Starting A Business Without A Business Loan – 3 Ways

You don’t really need outside money – things like business loans or venture capital – to start and grow a business.In fact, there are over half a million (500,000) new businesses started each year in this country (each and every year) and I can guarantee you that very few of them get or qualify for a business loan or some other form of outside capital.Given the poor capital markets that small businesses face these days with banks not lending to small business let alone to startups, over 90% of all new businesses have to get their companies up and running without any type of outside financial help at all.So, how do they do it?They find a way. Which is the defining characteristic of an entrepreneur – to find a way to make it happen.All businesses are limited in the amount of resources they have to run and grow their companies. Thus, in order to survive and expand, they have to get the most out of the resources (cash, capital, equipment, property, labor, etc) they do have.Therefore, those businesses that do succeed in starting up their companies without business loans do so by finding a way to make what they need happen. For example, a business that has no money or staff (limited resources) to kick off a marketing campaign but is still able to drive customers to the business by using free resources like social media, word of mouth marketing and referral programs. Or, the new bakery business that can’t afford a kitchen or kitchen equipment but grew the business by using other restaurant’s stoves and ovens after hours and providing them a percentage of revenue earned in exchange.While getting a business loan or millions in venture capital will surely make your business life easier, having those resources is not a key element for success. What is is the ability to find a way – any way – to start and grow your business regardless of what you have on hand.3 Ways To Start Your Business Without A Business LoanThe first thing to understand is that all businesses are unique and thus all have to find their own unique ways to overcome their particular obstacles. To that point, we tried to generalize these 3 simply ways to startup a new business as a means of not providing a concert road map to your individual business success but as a means to demonstrate what can be done and then let you take the ball from there and apply it to your own situation.Lastly, while the following may be instinctive to some they may also seeming impossible to others, do know that businesses have been using these methods or some variation of them to start their companies since the beginning of time.1) Don’t Use Any Money.Most of the time, new business owners will use the capital (money) they have on hand to get tasks done – either by hiring labor to do it (be it employees or professional help) or purchasing a product or service that will complete the task for them. What this means is that their money is being spent to save the business owner some time and effort.However, if you don’t have any money – then you just have to do those things yourself. And, for those business tasks you are unsure about, you just have to take the time to learn.Here is a great example. When Bill Gates first started Microsoft, he too had limited resources and spent most of his money hiring geeks (software designers, software engineers, etc). But, that left no money for legal issues or accounting. Thus, when he hired someone, he would also tell them; “you now have to go learn the legal side and handle that for us” on top of all your other duties.Did it work? Look at the company now.Other example could be a retail business wanting to set up a brick and mortar store front but not having the money to do so. Thus, the owner takes the business online first and uses many of the free resources out there (like eBay, Amazon, WordPress and even Facebook.) to do it – followed by spending a lot of their own time making it all come together.Then, when the business gets to a certain point that it can afford rent or a lease and all the other expenses related to running a traditional retail business – it can then decide if that is the direction the business still wants to pursue.Other ways to get business task done without spending money (especially if you don’t have money) are:Note: These are just a few of the major expenses that small businesses have to face.For marketing: There are so many free ways to market a business in this day and age – all mostly related to social media. If your potential customers are out on these free social networking sites – then so should you be.For labor: Most new businesses don’t need full time labor as they just can’t keep people busy enough all the time. Thus, look for ways to hire interns, college students, or even people that will work for equity in the company. Thus, you can still get done the tasks your business needs without spending a dime.Or, hire local or national free lance individuals who can get those tasks done at a fraction of the cost of hiring a full-time or even part-time employee. Thus, their minimal cost is directly related to the revenue they help bring into the business.For operations/management: Accounting, inventory management and sales tend to require very sophisticated software programs to control and manage – or do they? There are many bare bones, open source software programs out there on the market that can handle nearly any management task in your business. And, they are all free. The one draw back is that they usually offer no live support but most have forums where you can get answers to all your questions – quickly and on your time. Thus, these free programs can easily become your front and back office without a single monetary expense to you.It just takes some time in finding these free programs and learning how to get the most out of them.2) Work On Your Business Part-Time.One of the hardest parts about starting a new business is also having to cover personal expenses during the startup phase.It is estimated that it takes a new business 12 to 18 months before it hits its breakeven point – meaning that it takes more then a year before the business is earning enough in revenue to cover just the business’s ongoing expenses – let alone having enough in profits to pay the business owner.And, if you can’t access an outside business loan, this also means that the business owner might have to go that 12 months plus without a paycheck.On top of that, throw in this poor economy and that 12 to 18 months could stretch out to 2 plus years before the business hits that all important breakeven or profitability point.To combat this, many new entrepreneurs keep their day jobs and work on their businesses part-time – at night and on weekends during this startup phase.This means that the business has to be started on a smaller scale and potentially limp along until the business is able to sustain itself.However, keep in mind that this is only temporary and that end goal is to eventually transition full-time into the business when it is feasible to do so.One example of this (and there are many) is the moving company PODS. The founder of PODS keep his day job and worked just a few hours each night on his business plan and business. He did this as he was not in a financial position to quit his job as well as his desire to spend some quality time with his young family while the business began its assent.However, with some personal income, this business owner was also able to:
Take a lot of the stress of a new business off his shoulders in regards to covering his personal expenses,
Provide some money to put into the business as needed, and
Most importantly, allowed the business to focus on a long-term growth strategy as opposed to a short-term, get revenue now strategy, that would have forced the owner to make bad overall business decisions.
Thus, by having a full-time or even a part-time job in conjunction with the business, will allow new entrepreneurs time and additional resources to research and develop their products and services, market the company and properly grow the business for the long-term (which is the end goal after all).3) Use Your Own Savings.Given the poor likelihood that most businesses will get or qualify for a business loan – even for a SBA guaranteed small business loan – means that many business owners have to rely on personal resources to fund their new companies.This can be good in several ways. First, the business owner already shows the discipline needed to make the right decisions to the benefit of the business as saving money takes a lot of discipline.Second, by already having the needed funds in place, the entrepreneur can more easily focus on starting and growing the business and not worry about debt payments or resistive loan covenants.And, lastly, starting a business is about securing the financial future of the business owner – almost the same reason that people save money. Thus, using personal resources is essentially just trading one method of financial security for another. As the business grows, it will be able to offer much more to the future wherewithal of the owner then their savings ever could.Types of personal resources that can be used include:-Personal savings accounts,-Selling off personal assets like stock and bonds or other personal property that has monetary value but no longer has personal or nostalgic value.-Or, taking retirement funds and investing them in the new business.Lastly, even if you don’t have savings or personal resources now, you can always continue to work at your present job or any job while you save those funds. Again, it is just temporary until you have the necessary assets on hand to start your business and realize your true dreams.ConclusionHaving a business loan or some form of outside capital might make it easier to run your new company in the beginning – until you have to pay those funds back – but having a business loan is not really necessary to start a new company or to succeed in business.There are many ways around having to seek a business loan – a few we outlined here.Just think about the hundreds of thousands of businesses that get started every year all over the world – since the beginning of time – and how they were able to find ways to get their companies up, running and on a solid path to success – all without business loans.If they can do it, so can you – you just have to be willing to try and find ways, your own unique ways, to make it all happen.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Comments Off

