Month: June 2020

Is It Time to Look at Alternative Business Loans?

Everyone is struggling right now.  COVID-19 knocked the global economy for a loop.  Have you taken advantage of all the unique funding options available for relief related to the coronavirus pandemic?  Did you apply for the Paycheck Protection Plan?  If you did, and you find yourself still struggling, it may be time to check into alternative business loans. 

How to Get Alternative Business Loans and Can They Work for You?

If you have exhausted all of the state and federal funding available, or you are having trouble getting access, it may be time to consider alternative business loans to help bridge or fill the funding gaps left by the shattered economy.

Score the best business credit cards for your business, even when a recession looms.Check out our professional research.

What Are Alternative Business Loans?

These are loans that come through private lenders rather than banks.  The majority of them operate online.  For the most part, the process is fast and easy. You fill out an application online, and typically you receive approval in as little as a few hours.  Once approved, funds are often in your account in a day or two.  

The quick, simple process makes alternative business loans an attractive option. This is especially true if you have trouble qualifying for loans from traditional lenders due to credit score issues or lack of collateral. 

Why Is It Easier to Qualify for Alternative Business Loans? 

If these alternative loans are so fast and easy, why even bother with traditional loans?  Well, interest rates and terms are considerably less favorable than those you may get with a traditional lender. 

That’s because, to extend credit to those that do not qualify with a bank, alternative lenders have to relax a little on their eligibility requirements. As a result, they take on a lot more risk with their loans.  To make up for it, they increase interest rates and loan terms.  It helps to balance things out.  

Alternative Business Loans: How Do I Start? Where Do I Start? 

alternative biz loans Credit SuiteOnce you know you are in a position to need alternative business loans, you can start shopping around. How?  Research is key.  Thorough research is important to make sure you find the best fit for your business. 

While many alternative business loans have similar requirements, there are some vastly different and innovative platforms out there as well.  Read all the reviews, but don’t forget to look at the actual lender websites too.  Only you know what your situation is. You are the one that knows your credit score, how long you have been in business, and how much debt you can handle. 

Start by figuring out eligibility.  You may not be able to anticipate what every single lender will want to see.  However, there are a few things that most lenders will want to know before approving a loan.  Things such as credit score, annual revenue, and length of time in business are pretty common.  

If you know your score and what your annual revenue is before you begin looking, you will be able to weed out the ones you do not qualify for from the start. There are so many that you will definitely see the need to do this.  Here are just a few as an example. 

Kick Off Your Alternative Business Loan Search with These Lenders

Fundbox

If you start with a search for an online lender, Fundbox is going to be one of the first to pop up.  It is a line of credit rather than a loan, but it is a great funding option because there is no minimum credit score requirement. 

They offer an automated process that is super-fast. Repayments are automatic, meaning they draft them electronically, and they occur on a weekly basis.  One thing to remember is that you could have a repayment as high as 5 to 7% of the amount you have drawn currently, as the repayment period is comparatively short.  This means you need to be sure you have enough funds in whatever account you connect them to so that it can cover your payment each week.

BlueVine 

You will find with most any online lender, they often offer options more similar to invoice factoring and lines of credit.  This is because those options present fewer risks than straight term loans.  BlueVine is no different.

Upstart

Upstart is an online lender that uses a completely innovative platform for loans.  The company itself questions the ability of financial information and FICO on their own to truly determine the risk of lending to a specific borrower.  They choose to use a combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to gather alternative data instead.  They then use this data to help them make credit decisions.

This alternative data can include such things as mobile phone bills, rent, deposits, withdrawals, and even other information less directly tied to finances.  The software they use learns and improves on its own. You can use their online quote tool to play with different amounts and terms to see the various interest rate possibilities.  

Upstart’s innovative platform makes them one to research for sure. 

Fora Financial 

Founded in 2008 by college roommates, online lender Fora Financial now funds more than $1.3 million in working capital around the United States. There is no minimum credit score, and there is an early repayment discount if you qualify.

