- Market Directly to the Consumer
- Party Plan
- Direct Mail
- Telemarketing
- Multilevel Marketing
- Television Infomercials
- Pay-Per-Call
- Internet
- Market Through the Government
- Market Through Distribution Channels
- Market Through Foreign Trade
- Market Through Specialty Channels
- Market Through Email
- Retail Stores
- Sales Promotion
- Media Outlets
- Entrepreneur Profile
- Start-Up Costs
- Operating Costs
- 20 Financing Approaches
- Choosing a Bank
- 4 Cs of Credit
- Underwriting
- Loans
- Equity Financing
- Extending Credit
- Equipment Leasing
- Venture Capital
- Angel Investors
- Personal Guarantees
- Bookkeeping and Financial Statements
- Entrepreneur Profile
- Tax Basics
- Income Taxes
- When To Pay
- Minimizing Taxes
- Home Business
- Travel and Entertainment Expenses
- Automobile Expense and Mileage
- Retirement Plans
- Medical Expenses
- Sales and Use Taxes
- Property Taxes
- W-4 and I-9
- W-2, W-3 and Form 1096
- FICA, Social Security and Medicare
- Unemployment Taxes
- Form 1099
- Payroll
- Business Tax
- Excise Tax
- Tax Tips
- Audits
- Business Insurance Agents
- Workers’ Compensation
- Property Insurance
- General Liability
- General Medical
- COBRA
- Directors and Officers
- Employment Practices Liability
- Errors and Omissions
- Product Liability
- Operations
- Business Interruption
- Disability
- Life
- Claims
- IRS Section 125
- Home-Based Business
- Entrepreneur Profile
- Nondisclosure Agreement
- Sale of Goods Agreement
- Sale of Specialty Goods Agreement
- Terms and Conditions
- Promissory Note
- Guarantee
- Corporation Articles of Incorporation
- Corporation Bylaws
- Bank Resolution
- IRC Section 83 Election
- Independent Contractor Agreement
- Employment Agreement
- Sexual Harassment Policy
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Joe Kennedy
Author of The Small Business Owner's Manual |
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ORDER NOW: The Small Business Owner's Manual |
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Stephanie Chandler
Author of The Business Startup Checklist & Planning Guide |
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ORDER NOW: The Business Startup Checklist & Planning Guide |
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Steven D. Strauss
Author of The Small Business Bible |
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ORDER NOW: The Small Business Bible |
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Tom Severance
Author of Business Start-Up Guide |
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ORDER NOW: Business Start-Up Guide |
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Most small businesses need access to outside funding, whether to set up and begin operations, to help complete a big job, or perhaps to buy extra equipment and grow.
Because all means of acquiring capital require large amounts of time and effort that cannot readily be delegated to others, it is important to know all the options and decide on just one or two. Some options are mutually exclusive. For example, once a small business has entered into an agreement to borrow funds on a bank line of credit--which requires a first lien on all business assets--an SBA loan probably cannot be considered.
Most of these methods involve debt financing in one form or another, but gaining capital through the sale of a portion of the stock (or equity) in a small business is also described (Venture Capital and Angel Investing). Remember that debt financing allows small business owners to walk away from the relationship when the funds are paid back, but equity-related capital involves giving up a portion of the ownership and control of the company, and investors may or may not agree to sell back their interest.
Note also that your small business is, after all, a business, and is therefore not protected by the large body of laws and regulations sheltering consumers. The law considers businesses to be more sophisticated than consumers, better able to protect themselves, and able to pay for legal and attorney fees. Besides, businesses can’t vote. It is entirely possible to enter into a bad agreement at a very high price with a disreputable financing firm, and when the worst happens, there may be no way out of the deal except to take it on the chin.
Excerpted from The Small Business Owner’s Manual © 2005, The Career Press