Forget the bank loan for your small business
Thursday, January 26, 2017, 6:00 PM | Leave Comment
It’s the quintessential problem for all budding entrepreneurs, they’re exploding with ideas, but they lack the capital.
Bank loans are difficult to obtain, even if your business has kicked off. So what other alternatives are there?
A fair few, but it’s crucial that SME’s make sure that they make the right choice of funding to satisfy their business need – a long-term loan option for instance probably isn’t the wisest choice, if all you need is a short-term cash flow solution.
-
Online lending
Online lending is at the top of this list because it’s really emerged over the past few years as the flagship choice of funding to traditional business loans, mainly due to that fact that it only takes an hour (if that) to complete an application, with the approval usually be issued within days.
In 2017, online lending is tipped to provide capital for up to 70% of small businesses.
-
Angel investors
If successful, with angel investment, you will have a great chance of securing an investor with bags of experience in devising strategies for upcoming businesses.
Some of the biggest companies in the world – we’re talking Google, Costco… Began their reign from clinching angel investment.
The catch is that the investor will most likely approximately ask for a twenty or twenty-five percent return on their investment.
-
Crowdfunding
Year on year, crowdfunding is becoming more seriously considered as an alternative form of investment that doesn’t just provide capital, but also provides a tremendous opportunity to refine your brand identity, gain more exposure and grow your customer base.
The likes of Kickstarter and Indiegogo can inject the necessary financial boost to your small business, by acquiring funding from a whole host of investors online, instead of just a single benefactor.
We’d recommend that you’re vigilant when choosing the crowdfunding site that’s right for you, given that some sites require more information about your business than you’d care to disclose, or have payment-processing fees that isn’t worth the amount of money that you’re actually asking for.
-
Cheap Marketing Tools
There is no doubt that marketing is one of the best ways to gain more income for your business.
It is the key to acquiring new customers, who are sure to be the top channel to gain more revenue for your business.
Therefore, you should look at marketing tools such as wristbands or flyers as a way to acquire more customers but still keep costs down.