OnDeck 

Obtaining financing from OnDeck is quick and easy. First, you apply online and receive your decision once application processing is complete. If you receive approval, your loan funds will go directly to your bank account. The minimum loan amount is $5,000 and the maximum is $500,000..

Lending Club

Popular online lender Lending Club offers term loans.  You can get a quote in less than 5 minutes. Funds are available in as little as 48 hours if approved. There are no prepayment penalties.

Score the best business credit cards for your business, even when a recession looms.Check out our professional research.

Kiva 

Kiva is an online lender that is a little different. For example, the interest rate is 0%, so even though you have to pay it back it is absolutely free money. They don’t even check your credit. However, there is one catch.  You have to get at least 5 family members or friends to throw some money in the pot as well. In addition, you have to pitch in a $25 loan to another business on the platform.

Accion

If your personal credit is okay, Accion may be a good fit for small business startup loans. It is a microlender, a nonprofit, that offers installment loans to both startups and already existing businesses.

Credibly 

Credibly is also a good option for business loans if you are already generating some revenue. They offer short term loans for both business expansion and working capital. You must be in business for at least 6 months to qualify, and they will approve loans to those with credit scores as low as 500.

Credit Line Hybrid: Another Great Alternative

A credit line hybrid is basically revolving, unsecured financing.  It allows you to fund your business without putting up collateral, and you only pay back what you use.  

It’s not as hard to qualify as you may think. You do need good personal credit.  That is, your personal credit score should be at least 685.  In addition, you can’t have any liens, judgments, bankruptcies or late payments.  Also, in the past 6 months, you should have less than 5 credit inquiries, and you should have less than a 45% balance on all business and personal credit cards.  It’s also preferred that you have established business credit as well as personal credit.

If you do not meet all of the requirements, all is not lost. You can take on a credit partner that meets each of these requirements.  Many business owners work with a friend or relative to fund their business.  If a relative or a friend meets all of these requirements, they can partner with you to allow you to tap into their credit to access funding. 

Other Options If You Still Need Funding

What if, even with alternative business loans or a credit line hybrid, you still need more funding?  Here are some other options to explore. 

Business Credit Cards 

These may get a bad reputation, but without another option, they can actually do the trick quite nicely. The benefit is that these are available more readily even with a credit score that isn’t awesome. However, the lower the credit score, the higher the interest rate. Also, even credit card companies have limits on how low of a credit score they will accept.

This is one funding option that most of the general public are eligible for at any given time. They do a credit check, but your credit doesn’t have to be as high as it would be to gain approval for a traditional loan. 

The downside, of course, is that they usually have high interest rates. The upside is that many of them offer rewards in the form of cash or points that can be helpful.

Grants 

While requirements vary from grant to grant, and most are only awarded to a certain number of recipients, this is one of the available funding types worth looking into if you fall into one of these basic categories.

  • Businesses run by veterans
  • Businesses in low income areas

There are also some corporations that offer grants in a contest format that do not require much other than that you meet the corporation’s definition of a small business and win the contest.

While there are not a lot of these out there, they are more common that you probably think. Typically, they are offered by professional organizations. There are some government grants available also. Competition can be stiff, but they are definitely worth a shot if you think you may qualify.

Score the best business credit cards for your business, even when a recession looms.Check out our professional research.

Crowdfuding

This is a newer option for finding investors. While the average person that wants to start a business needs funding, it is not always possible to find one or two large investors. 

With crowdfunding, you can literally have a crowd of investors fund your business $5 and $10 at the time. 

There are many crowdfunding sites.  The most popular are Kickstarter and Indiegogo. The platforms are similar but there are some differences that bear mentioning. The most obvious difference is with the timing of when you actually receive the funds that others invest in your company.

Kickstarter requires a goal set from the beginning.  You do not receive your funds until you reach that goal. For example, if you set a goal of $10,000 when you start your campaign, you will not receive any money that investors offer up until you reach that $10,000. 

