It’s the end of free money, now what? Financing strategies to get capital for your small business.

Money doesn’t grow on trees. Trust me as a kid I checked each tree in our backyard. So, growing up, me and my sister got a tiny allowance to get what we wanted -which, in my case, was always a new comic book. Later, from my parent’s stash of toothpicks — I would create cinnamon and clove-flavored toothpicks and sell them to my school classmates for a profit. This made me enough cash to buy the shirts with the comic book characters on them. I guess that’s how I learned the value of money early on… that it’s never free.

But COVID changed that notion albeit temporarily. In March 2020, the CARES Act provided financial assistance to Americans suffering the economic effects caused by the pandemic. This included forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and other specified expenses through the Payment Protection Program (PPP). In other words, Free Money or Pass Go and Collect $200 in Monopoly.

Despite the extended unemployment monetary support provided and influx of money from the PPP & EIDL funds — -as a small business advisor — I constantly hear comments like:

-I’m running or have run out of money provided by the government!

- What do you mean there’s no more “free grant money?”

- How come I didn’t receive more?

-The deadline passed for a line increase to my EIDL — how come you can’t fix it…

Today, as before COVID access to funding remain the same…These include:

• Bootstrapping -getting help from family and friends and/or use personal finances (savings accounts, retirement funds, cheap living)to fund the business. (Apple, Clorox Co., Coca Cola, Dell, Microsoft all began as bootstrapped ventures)
• Crowdfunding — raising money from crowd to fund a business (Kickstarter, Indiegogo)
• Venture Capital & Angel Investors- money provided by investors or angels in exchange for ownership & growth potential as seed money or ongoing support through difficult times. (Shark Tank)
• Business Incubators & Accelerators-” for-profit” and “non-profit” endeavors specifically created to help launch, coach, and fund a variety of…