Alternate Sources of Funding for Startups

Financing is an important part of small business management – it determines your ability to transform your idea into a tangible entity. After you have gotten your business up and running, you’ll still need to access financing to pursue growth and expansion opportunities. In some instances, short-term financing can help your business stay afloat when you run into the inevitable cash flow issue and its attendant cash crunch.

Unless you’ve got deep pockets from a previous ventures, have incredible bootstrapping skills, or access to wealthy parents or friends, you’ll most likely need a loan or alternate investment source at some point to get your business running. Unfortunately, the traditional banking system has designed their loan approval process to frustrate all but the most determined business owner. If you are tired of the unsupportive culture of traditional lenders, you might want to look into these alternative funding for your business.

Research Angel Investors

There are a lot of investors out there who have no idea where to put their money. Many of them are entrepreneurs themselves and are passionate about paying whatever luck or help they had to get where they are forward.

Do your research to find someone whose passions align with your company’s mission, and prepare a proposal that reflects why you are a great fit as a business partner for them, and a clear actionable plan for their investment. You need to be able to prove that you can turn a profit with this plan, because at the end of the day this isn’t a gift, and they will be expecting to make their money back with interest.

Crowdfunding

If your idea is unique and exciting enough, you can use crowdsourcing platforms like Indigogo and Kickstarter to incentivise your online audience to help you achieve your goals.

This is also a great way of testing out your idea in the market, if people are ready to crowdfund while you are in the beginning stages, you are more likely to actually make sales when the time comes. Just keep in mind that these pledges are expected to come with gifts and offers, so be ready to give.

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