Tenon Owner-to-owner lending
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For businesses

From application to answer, with a person at every step.

Come on in. Bring your numbers. Six steps, a person at every one of them, and a written answer either way. If the answer is yes, the money comes from member lenders who can see your business in full before they pledge.

Apply Lending instead? How it works for lenders

  1. Apply

    A short form on this site starts the conversation. The application itself happens in the member portal: your business, the owners, what you need, what it is for, and the documents (tax returns, financial statements, and a read-only connection to your business bank account, so cash flow is observed, not estimated).

  2. A verified profile, and an answer

    Tenon reads every document, extracts the numbers with page citations, scores the 7 components of the Tenon Score, and checks the file against the credit box. Verified facts get a badge. A file outside the box gets a written decline with the reason and what would change it. A file inside it gets a rate tier (8.5% to 12%, fixed, plus 1.5 points at funding) and a profile a lender can read in ten minutes.

  3. Members-only pledges, all or nothing

    Your profile goes into the closed deal room, visible only to onboarded member lenders. Up to 5 of them pledge toward your amount. A pledge moves no cash. If pledges reach 100% within 30 days, the loan closes. If not, every pledge releases, nothing closes, and you owe nothing. You never end up with half a loan.

  4. Closing

    Each lender gets its own note from you on the same rate, schedule and collateral, with a personal guarantee from the owners and a UCC-1 filing. The lenders sign an intercreditor agreement that treats them equally. You sign electronically, and each lender sends its full share directly to your business account.

    Tenon’s 1.5 points are due at funding, and only at funding: after you confirm the money has arrived, Tenon, LLC sends you an invoice, which you pay by ACH or wire. Tenon never debits your account, and the fee is never deducted from the loan.

  5. One fixed monthly payment per note

    Every month, by ACH, you pay each lender directly under that lender’s note. Tenon generates the schedule, sends the reminders, reconciles what happened using read-only bank data, and sends statements to everyone. No prepayment penalty. A payment more than 5 days late carries a 5% late fee, and the lenders hear about it the same day you do.

  6. Built to graduate from

    A clean record here is a documented one: every payment confirmed against bank data. The goal is a bank or SBA refinance when the business qualifies. Tenon is the bridge, not the destination.

Who it is for

Said up front.

  • A Utah business with 2+ years of operating history
  • Positive operating cash flow on real bank activity
  • Coverage of 1.25 or more on existing debt plus the new payment
  • Collateral that leaves the lenders a recoverable lien position
  • A business-purpose use: equipment, buildout, a timed receivable gap, a defined growth step
  • Owners willing to sign a personal guarantee and a UCC-1
  • Typically $25,000 to $250,000 over 6 to 36 months

Who it is not for

So you do not find out later.

Startups and businesses under 2 years old

Negative operating cash flow, however good the story

Refinancing senior debt that already has first claim on everything

Personal, household or consumer purposes of any kind

Anyone who needs money this week. Pledges take up to 30 days to fill.

Businesses outside Utah, for now

Many good businesses will be outside the box this year. That is the box working, and a decline always says why.

Bring your numbers

What you will need.

Documents

Two years of business tax returns, year-to-date financial statements, a debt schedule, and a list of major assets.

Bank access

A read-only connection to the business operating account. Tenon observes cash flow; it never initiates anything.

The owners

Identification and a credit authorization for each owner who will sign the personal guarantee, and a signed business-purpose statement.

Pricing, posted

Fair, not cheap.

A fixed rate of 8.5% to 12% by tier, plus 1.5 points at funding, and the total cost in dollars before you sign. No application fee. No prepayment penalty.

See the worked example

Two doors. One set of rules.

Come on in. Bring your numbers.

I run a business and need a loan.

Read the credit box, check the math, and send a short interest form. A person replies, and the answer comes with its reason.

Apply