One of the most common ways we could fund our company is through debt.

Debt financing is the most common way to bring in extra cash by borrowing someone

else's money.

The key term here is borrowing.

We're promising to pay the lender back.

We're going to talk about equity financing in a bit, and

as you will see with equity financing, you don't have to pay back any of the money.

Free money.

So why would we ever borrow money then?

Well, debt financing is much easier to secure than equity financing, and

much less complicated.

There are different types of debt out there,

but on average the time it takes to obtain debt financing is far shorter than equity.

One of the biggest advantages of debt financing is that you're not

giving away ownership of the company.

Since you're paying the money back,

you don't have to give a portion of your company away.

Because debt is easier to obtain than equity, the cost of doing so

is much cheaper as well.

When raising equity funding, you're going to have to pay lawyers to

prepare all your documentation for you, and that can add up.

Finally, the cost of the money is easily measurable with debt.

When you secure debt financing, the cost of doing so

is the principle plus the interest that you have to pay back.

With equity funding, you're giving away control of the company to someone else.

The immediate effects of such actions aren't measurable.

Will that come back to hurt you in the future?

Who knows.

Still a debt isn't all good.

There's some negative aspects to obtaining debt financing.

Let's see what they are.

First, you have to pay that money back.

That's a big one and the most obvious hurdle.

You have an obligation to pay that money back in a timely manner, so

you have to make sure that whatever you pay your money on brings in extra revenue.

Having debt on your balance sheet isn't attractive.

Investors don't like it because it means you owe someone money, and

other lenders don't like it because if they give you money, there is a lower

chance they'll get it back, because you're already paying somebody else off.

If you are a small business, just starting out with not a lot of revenue,

a lot of banks asset the founder personally guaranteeing the debt,

and possibly pledge collateral.

Finally, you might have to provide detailed accounting records as well as

quarterly or annual financial statements to the lender in order to qualify.

At the end of the day, debt is not bad.

That extra cash might be all you need to get to the next level of your business.

The key, as in your personal life, is to handle debt with care and

never take on too much debt.

Now that you understand the good and bad, let's take a look at different types of

debt financing we can obtain to grow our business.

There are many sources of debt financing out there.

Let's go over some of the more common ones available to entrepreneurs.

The most common kind of debt financing that pops into everyone's head,

is a bank loan.

To obtain a bank loan for

a new business, you'll need to show a business plan or a loan proposal.

If you don't know how to write a business plan,

check out the How to Write a Business Plan course.

We basically take all the information we learned in the discovery phase, and

convert it into a traditional business plan.

In your business plan, the bank will want to know the nature of the business,

the amount of money you want from them, how you intend to spend this money and

most importantly, how you intend to pay them back.

When attempting to get a bank loan, it will help if you have a good

history with the bank you're obtaining the loan from.

If they already know you're creditworthy,

securing the loan shouldn't pose a problem.

It also helps if you have a history of running a profitable business.

Financial statements, and projections can help you greatly here.

The only snag is that when you start up a business and don't really have a track

record to prove yourself, the bank will probably ask you to guarantee the loan.

If this does occur, check if the bank will agree to

remove the guarantee after a reasonable amount of time.

Most banks also won't give you a loan unless you have revenue history for

at least one year.

Now not all banks are made equal, so shop around for good rates when you're looking.

Explore the different types of loans to make sure you get something that fits your

needs as well.

Instead of getting an installment loan,

which is a large sum of money that you would pay off,

you could get a line of credit that allows you to draw funds when you need it.

Finally, it's also important to remember that not all institutions are equal.

Large banks have a variety of products, and

it might be easier to find something that works for you.

But smaller community banks are more willing to work with you and

customize their products to fit your needs.

So, in summary, how to get a bank loan.

You start by putting together a business plan or a loan proposal.

You prepare financial statements and

projections that clearly show your ability to pay back the loan.

You present the information to the lender.

You can also reach out to your government for money.

Across the world there are different government agencies that

provide support to entrepreneurs either through loans, grants or other benefits.

This really varies on your country and

even city, so make sure you look into what options you have available to you.

While I can't go into detail about every country, I've provided plenty of

links below so you can check out what's available in your area.

The third instrument of debt that most people are familiar with is credit cards.

Quite a few entrepreneurs use credit cards to finance their businesses when they

first start out.

Just be careful though, because credit cards can be dangerous.

Treat the debt just as you would an installment loan.

Make frequent payments and get rid of it as soon as possible.

Do not accumulate that interest.

Like bank loans, not all credit cards are the same, so shop around for

rates that you can afford.

More importantly, establish strict guidelines for

yourself if you plan on using credit cards, and

keep detailed financial records of all the purchases you make.

A good rule of thumb is to never put a non-revenue generating purchase on

a credit card if you can afford to.

So use it for long-term asset purchases that will help generate revenue over time,

or for something that will help bring in money quickly like inventory.

Now those are some of the more popular types of debt instruments.

There are more out there, but

they're somewhat outside the mainstream tools that you would use.

These things include home equity lines,

retirement funds, and life insurance borrowing.

You can use those types of debt, but they're far riskier.

You could lose the asset backing the debt if your business can't pay that

money back.

Debt financing can give you the leverage you need

to build your company into something much bigger.

You can hire more people, grow faster and achieve your goals quicker.

But debt can also be very dangerous, so tread carefully and

be realistic about how much of it you can take on.