Business Resource Center

Access to capital

Planning Your Capital Needs

• Determining Your Capital Needs - How much do you need to finance your start-up or expansion? Learn how to estimate your capital and working capital needs.
• Preparing to Raise Capital - Make sure you're prepared before you start looking for funding. Learn how to prepare yourself for investing or lending success.
• Partners and Investors: The Inside Story on Outside Investment - Investors and partners can provide funding, but they may have different expectations. Learn the pros and cons of these resources.
• How To Prepare an Effective Loan Proposal - Provide lenders with the information they need to approve your loan request.

Financing Options

• Sources of Financing - Need funding? This article provides an overview of options available.
• A Loan or A Line of Credit? What's Best For Your Business? - Is a loan of a line of credit right for your business? Learn more about these different types of credit.
• Financing from Operations: Pay As You Go - Learn more about non-traditional sources of financing like asset-based financing, receivables financing, and factoring.
• Collateralized Financing: Using What You Got - An unsecured loan is made without collateral. Your signature may be all you need to obtain needed financing.
• Don't Buy It. Lease It. - Leasing is often the ideal solution to meet the equipment and space needs of start-ups and small businesses.

Debt vs. Equity Financing

• Find the Right Lender: Get Terms That Fit Company Needs - The right lender is not just a source of financing, but also provides guidance, advice and networking leads.
• Raising Significant Capital: What To Do When You Need Big Bucks - Need hundreds of thousands of dollars to take your company to the next level? Here are tips on finding the right investors.
• Raising Business Capital With An ESOP: Give The Staff A Stake - This article illustrates how your employees can help you raise capital and take a larger part in the success of your business.
• Should Your Company Go Public? - Going public is a great way to raise significant capital - but is it worth it?
• Direct Public Offering (DPO): Expanding Your Team Of Stakeholders - A DPO is a streamlined way of selling stock and raising capital that avoids some of the reporting and regulatory headaches.
• Angel Investors: Give Your Company Wings To Fly - Learn how to raise capital from individuals or groups of investors looking for the opportunity to profit from small business investment.
• Venture Capitalists: Working With Business Capital Pros - This article presents an overview of the process of raising capital from professional investment firms.
• Maintaining Sound Investor Relationships: Take Care Of Your Partners - Acquiring funds is just the start of your partnership; here's how to build and maintain a great relationship with your company's investors.
• Crowdfunding: Harnessing the Power of the Internet to Raise Funds - For anyone with an idea, it's a quick and easy way to raise funds; and for anyone with a few dollars to invest, it's the best opportunity for getting in on the ground floor of the next big thing. It's the ultimate win-win.