Funding is crucial for any business, and for small businesses, it sometime becomes a matter of life and death. Past records are here to testify that many unique ideas have previously nipped in the bud rather than becoming a successful venture only because they were not funded properly. And with growing competition, the matter of survival in the tidal market has never been more magnanimous. Therefore, the issues with funding businesses should be looked into with an enhanced magnitude than they were before.
With the advancement of technology, crowdfunding has become a hot topic now, where you have to pitch your idea along with some visual aids to the world, pour in some charisma on social media, and your business will have a chance of getting fund. While there have been many success stories highlighted by the crowdfunding sources, unfortunately there have been triple that instances where the owners of the businesses could not really acquire their cherished dream. So even if you believe deep down that your business plan is a foolproof one with guaranteed success, relying on crowdfunding won’t be the wisest thing to do.
Here are, however, some alternative ways which you can follow in order to get your business funded, and these often get ignored by many.
1. The Government
The government is the most ignored source of funding your business, and various alleged myths prevent us from approaching the government to fund our dream venture. The best thing about the government is that they provide you the loan at a low interest rate, which often is as less as zero percent! They also have grants, and are always geared up to support any small businesses with funds. Pitching is important wherever you apply for a loan, and it’s not any different in this case. Just be well prepared and show how your business can create more working opportunities for people or how it can contribute more to the community, which will boost up your chances of getting funding.
State or federal funding opportunities may be limited, but you can still get capital from levels such as cities or counties.
You can also attain tax credits, which you can later resell if your company does not need it, and it can be a good source of money if you need it later on.
In order to get started, you need to contact the community and economic development section of your town. You can also find more information on the website of Small Businesses Administration.
2. Private Foundations
There are several private foundations out there which provide loans or grants for startups. They are usually social cause based funding, and are done for non-profit purposes. Also, a lot of them specifically target minority group of women, but anyone can apply for a loan from them as well.
3. Small Business Development Centers
Small business development centers are often linked with local colleges and universities, but you can find them at almost all communities. They are really good if you are looking for a grant that would otherwise be very difficult to find. They also provide free counseling with their grant, which can be of beneficial to your startup.
4. Chambers of Commerce
The Chamber of Commerce is another great way to get your business funded, but for be eligible, you have to be an active member of the chamber and attend all their events. If you do so, your business will be given more importance than others when it is time for them to decide on the finding.
5. Business Funding Competitions
Every year, hundreds of business competitions are held around the country in order to aid small businesses and startups. You could participate in them, and earn as much as $25,000 in cash.
So, what are you waiting for? Instead of risking the possibilities of your startup with crowdfunding, go ahead and give one of these a try! You can always thank us later!
Source: Techcrunch
Image Credit: Norfolk Chamber of Commerce
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