Ka-Neng Au and Theo Haynes
Business Librarians
au@newark.rutgers.edu
1 April 2008

Research Resources: Subject Research Guides: Business:
Financing Your Business

a Reference Site of DiversityBusiness.com

It is not an easy task to raise funds, whether you are doing it for your business or for a nonprofit organization. It takes time to prepare and no small amount of perseverence to present your case, in person, to some potential investor or lender. On the Internet, you can get some free advice and guidance, along with lists of firms which stand ready to serve you (and their own interests). You can "advertise" your need for financing, or you can make your pitch directly to a venture capital firm or other financial institution.

Business Plans
Financial Institutions
Microfinance
Venture Capital
Direct Public Offerings
Other Sources

A. Business Plans and the Credit Process

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has written a comprehensive document entitled The Credit Process: A Guide for Small Business Owners with sections on what lenders expect to see in a business plan.

PriceWaterhouseCoopers offers this guide: Developing the Business Plan for Your Rapidly Growing Company

Other sites offering help with business plans include:

Business Plans Handbook (Gale)
Center for Business Planning
Creating an Effective Business Plan (American Express)
Developing a Successful Business Plan (BizMove.com)
Developing a Winning Business Plan (New Jersey SBDC)
Elements of Your Business Plan (New Jersey State Government)
Essential Elements of a Good Business Plan for Growing Companies (U.S. SBA)
Free Sample Business Plans (bplans.com)
Guide to Producing a Business Plan (E&Y United Kingdom)
Sample Business Plans and "How-to" Guides (Small Business British Columbia)
Sample Business Plan Components (CCH Business Owner's Toolkit)
Small Business Advancement National Center: Business Plan

Frederick Pearce shares some creative ideas for financing via his Raise Money for your Business Without Asking Your Bank Manager webpage.

Some useful books are:

Anatomy of a Business Plan : A Step-By-Step Guide to Starting Smart, Building the Business and Securing your Company's Future, by Linda Pinson. Dearborn, 2001.
Excellent guide to the whole process. Some worksheets and forms, both blank and filled-in, are provided.
DANA REF, KILMER REF HD 30.28 .P5

Business Plans Handbook. Multiple volumes. Gale Research, 1995- .
A compilation of actual business plans developed by small businesses throughhout North America.
CAMDEN RESERVE, DANA REF, KILMER REF HD 62.7 .B865

CPA's Guide to Developing Effective Business Plans, by Tim Berry. Aspen Law & Business, 2001.
KILMER HD 30.28 .C698

Entrepreneur Group's business start-up manuals This large set has business plans for specific types of small businesses.
CAMDEN RESERVE, DANA REF HD 62.7 .A32

The International Instant Business Plan Book: 12 Quick-And-Easy Steps to a Profitable Business, by Gustav Berle and Paul Kirschner. Puma Publishing, 1996.
Provides information on business opportunities in dozens of countries around the world, along with a twelve-step plan for developing a business plan.
DANA REF, KILMER REF HD 62.4 .B477

B. Banks and other Financial Institutions

If you choose to consider a banker, here are a couple of Web-based directories; more may be found on the Banks and Financial Services Research Guide.

And there's Financial Assistance from the U.S. Small Business Administration, through loan guarantees and workshops.

C. Microfinance

Some financial institutions and non-profit organizations are prepared to provide funding to start-ups with little collateral or limited credit history. Start by browsing the resources of the Association for Enterprise Opportunity, "the national association of organizations committed to microenterprise development," including a listing of microlenders by state.

Some notable organizations include:

Microfinance has also gone online, with individual lenders being matched with individual borrowers, sometimes within a particular social network. Some examples:

D. Venture Capital

Venture Capital Links from the Capital Connection provides links to dozens of venture capital firms, as well as to several free services.

There are also many companies listed at the Venture Capital Resource Library. This site also allows you to post your investment opportunity (or read someone else's business plan).

Yet another directory of firms is Envista's Private Equity Links.

And you can find out which regions and what industries have received investor interest, in the quarterly PriceWaterhouseCoopers Money Tree Survey of the venture capital community.

The most comprehensive directory of venture capital firms is Pratt's Guide to Private Equity Sources (formerly Pratt's Guide to Venture Capital Sources).
DANA, KILMER REF HG 64 .P73

Other titles include:

Directory Of Venture Capital. John Wiley, 2002.
KILMER REF Business Counter 1

Directory Of Venture Capital Firms: Domestic & International. Grey House, 2004.
KILMER REF Business Counter 1

The Gold Book Of Venture Capital Firms. Kennedy Information, 1999.
KILMER REF HG 4963 .G65

"Angel investors" are another source of potential funding. Members and affiliates of the Angel Capital Association are listed on the Directory of Angel Organizations.

E. Direct Public Offerings

You can also raise capital by making a direct public offering of your shares to your customers, distributors, and other affinity groups. Pros and cons are discussed in this Direct Public Offering overview from GoPublicToday.com.

Take a Screen Test for a Direct Public Offering from Drew Field Direct Public Offerings to determine if your company is a good candidate.

F. Other Sources

Many free tips may be found by going through the following:

Business Owner's Idea Cafe has a section called Financing Your Biz
Getting Financing for Your Business (CCH Business Owner's Toolkit)
How to Prepare and Present a Successful Funding Request

And you can search the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance for information on government programs.