Indiegogo requires a goal as well.  However, they offer the option to receive funds as you go. They also have an option called InDemand. This is a program that allows you to continue raising funds after your original campaign is over without starting a whole new campaign. It is more like you are just extending the first campaign.

There are other crowdfunding sites out there as well. Some work better for certain businesses and vendors. To determine which one might be best for you, you will have to do some research. 

Alternative Business Loans Are a Viable Option if Traditional Loans Will Not Work

At this point, it’s all hands on deck.  Most businesses need money, and they need it now.  Everyone is just trying to stay above water. Definitely take advantage of all of the options available from the Federal government, your state government, and any local organizations trying to help small businesses right now.  Even local governments are helping out in many areas. 

However, sometimes it will take much more.  Sometimes, you may even have to get innovative and adapt the way you operate to our current global circumstances.  Alternative business loans are great for that. If you need a little more help, check out business credit cards, crowdfunding, and even grant opportunities. 

All of these options are available to help you get the funds you need right now so your business can survive.

The post Is It Time to Look at Alternative Business Loans? appeared first on Credit Suite.

Doppler (YC W19) Is Hiring Engineers, Security, and DevRel

Article URL: https://jobs.lever.co/doppler

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23644989

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

Fond (YC W12) Is Hiring Customer Success Manager in Portland

Article URL: https://jobs.lever.co/fond/9f3e0380-217c-4d87-9e70-971295fd31f3

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23655833

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

New comment by julianorinyol in "Ask HN: Freelancer? Seeking freelancer? (June 2020)"

SEEKING WORK | Berlin | Remote OK | Travel OK within Germany | Software Developer Technologies: Node.js, Express.js, React.js VueJS, python, Django Infrastructure: docker, aws, terraform, gcp Hi all, I’m a software developer looking to form long term partnerships with companies in Berlin (remote also ok). I have 4.5 years experience in frontend and backend …

Your Debt Management Options – Consider A Personal Debt Consolidation Loan

Your Debt Management Options – Consider A Personal Debt Consolidation Loan

If you’ve remained in the procedure of functioning to establish a purposeful financial obligation monitoring program, you might be questioning what numerous alternatives are offered to you as well as you might be questioning what components you will certainly desire consisted of in a total financial debt monitoring strategy. The demand for a financial obligation combination program that functions might have ended up being crucial if you’ve discovered that your financial obligation is coming to be extra as well as much more out of control.

With this post you will certainly be offered with a summary of just how an individual financial obligation combination car loan can be a vital component of a thorough financial debt monitoring program or financial obligation monitoring strategy. Equipped with this details you will certainly be much better able to identify whether an individual financial obligation loan consolidation car loan is the ideal selection for you and also exactly how you can make an individual financial obligation loan consolidation car loan a significant component of an extensive financial debt monitoring program.

Exactly How a Personal Debt Consolidation Loan Works for You

An individual financial obligation loan consolidation finance permits you the capacity to integrate all of your present financial obligation right into one finance. There are lots of strong advantages that are linked with an individual financial debt loan consolidation funding.

You additionally conserve a good deal of cash with an individual financial debt loan consolidation finance. When you get an individual financial debt combination finance, you will certainly no much longer be tormented with greater passion prices, late charges and also charges. Over the program of the life time of the individual financial obligation loan consolidation financing, you will certainly recognize a considerable cost savings and also place even more cash back right into your pocket.

Components of a Comprehensive Debt Management Plan

You require to bear in mind that an individual financial obligation combination funding will certainly not per se fix your monetary troubles for the long-term. While an individual financial obligation combination lending can be an essential aspect in a general financial debt administration program, you require to consist of various other aspects.

In enhancement to an individual financial obligation combination car loan, if you desire a reliable financial obligation monitoring strategy, you will certainly desire to make particular that you establish a liable and also significant budget plan. A spending plan has to be a significant part of any type of financial obligation administration strategy if you truly intend to make progression in bring back order to your economic home … not just today yet right into the future.

