what to do when you need money for your business

I’m Adrian Fleming and as an entrepreneur and somebody who works with entrepreneurs, I know funding can be a challenging subject.

Money is a core factor when it comes to being an entrepreneur and so finding it, using it and making it is the focus of much of our time and expertise, as entrepreneurs - as it should be.

I’m often asked by people starting a business if I will invest.

I’m also asked from time to time to help venture capital firms and professional investors with investments they have made…

…normally for a share of the action rather than a fee, because I’m results driven and not looking to make a “quick buck” as a consultant.

But here’s my belief…

I strongly believe that only a small number of businesses should seek funding at the outset and if you do you have to be dammed sure your idea is worth investing in.

If you have plans to be the next Google, Apple then that’s going to hard work and a difficult thing to convince others of, but that doesn’t mean there’s not a solution for this..

…and I’ll share it with you in a moment.

In other entrepreneurial areas you can start up without leaving your job, if you have one, or…

…without risking your business if you are doing that already if you are smart, some people call it “bootstrapping” but I just call it…

…being entrepreneurial and realistic at the same time.

…you should never aim to take on the world without funding, but equally you can plan and get things in place for very little these days.

By the way, unless it’s in an exceptional circumstance, I don’t like it when an entrepreneur wants to take money out of the company before it’s generating revenue…

I also don’t think it’s necessary to have lots of staff or offices in a prime location either at the outset…

…because this takes away from the focus, but that’s just my opinion.

We have access to free and low cost human resources, or crowd sourcing, as it’s known now …

…from freelance staff overseas through elance.com and freelancer.com or even more localised resources too from peopleperhour.com taskrabbit.com

You can use marketing solutions and tools for nothing or close to nothing and results driven too courtesy of Google and many others.

Why print, store and manage the fulfilment of goods when people like Amazon and Disk.com will do it for you?

But what if you do need some money?

Well that’s much easier now too, getting investment has changed and changed for the better too because…

…banks and venture capital are fine but crowd funding through all sorts of platforms like Indigogo, Kickstarter or specific ones for specific markets…

…with the right idea, pitch and offer in place you can raise $1milion plus in a week. Try getting that from a bank or investor.

In today’s world you can actually find the customers and get them to give you money up front if you are smart and savvy – it’s about finding your customers first, a key entrepreneurial tactic.

So be clear on what you are doing, why you need money and what you need it for and then and only then …

…proactively pitch the idea to all the relevant audiences you can to generate money for your business.

The only reason to stop pitching is if you realise that your idea is not worth pursuing, until then keep on pitching just like Col. Saunders had to with his fried chicken idea.

And don’t be afraid or embarrassed to look for money if it’s for the right reason. And by the way…

…the right reason is for investing it to acquire assets, this is something that makes you money, not something that you spend money on…

…so for example this could be a machine that automates part of your production or stock to sell…

…paying for a nice office or to supplement your own income is not going to get investment.

Another thing to do, even if you are going to spend your own money or what I call “soft money” which is money from friends and family, is…

…make sure you pitch it to yourself, your friends and family, this way…

…you are being honest as to what you are doing, why and making sure, to the best of your ability, it’s the right thing to do.

So there you are money is available more now than ever, but make sure you are doing it for the right reasons.