Most of the funding comes from personal savings and financial assistance from relatives and friends while planning for a business. However, as more and more aspiring entrepreneurs are turning to self-financing to get their business idea into an entrepreneurial reality, we need to break down the realistic scenarios of self-financing.
In this article, we will be pointing out factors of self-financing and its advantages and disadvantages. See them all and check if self-financing is the best route for your business.
Advantage: Your Funds, Your Success
In comparison to taking out installment loans and loaning contracts, securing your business using your funds ensures almost one-hundred percent of sales and investment coming back directly to you.
Since you are not affiliated with any bank or financial institution to cover the costs, you will reap the rewards of your sales, revenues, and investments after a few years or so. Of course, you have to plan carefully and work hard to minimize losing cash and keeping a consistent cash flow.
Advantage: Total Control, Run The Business Your Way
Arguably one of the best parts of self-financing is that you get to lead your business your way. Total control of a business is often a privilege for aspirants who can start their concepts through self-financing.
It means there will be no investors to convince in choosing business routes, no banks to limit your control over money, and no payments to catch on to keep your business credit in check. This capacity of total control allows you to paint a business in the way you see it, and as for the cash flows, you can tweak out your sales and marketing to control the flow of returns.
Advantage: Total Control of Business Expansion
Similar to the point above. Expanding a business is often a difficult hurdle for business owners if affiliated with a venture capitalist or bank. Business expansions take a lot of funding and requirements to get another franchise in another location.
But if you’re self-financing, there’s no need to seek approval from any institution or any investor. If you have the means, the papers, and the human resources, expanding your business will be easier and faster.
Disadvantage: Limited Resources
Self-financed aspirants are only limited to the allocated funds they have—the reason why some businessmen opt-out of self-financing is because they lack personal savings to kickstart a venture.
Self-financing a business means supplying your business with ongoing funding until it becomes self-sufficient and able to attract regular clients, which could take a long time. Remember that self-financing is expensive, and it causes you to make some lifestyle changes to fuel your goal.
Disadvantage: Risk of Bankruptcy
Money is your bloodline in your business. And self-financing has a limited supply before it stops keeping your business alive. Many failed business owners have dried out their pockets in hopes of keeping their business operating and looking for a break to jumpstart their cash flow.
Most aspirants who contract loans for their businesses don’t have to go through this. They may not have total control, but they would at least not go bankrupt and dry out their funds.
Disadvantage: Not Enough Money To Cover Production Costs
Most self-financing owners use their funds to cover production costs of a specific service or product, then have it returned when their clients pay up. So what happens if a particular order is too big for the business owner?
It forces them to take loans; more oversized orders mean more growth opportunities, especially for small business owners who rely on consistent purchases to thrive. So if you can’t cover this kind of cost, you will miss out on big profits.
Disadvantage: Repercussions will be borne by the Owner Alone
When a self-financed business closes down, the owner is responsible for paying the financial obligations, such as rent and salary, and other legal fees involved in the closure.
It’s extremely dangerous; not only are your funds exhausted, but you also have to spend more to compensate employees and other fees.
What Do I Need To Do To Properly Start Self Financing?
To minimize risks and ensure a healthy business venture, here are two things you should remember:
Have More Money
Save as much money as you possibly can before starting up your business. Ideally, you should be able to keep them functional for a long time, enough to guide your business into being self-sufficient.
One of your goals is to have your business become self-sufficient as fast as possible. So at early stages, focus on marketing, promotions, and quality of service to get more clients or buyers. In the long run, these clients will become your loyal customers and help you in your success.
Study and Prepare
You’re all alone in self-financing, so make sure you are skilled enough to play with the competitive market and have decent connections to set up prospective clients. Self-financing takes significant skill sets and expertise in the market to survive and grow.
Final Note
Owning a business takes a lot of skill and marketing strategies for it to thrive. Before you set out self-financing, make sure you are skilled enough to handle risks, know your way out of stagnant cash flows, and outgrow strong competitors.
