How To Raise Funds For Your Small Business
Regardless of the industry you are in, money is an important raw material for survival and growth.
From bootstrapping to angel investors, take a closer look at the powerful ways you can fund your business idea.
Bootstrapping
If your business is lacking investment potential, bootstrapping may be the best plan of action. Though, there are challenges involved with using bootstrapping to fund your startup, big benefits remain.
The biggest benefit is you don’t have to include investors in profits. Sure, profits may be a little ways down the road, but they are all yours to enjoy. Using bootstrapping to fund your startup also allows you to become a very creative CEO.
Family and Friends
After launching your website, you’ll find your first customers to be family and friends. It’s certainly fantastic to have support, but why not get family and friends in on the ground floor?
A survey by Fundable, a crowdfunding platform, found that, “friends and family invest the most money in startups in aggregate.”
Private Lenders
Tapping into private lenders to fund your startup is a superb strategy. There is certainly nothing better than having a private investor wanting to give you enough money to make your vision a reality.
And contrary to what many think, there are plenty of private lenders out there in the world ready to fund great ideas. However, not all private lenders are the right choice. It is vital to the growth of your business that you don’t jump on any private lender offer.
Venture Capitalists
A common source for funding is via venture capitalists. Venture capitalists will certainly have the means to fulfill your funding goals. This is simply because they have more investable equity.
However, venture capitalists generally don’t share your startup passion. It is simply about profit.
Crowdfunding
You may have a powerful startup idea and strategy, but without the funding to make it happen, it simply remains an idea. Crowdfunding is an excellent way to meet your funding goals and raise vital brand awareness.
Angel Investors
Taking advantage of angel investors to fund your idea is certainly a powerful strategy. If you can craft a solid business plan, you will certainly get the funding you need.
You will also have access to business savvy influencers who surely want to see a return on their investment.
See Also: How To Start Your Business With Little Or No Funds
Good piece, however, entrepreneurs also need to know that there are certain funding options suited for each stage of the business. For instance, while Angels go for early or idea-stage entrepreneurs, VCs won’t be interested in funding just an idea. Most of those Venture firms go for businesses that are already in motion. Anyway, at least entrepreneurs in Nigeria now have another option provided by Latii Brayllot’s Slourish (https://www.slourish.com) which is even easier.