1. The Basics – make sure you have a good business idea that you research in the market place and have a chance for success. Even if you will finance it yourself, don’t take this step lightly. Learn how to write business plans and there are lots of free small business courses online to help with this process.

2. Credit Reputation – In this current economy, no one is giving out loans or investment so easily, so you need to make sure you have good credit score for you and your business if you already have one. With good credit, you could speak with your local bank for help to get started.

3. Government back loans – The first layer of external financing you could use if your business need less than about $250K in funding are government type loans. In the US, the SBA is the agency responsible for these programs. They would review your business plan then provide a letter of guarantee for a regular bank to issue the loan. Its basically, a form of collateral.

4. Private Equity – This is probably the best option nowadays but the business idea will become the center piece. You will need to have a business plan in place to present to angel investors or venture capital companies. In the US, the SEC Regulation D funding rules maybe your best start as it has a mechanism to present your idea to accredited investors.

5. Partnerships – This is probably option #1 in practical terms. You can either get partners that will contribute skills, financing or combination of both.  This approach will be dependent on who you like to work with and the legal framework you put in place for ownership.

Summary:

There are always some means to finance your business idea but you have to be persistent and work the process until you succeed. I am sure there are venture capital firms today that missed out on investing in companies like Google, so you have to ignore failures and press on.

This is an important point in the global economy to consider business as a means to succeed as the whole model of employment is changing especially in the developed world. But there are opportunities for new industries and ideas to pursue.

The challenge I am still seeing is the issue of honesty with those who claim they can provide services. While I have managed to eliminate some of the obvious ones that will rip-off, there are those who instead of coming clean, tries to use these white lies to drag things out. The reason for this is that maybe their sources are not working out but instead of admitting that upfront, they give you some story to buy time, unfortunately whatever they tried next may not work out, so in the end they looked like a real scam. Now these persons could have had good intention but I think sometimes the willingness to use lies to get bye also will reduce the quality of service. In other words, its like a catch 22. Whenever, you present the truth to customers, they will make a choice, continue to work with you or move on. That is very basic and long term common sense.

Anyway, on the plus side, I should be getting feedback on the actual performance of some trading platforms this week. These will provide very good returns so to get first hand knowledge that they work will be a great breakthrough for the next step in the financial journey.

In terms of the funding, there are still some genuine long term options out there but as I said, it takes time to weed out the decoy ones. I do feel that I am making progress overall in both learning and getting this done.  I should have reasonable financing in place by end of the year at minimum. When I say reasonable,  it means at least $500K funding.

All of what I have said in the past in regards to buying an existing corporation with credit line is still true but whats important is that you have to be very careful in what you go after. Once something is non-traditional, anyone can offer this type of product but the issue is whether they are real or just trying something. Here are some very basic pointers to look at.

1. Ask for full disclosure on who they are and why their business would deliver the intended product. Who are the principals involved, any referrals available to validate their claims ( this one is tricky of course).

2. Full protection of your money. Even if a company is incorporated and has a bank account, it does not mean they will be legitimate. Let them agree to accept credit card or an escrow service. If they can’t afford to wait on escrow process then move on.  sometimes some of these guys are arrogant and claim they are serious. Move on,  as they should cater for your concerns not themselves.

3. Do not accept the arguement that if you were serious and have the money, you would not ask question. Note,  its your money and you do not have any need for them to take it away without proving how its protected.

4.  Make sure the contract is specific. Some could get you funding but that could just be lease equipment and not cash. Make sure it spelt out the minimum amount in cash credit and the latest dates for funding.  Of course also make sure they agree to full refund if those conditions are not met.  They cannot guarantee funding but they can guarantee the service are performed or refund your money.  Always get a lawyer to look over the contract and if possible put in penalties for delays in the process. For example reduce the amount on the back-end etc.

There are also reliable ways to get you a high limit credit card on your personal profile without any checks.  Same rules apply with these.

Its still a lucrative area to pursue and I have more information to share on the next step when you get funding. This step could blow your mind in terms of money you could access with this facility. Did I say leverage?