The SBA has been keeping tabs on how the pandemic has affected the small business community throughout the U.S. In a recent member survey, 38% stated they were concerned about their financial future – up 15% from January!

Unstable finances cause a great deal of stress on business owners, not to mention having to address the various concerns if they have employees on the payroll. Deciding whether to find financing for one’s business and how to choose the best option can be challenging.

Inc. Magazine understands this and just released an article titled “10 Ways to Finance Your Business” including:

1. Factoring – a finance method where a company sells its receivables at a discount to get cash upfront
2. Bank Loans – a typical lending situation for businesses
3. Using Credit Cards – using the card you have to offset expenses you would’ve paid in other ways
4. Using your 401K – requires tax insight to do it correctly, and allows you to use the money you’ve put away for retirement now for your business
5. Crowdfunding – a fun way to finance your business where you raise small amounts of capital from a large number of people
6. Pledging Future Earnings – offering up a percentage of your future earnings in exchange for venture funding
7. Angel Investors – though still a complicated game, with understanding of the process this could be an option
8. SBA Loans – when bank loans are unavailable, these loans are a possibility using a number of qualifications to apply
9. Raising Money from Family and Friends – has many pros and cons
10. MicroLoans – offer smaller loan sizes than banks with less documentation and often apply more flexible underwriting criteria

So many alternatives… but which one should you choose?  Each of the 10 financing options is explained in detail, along with the benefits and disadvantages. Click here to read through them all.

If this article was helpful and prompted you with an increased desire to improve your effectiveness as a leader so you can take your business to the next level, fill out the form below and we’ll be happy to schedule a Coffee & Consult to chat in more detail about how we can help.

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Kris Cavanaugh Castro is the People Development Coach at Aepiphanni, the trusted advisor for business leaders who are seeking forward-thinking solutions to help them plan for and navigate through the challenges of business growth.  Kris has over 25 years of coaching, training and mentoring leaders to greater success; and she periodically writes about leadership development and facilitates change management conversations.

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