Small Business Today Magazine MAR 2016 AMERICAN SERVICES | Page 14

EDITORIAL FEATURE

Funding a Small Business

without Credit Cards
By Margot Fuentes, LiftFund Business Advisor

A

s a small business owner, you should be your own boss.
Don’t let credit card debt boss you around. Writing a
solid business plan before launching a business could
be the difference between living the American dream
and experiencing the nightmare of unmanageable credit
card debt.

Before using your credit cards, spend time determining
which expenses are essential and which can wait until your
business has grown. Consider all your options for funding
sources. Have you thought about borrowing money from
friends and family, dipping into savings, bringing on an investor, or using crowdsourcing? You can combine any of
these with a small business loan to achieve a varied fund-

ing plan that will allow you to avoid maxing out your credit
cards at high interest rates.
Weighing your personal financial situation against startup expenses, including rent, utility deposits, and inventory
purchases is imperative. You might need to consider scaling
back your business model until you’ve proven there’s a market for your product or services. People sometimes think
they need to have over $100,000 in capital to start a small
business. You can put yourself at higher risk if you take on
large amounts of debt before gaining customer traction.

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