Startup Funding

8 Smart Ways To Fund Your Business Startup

Obtaining sufficient funding to start and grow your business is a critical component of startup success. There are alternatives to finding small business support to skyrocket your business with your own money or elsewhere. However, entrepreneurs must realise that raising startup money is seldomly a simple task, and usually takes longer than expected. This article discusses some of the most important options for obtaining startup funding for your business.

• Loans for small businesses

Many banks specialise in lending to small firms, but banks have generally been wary of lending to small enterprises. Meeting the requirements can be difficult. On the other hand, alternative loan businesses are better suited to assist you in getting your business off the ground. What’s the drawback? Some of the alternative loan firms are predatory in nature. Before you sign on the dotted line, make sure you know who you’re borrowing from.

• Family and friends  

A personal loan from family and friends to start a business is a common practice. While convincing investors or banks of the quality of your idea may be more difficult, your family and friends are more likely to believe in you. They might be more likely to contribute to the financial support of your business. If you do seek loans from friends and family, it’s a good idea to acquire sound legal advice for each of you, especially if the money is being taken as a loan. What’s the catch? Borrowing money is a surefire way to alienate friends and strain family ties. So, be sure to pay debts on time.

• Starting a business on a shoestring budget

Bootstrapping or self-funding is a smart way to earn money for a startup. First-time entrepreneurs have difficulty collecting funding if they don’t have a plan for success. By bootstrapping, you ensure that you stay within your budgetary means. Therefore, before you launch your business, it is vital to create a financial plan to ensure you can carry out various operational duties in your business first stages. This is advantageous as it removes the stress of being indebted or borrowing more money than you can afford to pay back. Bootstrapping also entails maximising the use of available resources, both financial and non-financial.

• Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding is a relatively new means of generating money for a business. It is similar to the concept of accepting numerous loans, pre-orders, contributions, or investments all at the same time. Using a crowdfunding portal, an entrepreneur will give a general outline of his business. Information such as the company’s objectives, profit plans, how much financing he needs and why, and so on would be made known. Interested persons can donate money to support the idea. It’s as easy as that! But what makes crowdfunding an excellent option to fund your startup company?

The best part about crowdfunding is that it may also stimulate interest, which helps with product marketing and financing. It’s also helpful if you’re unsure whether the product you’re working on will be in demand. By putting funding in the hands of ordinary people, this technique can eliminate professional investors and brokers. If a company has a very effective campaign, it may potentially attract venture capital investment later on. Keep in mind that crowdfunding is a competitive area to get cash, so unless your firm can attract regular consumers with only a description and a few photographs on the internet, you might not find crowdfunding to be a good fit for you in the end.

• Get angel investment for your startup

Angel investors are individuals who have extra funds and a strong desire to invest in new businesses. They also work in groups of networks to screen proposals collectively before investing. In addition to funding, they can provide mentoring or advice. 

Angel investors have backed several well-known companies, including Google, Yahoo, and Alibaba. This form of investment is most frequent in the early stages of a company’s development, with investors anticipating up to 30% equity. They would rather take more risks in their investments in exchange for higher returns. As a source of cash, angel investing has its own set of disadvantages. Compared to venture capitalists, angel investors make smaller investments, which is covered in the next point.

• Make use of incubators and accelerators

Early-stage businesses can benefit from incubator and accelerator programs. These efforts, which can be seen in almost every major city, assist hundreds of new firms every year. Although the two terms are often used interchangeably, there are a few fundamental differences between them. Incubators act as a parent to their businesses, providing them with shelter, resources, training, and a network. Business Incubators and accelerators are similar. However, an incubator helps a business walk, whereas an accelerator helps a business run/take a great jump.

Such programs usually run for 4 to 8 months and need the business owner’s time and dedication. Using this platform, you will connect with mentors, investors, and other startup founders.

• Venture capital

Startups typically turn to venture capital (VC) firms for investment. These companies can help with money, strategy, introductions to possible clients, partners, and workers, and much more. It’s challenging to get venture capital money. Typically, venture investors prefer to invest in firms that are chasing large markets with great growth potential and have already demonstrated some traction, such as a functional product prototype, early consumer uptake, and so on. Check to discover if a venture capitalist’s interests align with your company’s stage of development before approaching one.

The second important factor to remember is that VCs are constantly bombarded with investment ideas, many of which come in the form of unsolicited emails. Almost every one of those unsolicited emails is deleted. A warm introduction from one of the VC’s trusted colleagues, or another professional acquaintance of the VC, such as a lawyer or fellow entrepreneur, is the greatest method to grab their attention. A business must have a great “elevator pitch” and investor pitch deck to pique a VC’s interest.

Several credit card companies specialise in small businesses, and many offer unique bonuses such as cashback rewards, airline miles points, and other perks. 

Some issuers demand that the card be linked to the owner’s personal credit score and history, as well as a personal guarantee. Of course, any defaults or late payments on the business credit card will have an impact on your personal credit score. Interest rates on credit card balances that are not paid can be fairly high, ranging from 5% to 19.9%. 

Some issuers charge a low or no interest introductory rate for a few months. You can apply for a small company credit card at your bank or online. Capital One, Wells Fargo, Chase, Bank of America, and American Express are some of the most well-known traditional small business lenders. There has also been a new wave of credit card issuers that focus on the small business market and do not require personal guarantees, meaning that using the card will not affect your personal credit score. Brex, for example, provides a compact business card for early-stage technology startups with outside finance. These cards often have higher credit limits than traditional credit cards and offer valuable rewards.

Starting up a business is a great idea! However, the issue of funding can quickly make you put aside your dreams of being an entrepreneur. You can try either of these ways to finance your ideas and get it up and running.