A lot of times start-up business failures are unconnected with his attitude but with a lack of funds. The role of money and the impact of the absence in business success cannot be denied or wished away. Money is the soul of business, there is just no better way to say it. Big dreams without commensurate funding lead to frustration. But with money, the potential of the dream is achieved, and lots of people get employed.
Many businesses look to banks for funding for either new ideas or pursuing an entire line of business t an interest rate often stipulated only by the bank. Unfortunately, a lot of banks especially in developing countries shy away from giving start-up loans because they believe they have not built sufficient track records that convince the bank that they will be able to recover their money when due. When they choose to risk it they ask for almost impossible conditions. including high-value collateral that many third-world start-ups can not meet. This is a major reason start-ups in developing countries can't compete with their counterparts where bank funds are easily accessible.
So what alternative ways can a startup raise capital for business? Below are 5 smart ways a start-up can raise funds without the banks:
Sale of Personal properties
Many business ideas never see the light of day because of the absence of capital. Many startup founders had to make the tough decision to sell off their material possessions to raise capital for business. It's a smart way to go if you are lucky to have something you can sell to fund your business idea. If your ideas and diligent effort are rewarded you will be able to replace them with much better ones.
Investors
There's a level of success you cannot attain without other people's money getting involved in your business. From founding to expansion an entrepreneur will encounter increasing demand for funding as his aspirations or ideas increase. One of the best ways to achieve exponential growth is by convincing money bags within or outside of your circle to invest in your business with an agreement to reward them with a certain percentage of the profit as agreed. They could become shareholders or temporary stakeholders. Whichever one suits your stage of business needs please go for it. Most start-ups struggle with the idea of letting go of a part of their business to achieve greater success especially when they consider how much of their toil had gone into it. Some find it hard to let go for no particular reason except possessiveness. Consider this question: is it not better for instance to have 10% of a four-billion dollar business than own 100% of the 10-dollar business?
Friends and Relatives
Depending on the initial size of your business idea, friends and relatives may be a smart way to raise capital for your business. People who are connected with you emotionally or through bloodline and care about you are most likely to find reasons to support your business, especially at the early stage. They have the advantage of insider info about you and most certainly would have built a measure of trust in your capabilities than other people would. This support could be in the form of a loan or cash gift depending on how committed or willing they are to seeing your dream come true. Their reward is in seeing you happy not necessarily financial profit.
Grants
There are so many nongovernmental organizations that yearly set aside millions of dollars for start-up founders. These organizations are inspired by their desire to help local or global enterprises grow. They do have their requirements for applicants who intend to benefit from their support plan though . The start-up's job is to make a painstaking effort to scale the huddle and receive significant cash support from such an organization. The advantage of grants is that the beneficiary is not going to be sharing profit with any stakeholders as far as the grant is concerned.
Cooperative Society
Some banks based on their guiding policy would rather give loans to a cooperative Society than to a non-tested startup. That is just one of the added advantages of belonging to a Cooperative society. A cooperative society is a group of people who commit to building profits based on shared goals and interests. They make contributions for the purposes of giving loans especially to their members. Being part of such a society would allow an entrepreneur to access loans via the group at very low-interest rates.
The above tips are alternative ways to source for funds the one that most suits you to unstuck your business.