Second, regrettably lots of people acquire an individual financial obligation loan consolidation car loan and afterwards remove and also accumulate much more financial debt. It shows up that these individuals really feel that they have breathing space as well as can tackle even more financial debt.

The issue is that by getting an individual financial obligation combination car loan and after that tackling even more financial obligation, you in fact are making your monetary circumstance much, much even worse. You should be sensible with your financial obligation and also credit score use right into the future or your individual financial debt loan consolidation lending truly will offer no purposeful objective in all.

An individual financial obligation combination car loan enables you the capacity to incorporate all of your existing financial obligation right into one financing. You additionally conserve a wonderful bargain of cash via an individual financial debt loan consolidation lending. You will certainly no much longer be afflicted with greater rate of interest prices, late charges as well as fines when you acquire an individual financial obligation loan consolidation lending. Over the program of the life time of the individual financial debt loan consolidation car loan, you will certainly recognize a substantial cost savings as well as place even more cash back right into your pocket.

The post Your Debt Management Options – Consider A Personal Debt Consolidation Loan appeared first on ROI Credit Builders.

New comment by unleashit in "Ask HN: Freelancer? Seeking freelancer? (June 2020)"

SEEKING WORK | Portland, OR or REMOTE

Front End Engineer (Full Stack Javascript) with 20 years of experience working with startups to enterprise. My specialty is currently the front end and React, although I’m also skilled in Node.js and PHP/Drupal/Wordpress.

I’m available for either substantial projects or as part of your team, on a temporary or possibly a permanent basis (I am happy to consider a full time employment in the right case).

Skills: Javascript ES6+, Typescript, React/Redux, Node.js, HTML, CSS, React Native, Angular, REST, GraphQL, Webpack, Babel, Postgres, Mysql, Mongo, Linux, Nginx, Docker, AWS, Lambda, PHP, Drupal, WordPress and more.

Things I’m good at: user friendly, performant, modern UIs made with current best practices, single page apps, creating or integrating web services and APIs, backend, deployment and more.

Note: I’m no longer interested in taking the lead in design/ux, sorry! Haven’t kept up.

Website: https://jasongallagher.org

Github: https://github.com/unleashit

You can reach me via the contact form on my website. There’s also a real time chat you’re welcome to use if you have any questions or want to say hello!

New comment by delirehberi in "Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (June 2020)"

  Location: Ankara, Turkey
  Remote: Yes
  Willing to relocate: If it is required
  Technologies: I'm looking for just "haskell" and functional tech jobs.
  Résumé/CV:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VlcLa1TMJYBG-q2MvtR5KCkoqeh4Zl1FZ1nGzU_4sgU/edit?usp=sharing
  Email: z~et~emre~dot~xyz

New comment by vmarcetic in "Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (June 2020)"

Location: European Union, Central Europe Remote: Yes (cca 10 years remote) Willing to relocate: No, but I can visit. Technologies: Ruby, Rails, SQL, NoSQL, Docker, AWS, DigitalOcean, Heroku, CI, … Integrations: Stripe, Paypal, Paywhirl, Shopify, Recurly, Zendesk,… Email: vmarcetic@gmail.com —————————————————————————— My online CV: http://vedran.codes Hey! I am an experienced Backend Web Developer, mostly working with … Continue reading New comment by vmarcetic in "Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (June 2020)"

10 Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding, Part 1

Not All Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding Are Alike

Are crowdfunding platforms for recession funding confusing you? Are you thinking of crowdfunding your business? There are several platforms out there with differing requirements.  And they are not even close!

Getting working capital to grow your business doesn’t have to be hard. Many companies these days turn to crowdfunding. A lot of these options

will work for startup ventures.

There Are No Guarantees, Even with Crowdfunding Success

For some companies which crowdfund, the rewards are great. As per the Crowdfunding Blog, the single most successful crowdfunding campaign was for the Pebble Time Smartwatch. So this was as of November of 2018. But before you run out and try to buy one, note one thing. They are now a  part of FitBit.

