Show Me the Money

How do emerging and expanding business owners find the funding they need to start and expand?  It’s not easy and it takes time to prepare the “requests”, shop them to traditional sources and wait for approvals. For most people, it means using personal savings or credit cards. Others develop a simple promissory agreement and borrow funds from family and friends. As a new business or an emerging business without adequate capital, personal assets or a longer-term track record, it can be quite difficult to qualify for a traditional business loan.

In the SF Bay Area, there are a few non-profit organizations that can help small businesses and microenterprises. Working Solutions provides micro loans for small businesses from $5,000 to $50,000 and provides 5 years of post-loan support and advice. Opportunity Fund is a non-profit social enterprise that provides micro-loans for small businesses. They have a strong focus on supporting minority-owned small businesses. MEDA (Mission Economic Development Agency) is focused on the Mission and Excelsior Districts of San Francisco and works hard to make small loans more accessible to local businesses. The Mission Asset Fund is a non-profit based in SF that uses a Lending Circle Model to facilitate loans to members at little or no cost.

The City of San Francisco has also recently launched the Emerging Business Loan Fund. Eligible entrepreneurs can borrow up to $1,000,000 for a variety of needs, including equipment, working capital, physical improvements, real estate and expansion opportunities.

It is becoming more and more common for small businesses to use online tools to find and secure capital from their friends and the wider community. Kickstarter, the most well known, is a platform for funding creative projects, Indiegogo can be used to raise money for all types of campaigns, and there are a whole host of other crowdfunding platforms out there that entrepreneurs can use when looking for funds. For more information on the organizations and companies listed here (and many more), check out the Resources page of my website.

And don’t forget… for any business seeking capital, a business plan will be critical!  Paul Terry & Associates can help review funder proposals and business model assumptions, and can also help you develop an action plan—an essential step in securing the funding you’ll need.