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Have you ever wondered why some promising businesses struggle to stay afloat despite having great ideas and dedicated founders? Often, the challenge isn’t vision or effort, but how funding is managed. Securing capital is one of the most critical steps in building a business, yet it’s also where many entrepreneurs fall into traps that weaken their financial position and stall progress.
At Maya, we understand the realities of running a business in today’s fast-changing market. That’s why we provide entrepreneurs with digital-first solutions that simplify financial management and open doors to funding and new opportunities. Still, success depends not only on resources but also on how you approach funding decisions.
To help you move forward with confidence, let’s unpack the funding missteps that can hold founders back and how to sidestep them.
1. Putting Too Much of Your Own Money on the Line
It’s natural to feel confident about your business idea and want to back it with your own savings. Many founders even turn to family and friends for support, believing that personal investment shows commitment. While this approach can work in the very early stages, relying too heavily on personal funds exposes you to unnecessary risk. If the business faces setbacks, you could end up draining your savings or straining personal relationships, leaving little room to recover.
A healthier approach is to balance personal investment with structured financing. Exploring loan options for a new venture allows you to secure needed funds while spreading risk and preserving your financial safety net. Formal funding also helps establish discipline, since lenders often require clear repayment plans and financial documentation. This process can strengthen your business practices and ensure continuity over the long term.
2. Taking Out a Loan That Doesn’t Fit Your Cash Flow or Growth Model
Securing financing is often a turning point for founders, but choosing the wrong loan can create more problems than it solves. Many entrepreneurs settle for generic or rigid loan products that don’t reflect how their businesses actually operate or generate cash flow. A mismatch like this can lead to repayment schedules that strain your resources, leaving you scrambling to cover obligations instead of focusing on building the business.
For founders, the priority should be to look for loans for businesses that align with your income cycles and growth trajectory. Flexible financing ensures borrowed funds strengthen your venture instead of disrupting it. This is especially important for companies with seasonal demand or evolving revenue streams. For example, a small events company that earns most of its profits during wedding season or a farm that sees higher sales after harvest needs funding that can flex with those cycles rather than lock them into strict repayment terms.
That’s why Maya Flexi Loan might be the better loan for your business. It provides instant access to up to PHP 2 million, and you can draw only what you need, when you need it. Whether it’s PHP 100,000 to cover upfront supplier costs this quarter or PHP 700,000 later to expand operations, you don’t have to reapply for separate loans. Approved funds are released instantly to your Maya Business Deposit account, giving you immediate liquidity to cover expenses or seize opportunities. With a credit line designed around flexibility, repayments become more manageable, and your operations stay on track.
Beyond convenience, choosing financing that fits your business sets the right foundations for stability and paves the way for sustainable growth.
3. Focusing Only on Interest Rates and Ignoring the Real Cost of Borrowing
What if the loan you thought was the cheapest actually turned out to be the most expensive? Many founders fall into this trap by judging financing solely on its interest rate. While a lower rate looks appealing at first glance, additional expenses such as hidden charges and administrative fees can quietly add up, making a loan far more burdensome than expected and eroding the financial stability you’re trying to build.
When choosing a business banking loan, the smarter approach is to evaluate the total cost of borrowing. This means looking beyond the headline rate to understand how fees, repayment terms, and service charges affect your bottom line. A loan that seems affordable on paper may actually weigh down your cash flow if obligations aren’t clear or if repayment tracking is complicated.
Maya Flexi Loan addresses this challenge with straightforward pricing and built-in transparency. Unlike many traditional loan products, this flexible financing offered by Maya Business features low fees, such as a 1% admin fee and minimal service charges, so costs are clear from the start. And because repayments are tracked in real time through the Maya Business Manager dashboard, you can plan confidently and keep financing aligned with your growth goals.
Paying close attention to the overall financial picture, not just the surface-level interest rate, helps you choose loans that support your long-term resilience instead of creating hidden pressure points.
4. Leaving Cash Flow Planning Until It’s Too Late
Imagine your business performing well during most months but suddenly hitting a slow season or facing delayed customer payments. Without a plan, these gaps can force you into reactive borrowing, often at unfavorable terms, just to stay afloat. This scramble drains focus from progress and exposes the business to unnecessary financial stress.
Many founders are guilty of this mistake: waiting until cash flow gaps appear before acting. Seasonal fluctuations, delayed receivables, and sudden expenses are realities every founder faces, yet too many underestimate their impact. By the time the shortfall hits, options are limited.
The smarter move is to treat cash flow planning as a proactive discipline. Plan ahead with forecasting and a safety cushion, then secure business banking loans that deliver liquidity when you need it most.
Maya Flexi Loan, for instance, provides usage-based limits that grow alongside your business activity, enabling more support as your operations scale. With instant disbursement and flexible drawdowns, you gain the breathing room to plan ahead instead of reacting under pressure.
When you learn to anticipate variability and secure tools that support liquidity, you avoid last-minute scrambles and keep your business positioned for lasting success.
5. Treating Financing Only as a Crisis Tool Instead of a Growth Strategy
More often than not, founders wait until emergencies strike before turning to financing. This mindset leads to underinvestment in areas that could accelerate growth, such as improving equipment or expanding inventory lines. When financing is viewed only through the lens of basic survival, these opportunities may remain out of reach even when the business is ready to take the next step.
Integrating capital planning into your long-term strategy helps you identify where funding can strengthen competitiveness and improve your capacity to scale. It also gives you time to compare lending options that fit your direction instead of rushing into decisions in haste.
Maya Flexi Loan supports this forward-looking approach by serving as a no-collateral funding source that works seamlessly with the Maya Business ecosystem. As you process wallet and card payments through Maya, your activity can help improve your loan offer over time and provide more support as your operations expand.
When financing becomes part of your growth planning, you set the stage for steady development and stronger long-term performance.
Take a Smarter, More Strategic Approach to Business Funding
Avoiding common funding mistakes gives your business a stronger financial foundation and helps you make decisions that support long-term growth. The right tools also make it easier to stay prepared, manage liquidity, and access opportunities with confidence. This is where choosing a reliable financial partner like Maya can make a meaningful difference.
Sign up for Maya Business to strengthen the way you manage and plan your funding decisions.
Setting up a Maya Business account lets you open a Maya Business Deposit account and use it as your settlement account. With an industry-leading 2.5 percent interest rate, you earn PHP 25,000 in interest per year for a PHP 1 million deposit. You can also send money to your partners and suppliers for free through InstaPay and PESONet, which helps you save more on routine transactions.
Signing up also qualifies you for a no-collateral Maya Flexi Loan offer of up to PHP 2 million in just three months, giving you an additional funding source to support your business plans. When you use Maya as your primary processor for wallet and card payments, your activity can help improve your loan offer over time.
Ready to build a smarter funding strategy? Sign up for Maya Business today and explore the advantages of our digital business banking solutions.
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Maya is powered by the country's only end-to-end digital payments company Maya Philippines, Inc. and Maya Bank, Inc. for digital banking services. Maya Philippines, Inc. and Maya Bank, Inc. are regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
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