- Getting Money for Good Ideas
- Business-plan competitions tend to draw cutthroat b-school students. But entrepreneurs with lofty social goals are also increasingly entering the fray--and winning.
- How to Win Big and Get Ahead Fast
- Once academic exercises for eggheads, college business-plan contests now offer competitors the chance to win sizeable chunks of cash and launch a business. No surprise: Entrepreneurs have begun to horn in on the action.
- Capital Customer
- Use your first customer to help fund your new business.
- Financing Your Business: A Case for Using Some of Your IRA, SEP, or 401(k)
- Tap into your retirement kitty to fund your business venture.
- Seed Capital: The 12-Step Program
- The secret to funding a start-up, one owner learned, is to tap every capital source you can.
- From Steak Holders to Stakeholders
- The story of how an entrepreneur turned to his community to raise funds to open a supermarket.
Use Credit Cards
Plastic can jump-start any business, but use it wisely.
- Charging Ahead
- Half of all start-ups are financed with credit cards. But be careful: Sky-high interest could bury you for years.
- Credit Where Credit Is Due: Using Plastic to Finance Your Start-Up
- Financing your business on credit cards may save time and allow you to keep business expenses separate from personal ones. But without careful management, credit cards can quickly put your start-up on the sidelines.
- Committing Your Nickel
- Starting a business usually involves committing personal finances. To fund the business and keep a roof over one's head, the entrepreneur must maximize assets, minimize expenses, and use credit judiciously.
- House of Cards
- Ten tips for keeping your credit in check.
