There Has to Be Another Way

So you want to start a business? You've researched the market, figured out potential cash flow and identified your competitors. Now all you need is start-up capital. As anyone who's already tried knows, it's not quite that simple. In fact, finding the money to go from an idea to an actual business can be one of the most difficult hurdles entrepreneurs face.

This is particularly true if you've used up, or just can't access, traditional seed-financing sources: personal savings, friends or family, credit cards or personal loans from banks or other financial institutions. So what's left? Surprisingly, quite a few options, depending on who and where you are and what type of business you're starting. Here are four sources to get you going.

This article was originally published in the July 2000 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: There Has to Be Another Way.