We could all use some extra cash to fund our businesses, and from the responses I’ve gotten to this week’s posts, it’s clear that there are plenty of you who could really use an extra 500 bucks.
So I’ve compiled a list of some of the ways you could “find” $500 for your business. Some of these could net you $500 extra dollars quickly, while others may take a few months or longer. None of them are as easy as finding $500 on the sidewalk or winning the lottery, but if you’re really committed to funding your business, putting one or more of these suggestions into action can have a big impact.
Cut the cable bill. TV can be both a huge time suck and huge money suck. If you talk to many successful entrepreneurs, they’ll tell you time and time again that they don’t watch TV. Which means cutting your cable bill can free up both time AND money to spend on your business. If you absolutely need TV in the background, or can’t miss certain shows, you can swap out your cable for Netflix and watch Hulu for more current shows. Once you’ve cut the cable bill, look around for other bills that might be slashed. Gym membership you aren’t using? Take all that money and funnel it directly into the business.
Keep the change. At the end of the day, drop all your extra change into a container earmarked specifically for your business. Don’t use cash anymore? Sign up for a debit or credit card that funnels money (anywhere from a few cents to a dollar) into a savings account every time you make a purchase, and use that money for your business. Or, put yourself on a cash diet and drop the leftovers into your business fund every week.
Teach a class or workshop. Using your skills to teach others can be a great way to bring in extra cash for your business. (Not to mention provide a long term additional revenue stream for your business.) Start by checking with local craft guilds and community centers to see if they need workshop instructors. Or you could even consider teaching classes right out of your home or studio.
Add a service or custom component to your business. Running a business designing, making, and selling products often requires a lot of capitol. But parlaying your existing skills into a service component of your business can be a great way to bring in extra cash without a lot of extra cost. Designers and illustrators should consider freelance work, and others may want to focus on doing custom designed pieces.
Ask your friends and family (for cash). Sometimes what you really just need is a loan, and before you start begging banks, you might want to make the rounds with your family and friends. Just make sure you draw up an agreement that includes terms and a payback schedule so that you can avoid feeling too guilty when you see Uncle Artie at Thanksgiving dinner.
Ask your friends and family (for gifts). Let you family and friends know that the best gift they can give you this year is an investment in your business. I mean, do you really need another sweater? You can ask them for cash to fund the business, or give them a list of the tools, materials, and supplies that you’re in need of most. (This is also a great tactic if you’re still in school and working in a communal studio. Every Christmas during college, I asked for an assortment of tools – including a torch – so that by the time I graduated I had a studio of my own ready to set up.)
Kickstart it. Got a project you’re particularly interested in getting funded? Kickstarter is a website that allows you to post a project and then have members of the community make donations. Donors only pay if the project gets 100% of its requested funding, so use it to fund a really great project that you can get lots of people excited about.
Put it on a credit card. While I don’t recommend using your credit card to finance thousands of dollars (there are smarter solutions with better interest rates), if you just need a boost and know you can pay it back in a few months, a credit card can be a viable option. Apply for a credit card just for your business, and request a really low credit limit. (Such as $1,000.) Then keep the card on hand for situations where cash flow is a little tight, like in the few weeks leading up to a big craft show where you’ll be spending a lot of inventory, marketing, and display, but are likely to make that money back. Bonus: Pick a card with a good rewards program and use it rack up miles for that trade show in Vegas next year.
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments – what strategies have you used or are you planning to use to fund your business?
{moneybag wallet by chakrapennywhistle on Etsy}
Darlene
THANK YOU for giving actual, concrete, realistic ways to find some cash other than the same advice that’s in every other how-to-save-money article out there! (If I have to read one more time that I should give up my nonexistent latte habit or cut back on driving the car I don’t have, I’m going to scream! 🙂 )
Kickstarter sounds really interesting — I’m definitely going to look into that!
megan auman
thanks darlene – apparently you aren’t the only one whose tired of that same old advice. I’ve actually been reading a lot of financial advice lately that says it’s ok to keep your daily latte as long as you can work it into a responsible budget.
Tara - Scoutie Girl
Thank god for that 😉
Xmittens
You are too funny, Tara!
