genuinely dead for most venues, and that a broken coolroom on a Thursday shouldn't end a profitable business.
The ATO doesn't defer your BAS because it was a slow winter. Your lease doesn't flex because covers were down. Your supplier wants payment in 30 days whether or not your tables were full. The mismatch between when hospitality costs fall due and when revenue actually lands is the defining financial challenge of running a venue — and it's one that conventional lending was never designed to solve. Lenders in Avoir's network assess hospitality businesses on their revenue trajectory and trading patterns, not just whether last month's P&L looks clean. A venue with strong weekend trade, a loyal customer base, and a temporarily stressed balance sheet is a fundable business. A specialist will review your situation and match you to the right option.
Energy is one of the largest operating costs for hospitality businesses. Comparing your electricity and gas plans regularly can meaningfully reduce overheads — EnergyPlans provides independent business energy comparison benchmarked against government reference prices.
Key features
Seasonal cash flow understood
Lenders in our network understand seasonal hospitality revenue and structure repayments that work with your trading patterns.
Equipment and fit-out finance
Fund new equipment, a kitchen upgrade, or a venue fit-out without tying up your working capital.
Fast approvals
Same-day decisions for most hospitality applications. Funds within 24 hours of approval.
No property required
Unsecured finance based on your daily revenue and trading history — not your personal assets.
Amounts
Typical loan amounts for hospitality
Most hospitality businesses applying for unsecured finance access somewhere between $20,000 and $200,000, depending on revenue and trading history. The practical range for a café or small restaurant is $30,000–$100,000. Larger venues, multi-site operators, and established restaurants with strong trading history can access higher amounts.
The maximum available unsecured is $500,000, but reaching that level requires revenue and trading history to match — it's not the typical entry point.
What affects how much you can borrow
Revenue consistency
A café doing $60,000 a month reliably will get a better limit and rate than one averaging $60,000 but varying between $20,000 and $100,000.
Trading history
Twelve months is the entry point for Avoir. At two-plus years, terms improve noticeably.
Existing debt
If you're already carrying loan repayments, the lender will assess whether your cash flow supports additional debt.
Lease remaining
Not a hard requirement for unsecured lending, but some lenders look at remaining lease term as a proxy for stability.
Seasonality
February is the quietest month. Rent and wages are not.
We indexed the ABS monthly turnover series for cafes, restaurants and takeaway against each year’s monthly average. December runs about 10% to 12% above average. February runs about 9% to 12% below it, and June is soft too.
| Month | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| December (peak) | 109.5 | 112.2 |
| February (trough) | 87.8 | 91.4 |
| June | 96.6 | 93.8 |
Avoir analysis of ABS Retail Trade, original series, cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services. The ABS stopped this series after June 2025.
Your fixed costs do not follow the curve. The practical answer is to arrange working capital before the quiet months, while your bank statements still show the December peak, rather than applying in March when they show the trough.
Costs
What has moved in 2026
| Cost | Change | When |
|---|---|---|
| Modern award minimum wages | +4.75%, with larger rises for the lowest classifications | First full pay period on or after 1 July 2026 |
| National minimum wage | +6% to $1,004.90 a week | From 1 July 2026 |
| Meals out and takeaway prices (CPI) | +4.1% over the year | August 2026 |
| Food and non-alcoholic drinks (CPI) | +3.0% over the year | August 2026 |
| Household electricity (CPI) | +13.2% over the year, mostly rebates ending | August 2026 |
Electricity is the household CPI measure, a guide to direction rather than business tariffs.
Menu prices are rising at about the same pace as costs, which leaves little margin to absorb a slow month. That is why lenders look hard at your wage-to-revenue ratio.
Risk
Why lenders are careful with hospitality
Accommodation and food services accounted for 14.7% of the 14,153 companies entering external administration for the first time in 2025-26, one of the highest shares of any industry.
Turnover of businesses is high. Of the 110,368 accommodation and food businesses operating in June 2022, 53.7% were still operating four years later.
None of that rules you out. It means lenders want evidence that your venue is one of the survivors: steady card takings, a lease with years left to run, and owners who have run a venue before.
