So you have this great idea for a __(fill in the blank– product, service, etc.)__– NOW WHAT?

Do you have the guts to start a business around it?  As much as it takes guts, it also takes money.  For the sake of a reason to write, let’s assume you don’t have exactly what you need in your pocket.  You may be surprised at all of the options for getting funding to start a business.  You used to have to go to the bank and beg; but don’t bother unless you had something to use as collateral.  Then came the Small Business Administration and other like-programs designed to help people get started.  I say if it looks like a bank, sounds like a bank and smells like a bank…  You get the idea. 

So what is an entrepreneur to do?  What got them to this point of opportunity in the first place– GET CREATIVE.  This is not the time to take no for an answer or only see the cookie-cutter options.  First you want to look to yourself and put your money where your mouth is:  sell assets and/or luxuries you can live without for a while; take out a loan against your home, insurance policies, and/or 401(k) plans; and check out your options with your credit cards.  Outside of yourself, consider requesting either loans, or business-interest purchases from family, friends and/or acquaintances.  Further still, even simple research will open your eyes to the likes of:  angel investors, venture capitalists, royalty financiers, and loan guarantors.

Check out these options and more at The Capital Factor Spring Conference, April 4-6, 2008 in Denver where world-renowned speakers discuss both successful funding and effective marketing specifically directed at small business owners.  Here’s the link:  www.thecapitalfactor.com.  Wise entrepreneurs don’t re-invent the wheel; they listen to the experts that have perfected the wheel.

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