As in, they went out of business in July of 2018. So this is a business which raised over $20 million in 2015! That is no typo. And in point of fact, Pebble holds three of the top six spots in the biggest crowdfunding successes of all time. Together, these three crowdfunding campaigns raked in a staggering $43.39 million.

This is about $8 million more than the town of Huntington, New York (population 203,264) budgeted for highways in 2018. Yes, really.

So there is one thing that should be clear to all. Runaway crowdfunding success is no guarantee whatsoever of actual success.

But now it is time to get to the 10 crowdfunding platforms for recession funding that you should know about.

What frustrates you the most about funding your business? Tell us in the comments.

Quick Tips About Crowdfunding: How Much?

Your very first decision should be: just how much do I need to crowdfund? If you need $1 million, you are going to need to crowdfund more than that. Why? Because that is how crowdfunding platforms for recession funding make their money– they take a percentage of any money you can raise. Thus, you will need to take that into consideration. Crowdfunding percent charges vary from 4% to 10%.

Quick Tips About Crowdfunding : What Should I Offer for Perks?

Check with the crowdfunding platforms for recession funding which interest you the most – just in case they don’t allow perks.

But for many crowdfunding platforms for recession funding, yes, you will have to offer perks to your donors. Perks can take many forms– buttons, tees, book marks – every one of those are possible tangible perks. Consider a perk format which can sync with your business. If you sell homemade jam, then perhaps create a unique flavor just for the campaign, and offer bigger and bigger-sized jars depending on donation amount.

If you are a horseback riding stable, offer a complimentary lesson or a postcard with a favorite horse’s image on it, or something like that. Does your startup flip houses? Then consider offering a coupon to a neighborhood home supply company or the like. Be sure to work with them beforehand, of course.

Perks are only limited by your imagination, so be creative! And if you can offer something which people will use a lot, then so much the better.

What frustrates you the most about funding your business? Tell us in the comments.

Pro Tip on Perks

Physical perks are a massive pain! A lot of people love them, and they will stand out. Plus, if a perk is used regularly, it will help to keep your company at the top of your backers’ minds.

However, you also have to ship physical perks. You may be an American company, but that doesn’t mean all of your backers will be in the United States. International shipping is extremely expensive, even for small items. So if you offer physical perks, specify whether you will allow international donor addresses.

But even if everything has to be shipped in the US, you are still left with working with a data base of names and addresses, and a few of these might have misprints or be incomplete.

And you would usually be working with a range of available perks. Did Jane want the stuffed teddy bear or the book mark? Did Alan want the pennant or the tee shirt? Do Jane and Alan live at the same address so perhaps you could mail their perks out together? What if a perk is lost or broken in the mail? And what if it injures someone?

Because of this, if you can do it, you might want to try for digital perks. For a house flipping startup, you might record video footage about home design or repair. For a long haul trucking company, you could offer PDFs with personal recommendations on what to see and do in certain cities you service. And for a nail salon, maybe offer digital coupons for a free month of manicure touch ups.

Great Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding: 1. Kickstarter

They are the biggest crowdfunding platform. They have over 18 million backers and over 180,000 funded projects. Campaigns are for products and services such as:

Crowdfunding Platforms for Depression Funding Credit Suite

  • Publishing
  • The arts and film
  • Comics and illustration
  • Design and tech

You will need to have a prototype. Projects cannot be for charity, although nonprofits can use Kickstarter. And you can’t offer equity in a company as a perk.

Taboo projects and perks include anything to do with:

  • Contests and raffles
  • Cures and medicines
  • Credit services
  • Live animals
  • Alcohol
  • Weapons

There is a 5% fee on all funds which creators collect. Stripe, their payments processor, will also apply payment processing fees (roughly 3-5%). Campaigns that don’t make it don’t pay a fee. There are also fees of 3% + $0.20 per pledge. Pledges under $10 have to pay a discounted micropledge fee of 5% + $0.05 per pledge.

Great Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding: 2. Indiegogo

Indiegogo has over 9 million backers. Their minimum goal amount is $500. They charge 5% platform fees. There may be third-party credit card fees. Fees are deducted from the amount raised, not the goal. So if you exceed your goal, you will pay more in fees. They do not take PayPal.

