Raising capital options

[morby]

Hi all,

I am looking into ways to raise capital for a new business,
basically i need it for the website which will be the platform I'm going too sell on.
i have thought off a couple off options

1) save some money till i have it and wait and go from there
2) offer a freelancer a commission % of sales profit type deal
3) look into funding I'm 23 in full time employment
4) network too find a friend that can build one on the cheap
5) get a credit card, stick it all on there, then hope for the best

i have a meeting with my new bank santander next week. HSBC are useless will give me a advanced account but no loan etc

Does anyone have any other options that i missed off?


many thanks

 

[NickGrogan]

If you need a loan for the website, how are you going to market it? Website is generally the cheapest part of a business.

Seems like HSBC have the right idea.

 

[morby]

Once the site is up and running I'm able too take payments, marketing will be done via social media and then profit would be put back in too target more customers

 

[Nochexman]

Have you written a business plan?

 

[NickGrogan]

You may be able to take payments, but where are the customers coming from?

A few social media posts are not going to bring in sales from day/week one.

 

[Clinton]

2) offer a freelancer a commission % of sales profit type deal
We see numerous such posts on these boards. I doubt anyone succeeds in finding competent experts willing to work for free for a new business and share the risk with the startup owner. (and getting paid in just commission, not even equity!)

3) look into funding I'm 23 in full time employment
Without prior business experience, a solid business plan and some unique advantage you'll find institutional funding is very, very difficult to come by. And, no, a new bank is not going to make the difference.

4) network too find a friend that can build one on the cheap
Cheap is not necessarily what does the job or does the job well. Sometimes cheap is the most expensive option.

5) get a credit card, stick it all on there, then hope for the best
That's your call, not ours. But this, and #1, sound like the best of the options you listed.

 

[morby]

You may be able to take payments, but where are the customers coming from?

A few social media posts are not going to bring in sales from day/week one.

How can you say this when you don't know the product of service that I'm offering?

 

[morby]

And yes I do have a business model/plan off sorts

 

[NickGrogan]

How can you say this when you don't know the product of service that I'm offering?

Experience.

 

[Mark T Jones]

There is pretty much no chance you will get funded by a bank

You might qualify for a start up loan under the government scheme - they will wNt to see a thought thoroug business plan reflecting some meaningful market research and strategy.

In truth I would go with a dilutes version of option 1. Start working on your website and marketing whilst in your current job.

 

[ethical PR]

How can you say this when you don't know the product of service that I'm offering?

How many successful businesses do you know that have made money purely by promoting their services/products via social media?

 

[RyanTrustSpot]

When I was 16 i started my first business and it was definitely though.. no banks would lend to me, I wasn't old enough for a credit card or loan and so I had to bootstrap. I ended up doing freelance work to earn money while building my money.

It's all about the hustle when you want to start a business, you have to really work to get it to a point where it starts to take care of itself. Have you thought about applying for a business credit card with a co-signer? Such as a business partner or a parent to help with the approval rate?

 

[The Byre]

Building a website is not rocket science. Why not sit down and learn how to do it?

Later, when your site is up and running, you can use the money generated to hire a professional to do a decent job for you.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Have you googled your product to see how many companies are selling it

How are you going to get on page one

It took me over a year before I could take a wage, some sites take a lot longer

The web has become far more complicated over the last few years and that means many skills needed like PPC etc need experts to run them so many companies have to outsorce to be able to make PPC and marketing / sales work with the leading search engines

I would suggest you spend about two months on making a business plan with tons of research and undertake as many excel spreadsheets on growing the company and most important cash flow projections

W H Smiths have many books on the matter

 

[mmarch]

I would like to help You could You please PM me with more info?

 

[PaulThompson]

There are start up loans - through government and other providers but do you need a loan? A website doesn't have to cost much. There are many ways to start up on a shoe-string
Would be happy to advise if you want me to take a look