Planning Your Capital Needs

• Determining Your Capital Needs - How much do you need to finance your start-up or expansion? Learn how to estimate your capital and working capital needs.
• Preparing to Raise Capital - Make sure you’re prepared before you start looking for funding. Learn how to prepare yourself for investing or lending success.
• Partners and Investors – Pros and Cons of Expansion Opportunities - Investors and partners can both provide funding, but they also bring different expectations to the arrangement. Learn about the pros and cons of taking on investors or partners.
• Prepare an Effective Loan Proposal - Provide lenders with the information they need to approve your loan request.

Financing Options

• Sources of Financing – an Overview - Need funding? This article provides an overview of options available.
• Key Differences in Loans and Lines of Credit - Is a loan of a line of credit right for your business? Learn more about these different types of credit.
• Financing from Operations - Learn more about non-traditional sources of financing like asset-based financing, receivables financing, and factoring.
• Hard Asset Financing - Increase your chances for loan approval and potentially qualify for better terms by securing a loan with assets your company currently owns.
• Leasing – and Leasing Back - Hold on to capital by leasing and get cash in hand by leasing back assets you currently own.

Debt vs. Equity Financing

• Find the Right Lender - The right lender is not just a source of financing, but can also provide guidance, advice, and networking leads.
• Raising Significant Capital – an Overview - Need hundreds of thousands of dollars to take your company to the next level? This article provides an overview for finding the right investors for your business.
• Raising Funds Through an ESOP - In some cases you can look inside your company for funding rather than outside. This article shows how your employees can help you raise capital and take a larger part in the success of your business.
• Should Your Company Go Public? - Going public is a great way to raise significant capital – but is it worth it?
• Direct Public Offering (DPO): An Overview - Going public can take different forms; a DPO is a streamlined way of selling stock and raising capital that avoids some of the reporting and regulatory headaches.
• All About Angel Investors - Learn how to raise capital from individuals or groups of investors looking for the opportunity to profit from small business investment.
• All About Venture Capitalists - This article is an overview of the process of raising capital from professional investment firms.
• Maintaining Great Investor Relationships - Acquiring funds is just the start of your partnership; here’s how to build and maintain a great relationship with your company’s investors.