You have a great idea, but as with business, you need money to make money. You may have a business plan and have even managed to come up with a prototype. Now you need money for expansion, and depending on your venture, that could mean money for salaries, production, marketing or any business process. Your ultimate aim is to quit your day job and becoming a full-time entrepreneur.
Fund Your Side-hustle
How then can you, using the resources around you, fund-raise for you side-hustle that you wish to turn into a full-fledged business? Crowdfunding, grants and micro-loans might require you to show more promise than an idea.
Ask friends and family
This first point might not sound the most survey, but for most, their immediate network is who funds the initial stages of a business. If they have chosen not to, it is likely that you need to go back to the drawing board to determine the cause. Fantastic ideas and a passion for them are what draw people in, not a promise of your selling aluminum siding Mississauga makes so that you can end up becoming a millionaire. The ideas that succeed are those that solve a need. Once you’re able to show your friends and family how your idea is life changing, they might be able to spare change to help you out.
Tip: Don’t be offended when they choose to loan you the money instead. Only ensure that you have an agreement in place, signed by both parties, that stipulates the conditions. It is their money after all.
Keep your day job and become a minimalist
If you want your idea to take off, you might want to assess your lifestyle. You can take the route of tracking your finances for a month and realizing where you need to cut costs. They might appear small but done long enough; the cash savings pile up. You’ll, therefore, end up having savings from your salary and additional cost from cutting back on various aspects of your life. It might make you uncomfortable for a while, but when your business takes off, you’ll appreciate having made the sacrifice.
Look for part-time work
It might sound strange having to take additional energy away from your hustle, but if it brings in cash, why not? While it should not be at the expense of getting your business off the ground finding an additional income stream is helpful. That is so if you don’t want to give up your lifestyle just yet. You can use a jobs board or your networks to get part-time gigs.
Develop mutually beneficial relationships
Sometimes the way to go is not getting more money, but instead, to acquire something in exchange for a service you provide. If you’re fantastic in tech and need an office, you can partner with a business where, in exchange for your skills, you get access to their meeting room when they have clients. That way, business can progress even when there’s no funding coming in.
