If you have been a corporate employee for years, chances are that you have had your fill of bad bosses, mind-numbing meaningless work, and long hours with no extra pay. The endless cubicles where everyone spends most of their waking life tell you all that you need to know about your corporate job. Employees are housed in little fenced-in areas, like sheep in pens, in a realm where there are few rewards and next to no creativity. You start to wonder if this is all there is to life. And with that thought, with that question, you feel the first whisper of the entrepreneurial spirit starts to come to life. The desire to be your own boss flows forth and you begin to imagine what it would be like to create your own venture and chart your own course in the world. Soon you have an almost magnetic force pulling you, guiding you to your new path.
When you are starting your own business, you are going to need seed capital to get things going at first. You’ll need to cover your up-front investment and also provide operating funds that will keep the doors open as you get your first clients and then build your customer base. Since you are a new venture banks won’t loan you the money. Fortunately, you can tap into the equity in your home. It’s quite possible that your current mortgage has a much higher rate than today’s historically low-interest levels. If you refinance your home you will lower your monthly payment and you can also take cash out from the increased value of your home. Alternatively, you can get a home equity line of credit that allows you to pull funds as you need them.
If you are a parent with a child who is attending or about to enroll at university you know how expensive college tuition, room and boards, books, and fees can be. The cost of higher education has been rising well above the rate of inflation for years and years. With all of the cash needed to start your business, you’ll want to get creative about helping pay for your child’s education. One of the best approaches to handling this is to have your student apply for and take out private student loans. These loans are typically offered by banks, finance companies, and credit unions. If you sign as a cosigner, you’ll help assure that the loan is approved and they may also get a better rate. You’ll want to have them apply while you still have your corporate job.
With the advent of the Internet, new methods of funding startups emerged. Great ideas and exciting new products could be publicized and people would take notice. With the right viral campaign and well-designed social media, ad buys it was now possible to drive traffic to your website or product pitches. Potential customers were happy to be one of the first to discover a great new idea or invention. If your new venture is product-focused, it’s possible to raise all of the capital you need through one or more of the national or international crowdfunding sites. Excited customers-to-be can read about your new offering, share their find with friends and family, and preorder the new product at a special price. This leveled the playing field and for the first-time new businesses had access to instant funding and the perfect way to launch a viral marketing campaign.