Scared of Interest Rate? Go for Low Rate Business Loans

Many a times why you refuse to take a business loan is just because of its high interest rate. Most often if you own a business or especially if you are planning to have one, you might encounter financial difficulties debts. To cope up with these difficult situations, you now have an opportunity to get business loans at a quite lower rate. Lenders have now come up with low rate business loans which will offer you loan for your commercial purposes at an interest rate that is most suitable for you.Low rate business loans are offered by lenders on several situations. In case you want a business start up loan, the most important factor that determines your interest rate is the business plan and projections. You will be required to submit a detailed description and elaboration of the business projections which will include details about how positive cash flow will be achieved. Even in case you are applying for your existing business you need to present information in the profit and loss figures explaining income and expense. Based on this information the interest rate for business loans will be decided. You can apply at various lenders and then select the deal that is low interest for your circumstances.Business loans are offered in both secured and unsecured forms. Secured business loans are offered at low interest rate in the market because collateral is provided for approval. But if you do not wish to put collateral as a security, you can still get a low rate unsecured business loan. If you maintain a good credit history and that your credit score is good, lenders will certainly offer you low rate interest. But if you are having bad credit, do not be disappointed. There are lenders available who specially offer low rate business loan when you have bad credit score. Thus giving you a chance to improve and increase your credit score.Low rate interest loan can be either long term or short term depending on your financial demands. Short term loans will have a loan term up to one year. On the other hand, long term loans have loan term ranging from 1-7 years. This term can extend to 25 years in case you are applying for equipment and real estate new business loans. You can get a low rate business loan ranging from $15,000-$250,000. Some lenders may be willing to offer more as new business loans. However, you should be able to prove that you will be able to repay it.You can find out the best low rate business loan yourself by researching on the net. If you go through thorough research on the net, you will come across the fact that there is a considerable difference in interest rates among different business lenders. There is enormous amount of opportunities offered by these lenders of which low rate business loan is one of them. Because of the vast availability and competition among the lenders themselves, there has been a substantial decrease in the interest rates. It is thus advisable to research about the lenders simply on the internet to find the best business loan before you apply to any low rate business loan.Low rate business loan can help you in various circumstances. When you want to start a new trade or if want to expand your existing business, you can simply apply for low rate business loan which will provide you funds at relatively low cost and easy repayment terms.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Comments Off