Indiegogo is notable because they offer both fixed and flexible funding. This means, if you do not make your goal – assuming you chose flexible funding – you can at least hold onto what you collected. Hence it is the opposite of how crowdfunding normally works.

You cannot change your fundraising structure from fixed to flexible (or vice versa) once the campaign starts. They recommend fixed funding if you need a minimum amount for your project. Indiegogo recommends regular communications to donors if you choose fixed funding.

Great Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding: 3. Patreon

Patreon is more for entrepreneurs in the arts space. With Patreon, fans pay your business on a monthly basis. Get more regular funding, and that’s always better for budgeting. Develop a recurring, dependable income stream while connecting directly with fans.

Pay 5% for Lite. For Patreon Pro, pay 8%. And for Patreon Premium, pay 12%.

What frustrates you the most about funding your business? Tell us in the comments.

Great Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding: 4. CircleUp

CircleUp is only for businesses. Their aim is to help emerging brands and companies raise capital to grow.

CircleUp Growth Partners is CircleUp’s fund currently making direct equity investments into high growth, early stage consumer companies. To qualify, a business must have revenue of $1 – $15 million, raising $1 – $10 million in growth equity. CircleUp Growth Partners is looking for innovative brands that are creating new categories or disrupting existing categories. They want to work with entrepreneurs with a strong vision and unwavering passion for their product.

You can also get a line of credit from CircleUp.

CircleUp says (in its FAQ): “Our commission is intended to be generally consistent with what companies pay to investment bankers in the offline world for similar size fundraising rounds.”

Great Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding: 5. GoFundMe

Because the name is known, we should mention GoFundMe. But it’s probably not the best choice out there.

In general, GoFundMe is for individuals. Hence you might conceivably use it at the very beginning of your starting up a business. You will need to meet your fundraising goal in order to collect. There are no specific platform fees in America.  Industry-standard transaction fees apply and vary depending on the country that the campaign was created in.

GoFundMe is often for personal causes, such as people looking to cover their medical bills. Hence it may not be best for business funding. In addition, given the large numbers of people who use GoFundMe for personal expenses, be aware that a business plea might get lost in the shuffle.

What’s in Part 2 of the 10 Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding You Should Know About?

In Part 2, we’ll round out our list of 10. Discover this new way to get funding for your business.

 

 

 

The post 10 Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding, Part 1 appeared first on Credit Suite.

10 Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding You Should Know About, Part 2

Check Out These 10 Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding You Should Know About

These 10 crowdfunding platforms for recession funding have been catching our eye lately.

Have you been thinking of crowdfunding your business? There are several recession crowdfunding platforms out there with differing requirements. These are the recession crowdfunding platforms you should know.

Getting working capital to grow your business doesn’t have to be hard. Many companies these days turn to recession crowdfunding platforms. A lot of these options will work for startup ventures. The last 5 of our top 10 crowdfunding platforms for recession funding are a bit more obscure. But first, here are a few tips to help you with your campaign.

Quick Tips About Crowdfunding: Your Campaign

Your campaign’s success is far from guaranteed. But you can capitalize on a few proven approaches. First off, consider these four emotions that you need to engender in donors. Use one or more of them as the focal point of your campaign as a starting point.

Scarcity

If you have thousands of something or other to supply as a perk, it will not be as desirable. If you only have a few copies of a specific perk, that will instill a feeling in some potential donors that they just have to have it. Do this with your larger donation levels only. Therefore, you might want to establish a perk/donation level system similar to this:

Donation Level Number of Perks
Lowest 1,000
Second lowest 500 (reward also incorporates lowest level reward)
Second highest 50 (reward also includes two lower level rewards)
Highest 10 (reward also incorporates all other levels’ rewards)

Remember: a lot of variety in physical perks will make fulfillment a lot harder, so don’t work with greater than maybe five separate varieties of physical perks– and even that is pushing it.

