There are a lot of advantages to crowdfunding, but what if you don’t want to give up 5-10% of your total raised funds in fees? Or what if you’re going to raise more money than popular crowdfunding platforms allow? There are many good reasons to avoid this type of funding.
It can mean giving up a lot of ownership and control over your project. It’s also often difficult to generate the same interest and funds from friends and family as you can from strangers. Here are seven ways to raise funding without turning to crowdfunding.
Table Of Contents
- 1. Seek out grants and scholarships
- 2. Have a solid social media presence
- 3. Bootstrap your business
- 4. Tap into your personal and professional networks
- 5. Seek angel investors or venture capitalists
- 6. Sell shares or equity in your company
- 7. Offer products or services for sale
- Conclusion
1. Seek out grants and scholarships
Many grants and scholarship money are available to help entrepreneurs and small business owners get their businesses off the ground. Without a crowdfunding campaign’s pressure and time commitment, grants and scholarships can provide much-needed startup capital.
Government agencies, private foundations, and corporations offer grant and scholarship money for various business purposes. The trick is to know where to look and how to apply. The internet is a great place to start, with many websites devoted to helping business owners find the right grant or scholarship for their needs.
2. Have a solid social media presence
Social media has become a vital part of the startup ecosystem. Companies have been using it to raise funding without turning to crowdfunding.Some companies that have successfully used social media to raise money are Airbnb, Spotify, and Snapchat.
They all have various features that make them successful on social media. Airbnb has excellent customer service, its founders share their own stories, and they also provide emotional support for their customers in hard times.
Spotify does a great job at acknowledging the success of its customers by thanking them for sharing their stories on social media.
Snapchat has done an excellent job of understanding what people want from them by keeping up with their competitors by constantly innovating with new features and updates that people want.
3. Bootstrap your business
It is possible to leverage your skills and resources to get additional income. Before starting your business, you must research the market, develop a sound plan, and find customers.
Once you’re in business, offer good services or products at competitive prices. After learning all of these lessons, it may be time for reinvestment.
4. Tap into your personal and professional networks
When you start thinking about raising growth funding, it can be tough to consider all alternatives and decide what will work best for your company. One option might be tapping into your personal and professional networks. It’s important to remember that this is a delicate process, and it’s not always easy to find the right balance between being too aggressive with your fundraising efforts and being too passive.
Every entrepreneur has a different level of comfort when asking for money. Still, as long as you have a reasonable plan in place and make thoughtful, strategic approaches to people you know, you’ll be able to raise the funds you need without turning to crowdfunding.
5. Seek angel investors or venture capitalists
Angel investors and VCs are interested in humanitarian projects, meaning they fund projects that they believe will positively impact society. They typically look for people who already have experience in their industry. Hence, entrepreneurs need to show them as much as possible about their work and success with previous projects before meeting with them.
Once you find a good investor, focus on making them happy. This may seem counterintuitive, but you must maintain a strong relationship with investors because of the nature of their investment; angel investments are usually made to be long-term, and so on.
When you start a company, there are many ways to raise the money you need to get it off the ground. You can borrow from friends and family, take out a loan, or try to get angel investors or venture capitalists on board.
But what if you don’t want to give away a piece of your company or can’t find anyone to invest? You can sell shares or equity in your company to raise funding without turning to crowdfunding.
7. Offer products or services for sale
Companies looking to raise capital to grow their business but are not interested in turning to crowdfunding can offer their products or services for sale.
The customer is the investor, and the company’s responsibility is to meet production and shipping schedules. This can be a more attractive option for companies because they can keep control of their future and independence.
In today’s digital age, where consumers have increased expectations of what excellent customer service should look like, offering products for sale may allow businesses to serve better their customers’ needs more effectively.
If you need funding without crowdfunding, be creative with what you’re offering for sale!
Conclusion
In conclusion, crowdfunding is one of the most popular routes for startups looking to raise funds. It is a great way to connect with investors and has various other benefits. However, we should not forget that it can also be harmful to both the investor and the startup. Therefore, we’ve winnowed down seven alternatives for you!
