Business Plans Kit For Dummies®, 3rd Edition

Chapter 17. Ten Ways to Fund Your Business Plan

In This Chapter

• Finding the cash you need

• Weighing the price of various forms of support

A great idea sparks most business start-ups, but money is the fuel that keeps those start-ups running. Even if you're launching a one-person freelance business, chances are you need cash to get off the ground. If you're starting a bigger company, and especially if you're founding a high-tech or manufacturing enterprise, chances are good that you need lots of cash. This chapter shares ten places you can to turn to when searching for money to fund your company.

Your Own Pocket

Using your own funding for your start-up has its advantages and disadvantages. If you get your business up and running by using only your savings, you maintain 100 percent ownership and 100 percent control. But you also take on all the risk: If the company goes under, your money goes with it. If you link arms with investors, you still tap your own pocketbook, but you share the risk — and the rewards — with others. If you seek loans, banks require you to pledge personal assets as collateral to secure the debt. And if you go the venture capital route, most investors insist that you ante up some of your own cash, largely as proof of your commitment, before they'll add their own.

Friends and Family

Turning to friends or family members is a time-honored tradition when starting a small business. Some people borrow money in return for a simple IOU to be paid back in full when the company ...