Funding Your Dream: Ways to Finance Your Labor of Love

by Brian on April 22, 2011

Having a great idea for a business is the first and hardest step to realizing the dream, but if you don’t have the financial backing to get your business off the ground, it will remain a dream. Finding the funding to get started can be difficult but not an impossibility. Knowing the right steps and the mistakes to avoid can put you ahead of the curve.

Here are a few basic tips, if you know what you want to sell but don’t really know how you’re going to do it.

Regardless if planning to have your business is online, a brick-and-mortar location, or a mix of both, the principals are the same; you will need initial start-up funds…

If you have a portion of start-up in your personal savings, this will be your first resource. This is an option that people in their early 20’s or 30’s can take given that you’ll have plenty of time to recoup the amount invested. But this is inadvisable if you are an older adult close to retirement, since this could postpone future retirement plans.

The choice using between business loans and investments or savings to start your business is a personal decision that will be based on many outside factors.

If you don’t feel that your savings are adequate to fund the initial start-up of your business, you should consider selling some of your assets.

You can do this with stocks and other investments, or you can sell off some of your more liquid assets, such as jewelry or other keepsakes. This is a good way to get a little extra influx of cash to help out in the early days. However, discuss your options with a broker before selling any mutual funds.

Consider a small bank loan in addition to your own funds. There are competitive rates for small business loans, and it’s a bonus for rates, if you have a clean credit history. Visit your local bank and see what kinds of terms and interest rates they currently offer on their business loans, and also compare rates online of other banks.

Some banks also allow you to borrow against the mortgage of your house, which will give you funds based upon the equity that you’ve accrued over the years of mortgage payments. This is a risky investments, and isn’t advisable unless you are sure of repayment. An unsuccessful venture could cost your home.

If you have the luxury of time and you’re building up sources of funding, consider investing into the stock market to build up your assets. You can research long and short-term investing that can build up your finances fast. Seek some professional advice from websites, such as TimothySykes.com, that can give you a leg up on shorter term investments like penny stocks to turn a quick profit. However, penny stocks are a speculative investments, and potential investors should not use funds until they have researched the nature of these stocks.

There are a million other ways to build up your finances, such as adding a partner to the venture, doing freelance work, borrowing from lenders, and applying for grants. If you have a good idea and a dedicated focus, you’ll find the money. Consider all of your options, and don’t think you have to settle on just one of these approaches. You take several different avenues to fund your dream and make your labor of love a reality.

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