Also, I just wanted to say that it can be really fun and creative to be frugal. You can make it a fun challenge to come up with free and cheap alternatives. Just make sure you account for any extra time you might have to put in…it may not equal out.
Also, my best trick to saving money is…ordering books and movies to borrow from the library. Rather than go to amazon, or a book store, I get them free from the library, but still get the mini-shopping buzz from scoping out the website first.
And one more idea to make some extra cash is to have a trunk show at a local shop, or a home/studio show. You can keep the costs down by promoting it mainly online while attracting customers who want to meet the artist.
Meredith
Loving your posts this week!
megan auman
thanks meredith!
Karen
so are you planning on going to that trade show in vegas next year?!
megan auman
No, but i figured i didn’t need frequent flier miles to go to New York! Perhaps I should have said a trade show in LA instead.
Joy
You can always name drop our little show in LA. ; ) Anytime you’re in need. Great article btw! As always-
Sierra
Great post Megan, I second what Meredith said..loving this week!
To add on to your cash idea…if you are the type to follow a weekly budget and take out a certain amount of cash each week (for things you know you’ll need, like a yoga class or a latte habit and a bit extra for unscheduled expenses such as gum or a car wash) then you can take the left over amount at the end of the week and stash it aside for supplies or something extra for your business. It will make you think twice about buying breakfast out if you have an idea of what you could get if you don’t!
Wendi Gratz
When my daughter was born and we decided for my husband to stay home with her, we had to take a long hard look at our finances and make some cuts. We were kind of shocked to see how some things added up! No latte habits here – but we found out we were spending more than a mortgage payment on books every month! We love books and love buying them to support authors out there (and my husband is a writer) but the $ we were spending was crazy. Here’s what worked for us – for one month save EVERY receipt for EVERY purchase. Total them up and see where your money is going and then you can see where you can cut. Then we set a budget for each spending category. For a few months we kept tracking our expenses to see if we were sticking to it – but after a while we started to get a feel for a new (reasonable) level of spending and didn’t need to track things so closely. It worked. He’s a published author now with several books out, I’ve cut down to part-time and we’re looking to make the leap to full self-employment for me too sometime in 2011.
Andrea
My husband and I do save LOTS of money by doing 2 things that have almost no impact on our day to day lives. We have a jar for change and throw all our change into it. Every 1-2 months we have about $60 from this. When we change it in at the grocery store we can either get 90% as cash, or 100% as an Amazon gift card which we then use to buy things we need. We also have a little wooden box in our kitchen that we throw our one dollar bills into whenever we have them. We garner another $50-$100 or so every month this way and use it to fund our entertainment or large purchases. It’s amazing how you just don’t miss those little ones. That’s not to say we don’t need them, but when I don’t have singles in my wallet, I’m less likely to buy the little things like a cup of coffee when I’m out than if I knew I had a couple of ones floating around in my bag. We’re taking a trip to Portland for a week later this month and we saved almost $700 this way over the last 3 months to pay for all of our entertainment/food while we’re there. It really works for us and might be a good way for someone to save money to invest in their small business too.
Marie Noelle Marineau
Thanks for those good ideas! I mean, who seriously need cable and hundred of channels? And it is SO expensive for what? For wasting our time!
All of these ideas are concrete and can (almost) easily be done. Thank you!
Stephanie
These are all fantastic ideas!
I used a credit card to pay for all the startup costs for my business. I only spent a few hundred dollars on my supplies and display stuff, and by the time the first credit card bill was due, I was able to pay it off in full!
I have to say, though, I am pretty reluctant to put any money earned from my day job into my business. Part of my goal was to make my jewelry business self-sustaining from the start, and I’m really proud of myself for achieving that goal. It’s been a little over a year and I haven’t had to put any of my own money into my business. In fact, I’ve been able to withdraw some of the profits to treat myself here and there, and I’m hoping to have enough of a profit by the end of the year to buy myself a laptop! 🙂
Anarnia
Awesome! ok yes, this refresher is exactly what I need at this momento! I really plan to apply all of these tactics this year in 2012! Some of us have to crawl before walking 😀