When we think of business financing, traditional bank loans are always at the forefront of our minds, but many more funding avenues  like online loan broker platforms Laina -platform are open to entrepreneurs and businesses.

Online Lenders

There are many lenders in the online space like nopealaina.fi, which are offering peer-to-peer loans which can be available extremely quickly, perhaps even as instant loans. 

Pros of Online Lenders

It can be easier to get the amount of money that you are looking for when dealing with online lenders, particularly in the P2P sector, and decisions on whether or not to approve funding tend to be made quickly.

Cons of Online Lenders

Online lenders in the P2P sector can often charge far higher interest rates than traditional banks and financial institutions. However there are some like this site, which offer reasonable interests. As a fairly new medium for providing loans, P2P is also not quite considered mainstream yet and may take some time to gain credibility. 

Crowdfunding

Many businesses have turned to crowdfunding to help them reach their goals. It is possible to raise millions of pounds on platforms such as Kickstarter, if you can capture the imagination of your target audience. 

Pros of Crowdfunding

This can be an excellent way of reaching financial goals and allowing for expansion or funding for a particular product line. It is a source of actual funding rather than a loan, so you will never have to pay it back. You will only have to fulfil what you promised to the backers in order to get them to part with their money. 

Cons of Crowdfunding

You have to fulfil what you told backers when they backed the project. In some cases, the materials needed to make the product that you sell for $100 a piece can increase dramatically over the space of a year or so. It wouldn’t be the first time a business was left cursing themselves for being involved in a loss-making crowd funder due to increased production costs or shipping.

Venture Capital

This is one of the sources of income that can be a bit of a double-edged sword. Businesses typically trade shares in the company for funding from a venture capital company or angel investor.

Pros of Venture Capital

One of the best things about venture capital is that it is often accompanied by mentoring from experienced members of the business community, often those who specialise in the same field as your business. This can lead to networking opportunities that may otherwise have taken many years to get to. Venture capitalists know that if the company does well, so will they, so they are keen to do what they can to help with growth.

Cons of Venture Capital

One of the main downsides to using venture capital is that you will have to give them a percentage of the company’s shares in return for their money. This can prove problematic if you try to do too many funding rounds, as you can lose control of your business. 

Government Grants

Where there are government grants available, they are specifically for certain things. A government grant may aid you in reducing your business’s carbon footprint.

Pros of Government Grants

Government grants are a source of free money you will never have to pay back, unlike loans from online platforms. Free money is always something to be welcomed and the grants will usually be targeted at a particular aim, such as converting to greener energy.

Cons of Government Grants

As you might expect, government grants can be difficult to apply for, and if you are successful, they are tied tightly to certain things, so you can’t spend any of the money on things outside of the tight remit you have been given. The government will most likely check on this to ensure the money is allocated correctly.