Beg, Borrow And Steal: Getting Cash For Your Business

17/04/2012

By Jon Smith, Author Of Smarter Business Start-Ups

Investment capital will make or break your business. Get your hands on as much of it as you possibly can, even if it means telling a few white lies.

When you have a great idea for a business, it is often quite difficult to understand why everyone is very happy to talk to you about it until you mention that it needs some funding. Suddenly there is an awkward silence and people make their excuses and leave.

The best possible scenario is that you are launching the business with your own capital that you have just...

...lying around in a deposit account, but the chances of this are very slim. You may have to sell assets to raise cash, or you may have to borrow or seek outside investors.

It is important to exhaust your own means of raising cash before asking for any more from anyone else. Every penny counts because the more you borrow from others the more you will have to pay back, and the more control over your business you will lose. If you can reduce that amount by even a small sum, it will help.

Do not sell yourself short and pretend that if you sell the car to raise money, you can always buy another one once the company gets started. This won’t happen and you will be without a car for a long, long time. Only sell assets that you can really do without. Look to raise money by selling off unused items you own, such as old CDs, DVDs or furniture. Many of us own a lot of extra stuff that we do not use that is sitting in boxes in our own or, even worse, other people’s houses. Make these items work for you and sell them.

There... continued on page two >

 

 

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