Building scarcity into your perk tiers is a great way to add perceived value to the perks which attach to your higher level donations.

Urgency

The first two and last two days of a crowdfunding campaign are pretty much always the days with the biggest payoffs. Often, making the campaign longer doesn’t make you significantly more money. So why not open a campaign for only a week? Do not let donors feel they can contribute any old time they feel like it.

Novelty

If you are offering the same old thing as a thousand other places, no one will want to make a donation. Your widget has got to be hotter, cheaper, lighter, or more resilient. Your food should be reduced in calories or higher in nutrition or better-tasting. Or your professional services need to be delivered better or quicker, by friendlier and more skilled employees. And they should come with a money back guarantee your competition does not provide.

Not sure about your own personal creativity? Then talk to creative people you know, and listen to what they say. They might have amazing ideas and it certainly never hurts to ask.

Cool factor

Is your product a work of art? Is it a new, gadget-like innovation? Then it may have a coolness aspect which you can construct your campaign around. But do not be discouraged if it isn’t! These days, some of the most unforgettable advertising campaigns are based around a product the majority of people found uninspiring not ten years ago– insurance.

So house flipping could boast a cool factor if you show off flipping in a neighborhood where a celebrity lives or once lived. A nail shop can show off coolness with exciting new designs not found anywhere else. And a long haul trucking company can showcase a cool factor with some of the more unusual products you’ve hauled.

Quick Tips About Crowdfunding: Crowdfunding Strategy

A few words on strategy:

Your Pitch Video Must be Great

Use an expert to film it and develop the script. Can’t pay for experts? Then try schools, both pupils and educators. Your script doesn’t need to be verbatim but you should have points you wish to make and not babble. Write a script and stay with it. This is not the right time to ad-lib.

If You Have Tangible Evidence of Your Project, then Show it

Put it in your campaign video and on your campaign page. A number of people are naturally doubtful about crowdfunding. An image and a tangible thing will go a long way to assuring them that your project isn’t vaporware.

Manners Matter

Say please, thank you, and you’re welcome to everyone. Use these magic words in your pitch and in your communications with your donors, even in the cover letters you deliver with your perks (even internet perks can include a cover email). You don’t need to be servile, but you absolutely must be diplomatic.

Stretch Goals Should be a Combination of Readily Achievable and Pie in the Sky

If you are crowdfunding for $100,000, a reasonably easy to attain stretch goal is $125,000. Pie in the sky going to be more like $300,000.

Make it abundantly clear what you will do with any added money if you are fortunate enough to get it. Will you buy the property your startup is in? Employ five more people? Replace your old equipment? Launch a brand-new market on another continent? Let your donors know what you are pursuing, so they can dream with you.

Be Gracious if Your Campaign Fails

You may not receive enough to make an appreciable dent in your funding requirements. So give your donors a stake in and an inside look at your business. This will enable them to feel invested. Even if your crowdfunding campaign concludes does not mean a donor cannot send a check or buy extra goods or services. If that happens, then politeness is essential.

Line up the Most Significant and Most Dependable Donors You Can Before You Start

Tell these people to postpone handing over their $1,000 or $10,000 donation till you start your campaign.

And ask them (nicely!) to release their donation during either the first or last day of the campaign.

Make the most of the novelty factor of the first day of the campaign, or the urgency factor of the very last. Just like a busker with a couple of her own bucks in her hat, to motivate people to toss in a few bucks for a song, you want your biggest donors to show other donors that they believe in you and in your project. And you also want them to suggest your other donors that they had best get in on investing in your startup before the opportunity ends.

Share Your Campaign on Social Media

And ask your family and friends to do so, too. Tweet the link. Incorporate it as a Facebook status. Make it a Tumblr post or a snap on Snapchat or create a blog post about it. Ask your network to publicize the link.

The most effective technique to get your network to help you out is by helping them in return. If your relative’s rock band is on Facebook, share their page, or tweet about it.

Be a collaborative member of your own personal network. Then your contacts will be more likely to help you out when you ask.