Understanding Network Marketing Advertising: An Introduction

Understanding network marketing advertising is essential to grow your home-based business. Naturally, advertising your network marketing business will cost money at some stage – how else could you possibly effectively market your product without it?

Many network marketing consultants fail to even budget for advertising and consequently they miss out on the chance to earn money. Advertising really is an investment, but only if you advertise in the right places and these places should be selected sensibly and monitored continually to see if they work.

Ineffectual advertising can put you into bankruptcy!

Just like any business online and off, network marketing advertising is one of the keys to success. It can be confusing online particularly with the other millions of internet sites, blogs and advertisements all competing against you.

Set a Budget

Unless your product is completely new and unique, you’re going to have to learn where to place your advertising to get sales and recruit distributors.

If you have not already put aside a budget for advertising you should do so right away, and figure realistically how much you are able to afford on a once per month basis. Don’t go over that amount – if you notice that your advertising in a certain area is bringing results, you can always raise your budget later.

Most new network marketing specialists only have a little budget, but that should not be an issue. There are many effective places to run ads on the internet for free. You need to experiment with them, and after a set period of time, drop the ones that aren’t working for you.

Pay extra attention to where you are going to publicize your business, because advertising in the wrong place can damage your image, and accordingly lose you money.

The following are the results that you should attempt to get by looking at advertising your network marketing business:

1. It should be bringing you a flood of leads
2. It is going to be a medium for you to advertise your product or service
3. It will be a strategy for branding your company and growing brand visibility
4. It should be a route for you to effectively close sales.

Social Media

By a long way the best (and cheapest) sort of advertising is recommendation by friends. Online creating a buzz about your service or product can pay enormous dividends, but it will be up to you how you do this.

Social networking sites, particularly YouTube, are fantastic places for getting masses of eyes on your product. Although this method could be free, you should plan everything you do carefully or it can back-fire.

Twitter has certain rules. You cannot just jump on there and start screaming about your product. No one will take any notice of you.

Posting on Twitter every 5 minutes will also get you ignored and you will be branded as a nuisance. It’s better for you to build a following first.

In the real world you would not go to your best friend’s marriage and start shouting about your product in the reception. The idea is to build relationships in any social media situations.

In the beginning you may have to rely on others for referrals, which is also an extremely valuable method of getting leads both online and off-line. Make a point of forming a relationship with the individual who gives you these referrals. No one is going to hand you what’s basically a bowl of money, without getting something in exchange.

Direct Mail

Local bricks and mortar businesses often choose to send out direct mail. Though this seemed to die-out in the 21st century this can method can be effective in network marketing advertising.

What many enterprises don’t do is collect valuable info from these mail-outs and consequently they do not build a list of potential clients. The other downside using direct mail outs is they can be quite expensive.

An effective off-line strategy is to get folks to fill in a card, or leave an e-mail address when they come into your shop or business. Time should be taken to compile these e-mail addresses into a list for future marketing campaigns. The best way is to give something of value in return for their email address or other contact details, which could be a coupon or a free dessert whatever’s suitable.

It’s hard to run a useful network marketing advertising campaign if you really do not understand how it all works. There is a great quantity of psychology behind selling effectively and if you do not understand the principle of network marketing now is a good time to learn.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off