I know I have a good idea, with research to back it up, but I have forty dollars in my savings and payments due on the car. In order to survive, I need to find some capital. What would you advise I do?
Sincerely,
Cant
Dear Cant,
Unfortunately just having a good idea doesn’t result in a successful business. The landscape is littered with examples of individuals who have a great idea but never even get out of the starting gate. But getting out of the starting gate isn’t necessarily all about capital either.
Though access to capital is often a critical component to getting a business started, it’s not always about other people’s capital. Many entry-level entrepreneurs think that the fastest and easiest way to start a business is with other people’s money. I would suggest to you that starting a business based upon debt is never the best way to start a business. Every effort should be made to start a business at the grassroots, in its simplest and cheapest form in order to first prove the concept of the business idea. Many new entrepreneurs have the impression that in order to succeed you need to over-think the concept and over-spend in preparation to start the business.
Starting small with whatever capital you are able to raise from yourself, from your family, or from your friends is the surest way to determine whether there’s in fact an audience or market for your product or service. Unless you are planning a technology business that requires a huge amount of capital infrastructure, start your business organically. This means just start with your preliminary product or service and see what the market tells you backabout it. More times than not, no matter how great you think your idea is, what the market tells you back is much different and if you are to be successful you will often need to be flexible and adjust to the demands of the market. This way, you have little invested in your original idea and can make the necessary changes.
Once you have some success with the market under your belt, even with very little investment, you will be better prepared to then go about the task of securing other people’s money for growth. Getting through the proof of concept phase as quickly as possible is the surest way to access other avenues of capital and to turn your good business idea into a successful business.
Mike Thielke is Executive Director of the Eastern Shore entrepreneurs Center
Brandon Clements says
Hello,
I think anyone from Chestertown that has a good start up idea should get more support from the local banks. Chestertown itself is a great place to grow up or watch your kids grow, but with the ever changing state of the world we need to keep it pure. Keeping big business away should be one of the biggest of the many numbers one priorities of the town council. In fact the last time i went home to visit both sets of shopping centers where empty allot of spots open for what could be small locally owned stores , the price to live in Chestertown is no where close to what many make in the town. It’s going to end up killing the local business and drive more people away. I hope to one day return to Chestertown and the eastern shore, and open a business into then maybe you will notify me back with a comment.
With much Respect,
A 22 year old kid.
mary wood says
I have just read of Repair Cafes . 40 of them in Holland. They are places where fix-it volunteers do repairs on things , lamps, toasters, even clothing, or show you how to do it yourself . It was started to reduce waste. You can google – repair cafe.org . Anyone here interested ?