In order to be successful at your business it is important to develop funding options and not use all your own money. After all, every successful business never only uses their own money to grow their business. It is very important to understand the business credit profile of your business with the three business credit bureaus, Dun & Bradstreet®, Corporate Experian® and Corporate Equifax®. That puts your business in a position to access more funding. The best part is you do not have to do this on your own and make mistakes. Fast Business Credit has programs to help you with the process. Here are your options and what to expect depending upon the stage of your business operations.
Stage 1: Start-Up to First Year
As a new start up business, your funding options may be limited. As a new start-up, your company does not have any business revenue yet. If your personal credit score is strong (over 700) and your revolving debt is below 50% some banks may give you a business credit card in the name of the business under the EIN number. That is important because the debt will not show up under your personal credit. This will help protect your personal credit score. This is important because your personal credit score will come into play with many types of funding options for your business which we will cover shortly.
A popular area for a start-up is the topic of crowd funding. Here is a short review and some options for your business.
Crowd funding describes a collective cooperation, attention and trust by people who network and pool their money and other resources together, usually via the internet, to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations.
There are different types of crowd funding:
- Pier to pier. In this situation you will post your project and people from the community who like your project will lend you the money unsecured. One factor affecting the amount of money youreceive is your personal credit score. This money you do have to pay back. One such site prosper.com will allow you to fund up to $25,000, lendingclub.com will allow up to $35,000. Interest rates at the lendingclub.com are lower than a traditional bank. It is also a place to receive a personal loan.
- Project site. These crowd funding options has you select your project in which you need funding. You are asking the community to donate money. You do NOT have to pay them back. You do have to provide them with a reward or something of value. This might be one of your products once they are developed. The site will take a percentage of your funding. Kickstarter.com is one that is very popular and Indiegogo.com is another one that is more flexible with the type of projects and is an international funding platform.
- Investor site. This is a site where investors (they must be accredited) will fund great ideas. You can pay a $100 fee and submit your business plan. Microventures.com is a top site in this group.
Here are some other funding options available to a start-up:






