Funding Your Business

Having a fantastic business idea without funds is as good as not having a business idea.
Funding is one of the challenges an entrepreneur grapple with all the time; especially in an economic recession such as this when banks are no longer willing to lend out money.
After you would have determined how much cash you are going to need to fund your business, you need to know what your funding options are.

Your Savings

How much of your own money do you have to start up your business? Using your own money is the safest and cheapest way to fund a business. At least if anything goes wrong you have only lost your cash and won’t be entangled in debts.

Borrowing from Family & Friends

This is another way of securing funds. You would have to convince friends and family of the viability of your business and this can be their way of supporting your idea.
At this point, you may have to point it out to them that you are being offered a loan and not an investment as they might want to become part of the business.

Bank Loans & Advances

This is getting loans from the commercial banks. This will require providing collateral.  Getting a loan from commercial banks depends on some requirements. – Length of time in business, collateral, credit history amount required.

Angel Investors Although this is not popular in this part of the world, it is would be good to mention it. Angel investors are wealthy investors who seek high growth companies to invest in.  They help businesses get off the ground.

It is advisable that you plan on having enough working capital to cover your initial operating cost/expenses for at least one year so your business can take off effectively.