And rerun these social media postings. Considering time zones and our all-too hectic lives, people may not see your message the first time around. Mix it up and deliver it at odd hours. You can oftentimes use scheduling software such as Hootsuite for this. This includes what is the middle of the night where you live.

In Part 1, we covered 5 great crowdfunding sites you should have on your radar. Here are 5 more to round out 10 crowdfunding platforms for recession funding you should know about. But now we’re going a little more obscure.

More About Our Favorite 10 Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding: 6. GoGetFunding

GoGetFunding has been around since 2011. It lets fundraisers keep the money they raise, whether they meet their target or not. Flexible funding can be a great option if your company is a somewhat unproven idea and you are unsure whether you will be able to meet your funding needs.

GoGetFunding charges a fee of 6.9%. This somewhat high fee includes both the platform fee and the payment processing fee. Hence this option is actually somewhat more cost-effective than many other crowdfunding options.

10 Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding Credit Suite

What frustrates you the most about funding your business? Tell us in the comments.

More About Our Favorite 10 Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding: 7. Crowdfunder

Crowdfunder works as what’s called equity crowdfunding. This is where investors purchase equity in promising companies.

Crowdfunder treats its campaigns as deals, and its donors as ‘investors’. Pay a one-time fee to make your campaign discoverable.

Starter listings are $299/month. Premium listings are $499/month.  Premium Plus is $999/month.

Types of business which cannot use Crowdfunder include:

  • Guns/Firearms
  • Tobacco/Cigarettes/Cannabis
  • Pyramid Marketing
  • Adult Products & Entertainment
  • Gambling
  • Contests and Raffles
  • Illegal Substances/Drugs

More About Our Favorite 10 Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding: 8. Fundable

Fundable is a business crowdfunding platform which lets companies raise capital from investors, customers, and friends. Create an equity or a rewards-based campaign.

In their first year, they generated over $80 million in funding commitments.

Fundable allows equity campaigns.

They charge $179 per month to fundraise. Fees on rewards are: 3.5% + 30¢ per transaction. They do not charge success fees.

More About Our Favorite 10 Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding: 9. AngelList

At AngelList, you can invest in a startup or even get a job at one.  So it can be, essentially, an index fund for startups. Hence if a larger, established company wanted to offer retirement investment opportunities geared to investing in startup companies, AngelList would be a place where they could go.

Hence AngelList is not exactly a business crowdfunding site. Rather, it is a way to connect investors to an array of startup investment opportunities. So investors can try for returns on FinTech or even cryptocurrencies. One of their better-known investments is a business administration site called HoneyBook.

10 Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding Credit Suite

What frustrates you the most about funding your business? Tell us in the comments.

More About Our Favorite 10 Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding: 10. Fundly

Not quite one of our 10 crowdfunding platforms for recession funding, Fundly does allow for crowdfunding for creative ventures. Therefore, if your business has a creative bent, you might find a home there.

Fundly imposes no minimum amount to fundraise in order to keep any raised funds. You can generally withdraw payments within 24 – 48 hours of the donation. They also allow for automatic and scheduled transfers. It is free to create and share an online fundraising campaign.

However, Fundly will deduct a 4.9% fee from each donation you get. A credit card processing fee of 3% is also taken out from each donation. Plus there are nonspecific automatic discounts for larger campaigns.

10 Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding Credit Suite

What frustrates you the most about funding your business? Tell us in the comments.

Takeaways

So for small business owners who want to crowdfund, it pays (quite literally!) to read the fine print. Large and well-known sites such as Kickstarter may get more attention from donors. This is often because they are better known. However, smaller sites on our list of 10 crowdfunding platforms for recession funding – like Fundable – might offer better rates and more personal service.

In the end, though, it is all about the funding. This is true for all of the recession crowdfunding platforms you should know. If your company can meet its goal, then any platform is going to be terrific. If your business cannot, then you will probably do better looking for another form of funding. This includes building business credit. Discover this new way to get funding for your business.

 

 

 

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