Which finance fits
Match the facility to the job
| Need | Usual structure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Coffee machine, ovens, coolroom, POS | Equipment finance | The asset is the security. Assets under $20,000 may qualify for the instant asset write-off, now permanent for businesses under $10m turnover |
| Quiet-month wages and rent | Unsecured working capital | Arrange it before the trough, not during it |
| Stock, events, flexible draws | Line of credit | Interest only on what you draw |
| Repayments that follow trade | Merchant cash advance | Repaid as a share of daily card takings. Compare the total cost carefully; it is usually priced as a fixed fee, not an interest rate |
| Fit-out or refurbishment | Unsecured loan, or equipment finance for fixed items | Fit-out with no resale value is harder to secure |
Avoir connects businesses with lenders for loans from $10,000, for businesses trading 12 months or more with $10,000+ monthly revenue.
Assessment
What lenders ask a venue for
Lender and broker pages that publish criteria cover the same ground: trading history and recent bank statements, hospitality experience, the lease, and for licensed venues the liquor licence. Above roughly $150,000, expect to provide financial statements as well as bank statements.
For buying a venue, brokers publish lower limits on leasehold businesses than on freehold: around 50% of business value for leasehold against up to 80% of value where the property is included. Pub lenders publish a preference for long leases, around 17 to 18 years, and several years’ publican experience.
Card-terminal data helps. Lenders can see daily takings directly, which suits venues whose cash flow is lumpy but predictable.
Sources · checked 3 October 2026
- ABS Retail Trade, Australia, June 2025, Table 1 (cafes, restaurants and takeaway, original)
- ABS Consumer Price Index, Australia, August 2026
- Clayton Utz: Annual Wage Review 2026, compliance impacts
- ASIC Corporate Insolvency Update, Issue 41, October 2026
- ABS Counts of Australian Businesses, July 2022 to June 2026
- ATO: $20,000 instant asset write-off here to stay
- Prospa: Business loan requirements (lender-published)
- Home Loan Experts: Restaurant loans (broker-published)
- Home Loan Experts: Pub loans (broker-published)
General information only, not financial, legal or tax advice. Lender criteria change; anything marked lender- or broker-published is their statement, not Avoir's.
Eligibility
Am I eligible to apply?
Cafés, restaurants, bars, clubs, hotels, and catering businesses with 12+ months of trading history are typically eligible to apply. Seasonal revenue patterns, quiet winter months, and one difficult quarter won't automatically disqualify you. A specialist will assess your specific situation.
Meeting these criteria makes a business eligible to apply; it does not mean an application will be approved. *Subject to lender credit criteria.
Process
How it works
Apply in 2 minutes
Complete our short online form with basic details about your business and what you need. Only a soft credit check, and no documents required at this stage.
We match your profile
Your enquiry is assessed and matched to the most suitable lending partners in our network based on your business profile, loan amount, and purpose.
Receive your offer
A specialist calls within 2 hours — often from a mobile or private number, so please answer. You e-sign a quick privacy form, share your last 6 months of bank statements, and they walk you through tailored options.
Funds in your account
Once you accept an offer and provide the lender's required documentation, funds are typically transferred within 24 hours.
FAQ
Common questions
Everything you need to know about getting a business loan. Can't find the answer you're looking for? Apply and a specialist will answer your questions directly.
Apply now →Can a new café or restaurant apply?
Avoir works with businesses trading 12 months or more. If you have been operating for 12+ months with consistent revenue, you are likely eligible to apply.
Can I use a business loan to buy new kitchen equipment?
Yes. Equipment purchase is one of the most common uses for hospitality business loans in our network.
Are seasonal businesses eligible to apply?
Yes. Many lenders in our network specialise in seasonal businesses and will assess your peak-period revenue when determining loan amounts.
How much can a café or restaurant borrow unsecured?
Between $10,000 and $500,000 depending on your average monthly revenue and trading history. Most lenders set facility sizes as a proportion of monthly revenue, which varies by lender.
Ready to apply?
Don't let a slow month close a good venue.
Two minutes to apply. Soft credit check only. A specialist who understands hospitality will be in touch within two hours.
NO COLLATERAL
SOFT CHECK ONLY
2 MIN APPLICATION