If you're reading this, chances are you have a great business idea bubbling in your brain. The only thing standing between you and your entrepreneurial dreams is cold, hard cash. While it may seem daunting to come up with the funds to get your business off the ground, there are a number of ways to do it. In this blog post, we'll explore five of them.
We'll cover bootstrapping, crowdfunding, grants, credit cards, and loans.
Starting your own business is a huge undertaking, and one of the most important aspects of doing so is making sure you have the finances in order. There are a few different ways you can go about funding your new business, and they are: grants, crowdfunding, personal savings, credit cards, and loans. Whichever route you decide to go down, make sure you do your research and put together a solid plan.
Bootstrapping
Bootstrapping is the use of personal savings, existing credit lines and contributions from family + friends to fund your new business. Do not be shy about asking your family + friends for support - many are waiting to know how they can be of aid for targeted efforts that you outline for them.
Pros: maintain complete ownership, flexibility on interest rate for family / friend contributions
Cons: limited capacity
Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding involves accepting donations, loans or pre-orders from people around the world via a crowdfunding platform. Our recommendation is using iFundWomen. They have a great community called iFundWomen of Color that we recommend to Black female entrepreneurs in our network as well!
Pros: maintain complete ownership, builds brand awareness, potential flexibility on repayment
Cons: takes a great deal of preparation for campaign success
Grants
A grant is money awarded to your business by a government, philanthropy or company. The Bank of America's Women's Capital Directory has an extremely organized and well curated list of grant opportunities.
Pros: no requirement to repay, maintain complete ownership
Cons: time consuming to research, follow-up requirements
Business Credit Cards
Business credit cards are intended for use by a business rather than an individual's personal use. They can come with benefits, such as cash back and low introductory rates.
Pros: you can apply with or without an EIN, easier to apply for than business loans (immediate decision is common)
Cons: higher interest rates than loans, minimum requirements, must repay cash
Business Loans
The most common business loans are working capital loans, which provides cash for general operations, inventory, etc. BLAZE GROUP has partnered with Kiva.org to bridge members of our network to 0% interest loans up to $15,000 with no fees. There is no catch. We even provide you with a personal endorsement as a Kiva Trustee. Visit blazegroup.io/capital to learn more.
Pros: maintain complete ownership
Cons: stringent qualification requirements, must repay cash, pressure to turn a profit
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