Striking a Balance with Lenders

Small businesses need to be funded with enough capital so that they can fulfill all their needs. Finances should be secured for expansion of an existing business, for purchase of property, and to meet working capital needs. Entrepreneurs should also work on a sound business plan so that their business never fails.
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The Benefits of Crowdfunding

When you have a small business, it can be tough to raise the money you need to launch, expand, or promote your company. That’s one reason a lot of smart small business owners today are turning to the newest fundraising technique—crowdfunding.
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Savvy Entrepreneurs Look for More Than Funding

Every entrepreneur needs help and support along the way, from developing the initial idea, to selling off the successful business (exit strategy). The challenge is finding and using qualified affordable support organizations for each stage. Don’t waste your resources on the wrong ones.
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How to Negotiate a Personal Guarantee

Personal Guarantees are a part of doing business. You need a loan, you seek a loan, and the lender requires a guarantor to sign the loan agreement. There are no ways around this. However, there are ways to negotiate a deal so that your personal assets are not entirely at risk of being liquidated given the case that the loan is not repaid on time.

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Do Investors Back First-Time Entrepreneurs?

Investors do indeed back first-time entrepreneurs, but it’s clearly their second choice. Most investors prefer to find an entrepreneur who has a proven track record—at least one successful venture—and then bet that the success can be repeated. Their mantra is: “We back the jockey, not the horse.”
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How to Find the Right Venture Capitalist for Your Startup

As an entrepreneur, you’ve got to choose the right VC to work with, because the right marriage can help define how successful your business will be and how happy you will be running it. Here are 4 key points to consider for a happy and long-lasting marriage with a VC.
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An Overview of Traditional Financing

When you’re looking to raise funds to start or grow your small business, the usual place to start is the bank. Bank financing is a tried and true source of capital for many small businesses. Traditional financing will generally provide the most affordable, if not the easiest, access to the funding your business needs.
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5 Steps for Calculating Your Startup Costs

You can’t create a realistic business plan without knowing how much it will cost to get your business up and running. If you don’t have an idea of your startup costs, you won’t know how long you’ll have to bootstrap, how much funding you’ll need, how quickly to scale. In other words, without calculating your startup costs, you don’t really know where you’re going—or how you’re going to get there. And your company could fail before you even hit the break-even point.
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