• What are the traditional options and some alternative options to funding your business

Most people are aware of some of the traditional options, SBA (Small Business Administration) loans, or going to banks to try to qualify for traditional higher interest business loans but the alternatives that most people are not aware of are the alternative. Traditional banks have higher standards and traditionally require you to be in business at least 2 years or more to qualify for a loan.

Some alternative ways to get funding would be the following:

• Crowdfunding is a method of raising capital through the collective effort of friends, family, customers, and individual investors and does not need to be paid back!
• Pitch contests are dedicated programs which give business owners an opportunity to pitch their idea to a group of investors and industry experts. They have rules for eligibility, panels of judges, workshops that strengthen the entrepreneur’s skills, and typically, the competition focuses on awarding capital and opportunity to entrepreneurs. The winnings from these competitions also do not have to be paid back.
• A business grant is a sum of money given to a business in order to help them further their business. They’re usually distributed by governments, corporations, foundations, or trusts. Unlike many other types of business funding, grants don’t have to be paid back and business owners aren’t required to give up equity in exchange for a grant. Keep in mind that grant programs are ever-changing so you will need to do consistent research to keep up with new opportunities.

• How do you help other business owners to find alternative options

My #1 strength as a business owner is research. I counsel all clients and fellow entrepreneurs on how to find the alternatives based on their demographics, gender, location, etc. I utilize all of that information and help them to search for options available to them.

• What do people have to do for the alternative funding

Depending on what type of funding people are looking for there are lots of different steps and requirements, for instance, grants typically only take paperwork processes but pitch competitions normally require you to attend workshops or webinars and mentoring in addition to the paperwork and the actual verbal pitch to judges. Each alternative funding option has a different set of requirements but when you think about receiving $500 to $50,0000 with no equity requirements that you don’t have to pay back a little paperwork and a few workshops are more than worth it!!!!

• How does your service support business owners

We support business owners by offering marketing and business coaching services in addition to giving them free resources like our Ebooks and webinars. I have a passion for entrepreneurs and made lots of mistakes along the way until I got some really good mentors so I want to make sure I provide entrepreneurs with the resources they need to be successful without making some of the same mistakes I made!