Virginia Beach is Virginia's most populous city, and its economy has two engines that rarely run on the same schedule: the resort strip and the Navy. Summer fills the oceanfront hotels, surf shops and seafood restaurants, while Naval Air Station Oceana and Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek–Fort Story keep defense contractors and service firms busy all year. Inland, Town Center offices, Hilltop retailers, Princess Anne medical practices and Pungo farms add their own rhythms. Anchorvia Financial, based in Newport News, helps Virginia Beach owners compare small business loans, credit lines, equipment financing and city grants so the funding matches the season they're in.
The oceanfront calendar
For hospitality businesses near Atlantic Avenue, the year is lopsided. Revenue climbs from Memorial Day, peaks in July and August, holds through the Neptune Festival weekend in late September, then falls off. Off-season rent, insurance, repairs and the spring hiring push all have to be paid from summer cash.
The common mistake is waiting until February, when bank statements look thin, to look for money. Funders read recent deposits, so the best time to arrange seasonal capital is late summer or early fall, while your statements still show peak months.
Businesses we hear from
- Hotels, restaurants, rentals and retail at the oceanfront and Sandbridge, buying inventory and equipment before the season.
- Defense and engineering contractors around Oceana, Little Creek and the Corporate Landing area, billing monthly against task orders.
- Home-service companies. Pool, HVAC, landscaping, pest control and short-term-rental cleaning crews, whose busy season matches tourism's.
- Healthcare and professional practices in Town Center and Lynnhaven with insurance lag or slow-paying clients.
- Agricultural and agritourism businesses in Pungo and the rural south end: strawberry picking in spring, pumpkins and corn mazes in fall.
Your options, side by side
Business line of credit: flexible money for a contractor's billing gap or a planned winter dip. Draw it, repay it, and draw again.
Equipment financing: pool service trucks, rental fleets, HVAC vans, kitchen lines and farm equipment. Because the equipment typically secures the financing, it's often easier to qualify for than unsecured credit.
Term loans and SBA-backed loans: a second location in Kempsville, a renovation before the season, or the purchase of a business from a retiring owner.
Merchant cash advance: not a loan. A funder buys part of your future card sales or deposits and collects a set share, or a fixed daily or weekly sum, until the agreed total is delivered. A busy oceanfront shop in June might use one for a quick, short need, but it's usually the most expensive tool here, and payments taken in October can strain a seasonal business. Read our merchant cash advance guide and check the total in the MCA calculator before saying yes. If you're comparing an MCA with other offers, start with factor rate vs. APR.
City resources in Virginia Beach
- Virginia Beach Small Business Grant: grants for eligible micro, women-, minority-, veteran- and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses. Applicants attend a pre-application workshop, and funding opens in cycles.
- The HIVE: the city's free small business resource center, with one-on-one counseling and help with grant and loan applications.
- Hampton Roads SBDC: free advising and loan-package preparation.
- Expand 757: a LISC Hampton Roads program for established businesses; check whether intake is open.
A city grant can cover part of a project, and private financing can carry the rest. Our guide to Hampton Roads small business loans and grants lists every regional option.
An oceanfront example
A family-run surf and paddleboard rental shop wants twenty new boards and a second trailer before Memorial Day, and it also needs to cover two months of off-season rent. A reasonable plan: equipment financing for the boards and trailer, arranged in early fall while summer deposits are fresh, plus a small revolving line for the winter months. A grant from the city's program, if the owner qualifies, could cover marketing or part of the equipment. The point is to keep daily or weekly payments from landing in the slowest weeks of the year.
Military families who own businesses
Virginia Beach has one of the largest concentrations of active-duty families, veterans and military spouses in the country, and many of them run businesses. Permanent change-of-station moves and deployments can interrupt cash flow and paperwork. Keep business statements, tax returns and licenses organized and in the business's name, so a move doesn't stall a review, and ask the city's grant program about veteran and service-disabled veteran eligibility.
Nearby
We work with owners in Norfolk and Chesapeake too. See all locations.