How Can I Get Money to Start My Own Business

If you look at search engine statistics--in other words, if you look at the terms that people type into the search box when using something like Google--you learn that one of the most popular "small business" related phrases that people type is "How can I get money to start my own business?"

Knowing this, you probably won't be surprised to hear that other extremely popular small business search terms include:

• Where to find money to start a business
• Raise money to start a business
• Grants for starting a small business
• Loans for starting a small business

I am going to tell you where you find the money you need to start your very own business. But I need to level with you right here. There's no free money for starting your own business. No person or government agency hands out grants or free money or loans with strict repayment clauses. Anybody who tries to tell you different, well, all I can say is hang on to your wallet.

OK. That warning made, even if you're dead broke, you can usually still get the money needed to start your own business. And if you have any financial assets at all--for example, if you have a job or the capacity to get a job--you will easily be able to accumulate the money you need to start your own business. Without a doubt.

I talk in a lot more detail about how to get the money you need to start you own business in the Start Your Very Own Business ebooks. (The subject does require a bit more room than I have space for on a single web page.) However, even with limited space, I can share several useful tips:

You don't need as much money to start a business as you think. Or at least, not if you start the right sort of business. Now, yes, of course you need a lot of money if you're thinking about doing computer aided manufacturing using million-dollar machines. Or if you're thinking about investing in expensive real estate properties. However, if you're limited in your financial resources, you can't (and should not) think about starting those kinds of businesses. Rather, you want to focus on a service business... one where the business doesn't require expensive machinery or showy accoutrements.

Note: The very first business that I started required only a $1000 personal computer. A year later, I was making a low-six-figure profit on my business. Note that this was two decades ago. To adjust for changes in prices and wages, that business would today cost about $500 to get started in... and produce annual income of roughly $200,000.

While theoretically speaking you can only get money from investors and lenders, that doesn't mean you have to get your loans from a regular bank... or get your equity capital from traditional investors. Even the most financially strapped entrepreneur can often borrow from nontraditional sources. For example, did you know there's a common way to borrow from your customers? (It's by getting an upfront retainer or deposit.) Did you know you can often borrow from a retirement account without paying penalties or interest? (I talk more about this in each of the Start a Business ebooks.) For anyone who can get or has a job, there are ways to raise the modest amount of capital required to start a service business.

One final general point about finding the money to start a business: You can often trade time for money when you're talking about raising money to start a business. For example, you can do work yourself (and save costs that way obviously). And you can walk through the steps to starting up your business more slowly (and so save money that way). These sort of bootstrapping techniques, as they're called, are well know to experienced entrepreneurs--the people who tend to start business after business. The bootstrapping techniques aren't as commonly applied to small service businesses. But the techniques can be applied... and I'll tell you how in the Starting a Business ebooks.