Where’s the Seed Money? How Startups Grow and a Chance to Win $5,000 for Your Small Business
So you’re looking to start a company but where can you find the funding? As the economy recovers from the recession in 2008, more and more brave entrepreneurs are hoping to start new business ventures but getting financing can be a struggle.
In fact, the majority of startups (80%) are self-funded according to a 2013 survey by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and LegalZoom. 20% of new small business owners were fortunate enough to receive funding through a family member loan, bank or home equity loan, or other outsider investors. Also, 60% of startup owners said launching was a challenge with half of them reporting lack of credit access as their biggest problem. People have also been able to successfully launch companies using crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. These sites can be great avenues for validating new ideas and gaining traction within the marketplace, but keep in mind each campaign still required a ton of time and effort.
What are the top new businesses gaining traction?
1. Consulting – 11.6%
2. Other Services – 6.6%
3. Internet – 5.5%
4. Real Estate – 5.4%
5. Business Services 5.2%
It doesn’t happen overnight
Just because you started a great new business doesn’t mean things are going to happen overnight. 60% of owners spend half a year planning their ideas before making a move, and 21% take 1 to 3 years developing their ideas before launching. That’s a long time to not be making anything! Just take it from me, it takes a strong mental fortitude to create something from scratch these days and it can feel like forever until the business becomes sustaining. And many never do! That’s a tough pill to swallow before jumping into the startup pool. 82% of new businesses reported revenues below $50,000, whereas only 1.2% generated over $1 million. So 70% of small businesses only end up employing the owner or up to at most 4 employees. Starting a new business can have a slim margin for success early on, but it will never happen if you don’t try. And awesome companies like Intuit have programs to help encourage small businesses to grow!
Intuit is granting 15 wishes to help small business spring forward this season
Intuit is helping small businesses grow strong by granting 15 wishes for local businesses. You can submit your wish (anything you need worth up to $5,000) between April 2nd and May 12th, and it just might get granted!
Our wish is to create an awesome new video or motion graphic to demo our social network launch. You can check out our small business wish here.
Find out more:
What’s your small business wish?
