Financing a marketing business can be pretty tough, just like marketing any business. Marketing isn’t easy. You need the right software, employees, a website, contacts and much more to get it running well and it can cost a fair bit of cash. Some budgets can be started on a budget, but as soon as you land your first client you’ll realize that you’ll need to outsource or recruit as marketing campaigns can be time intensive. Here are some tips on how to finance your marketing business.
Partner Up With Other Marketing Experts
Marketing requires knowledge and knowhow to do it properly. At the same time, each industry or business type might need to approach marketing in a bespoke way. This is why it can be better to partner up with other marketing experts before launching your business. You’ll have a wider range of expertise than if you just launched with yourself. They can bring money to the table with which to launch, and you can then share the financial burden of the business going forward. With two of you, it’ll be far easier to pull in leads too.
Ask Friends And Family
Finding money is hard, and the banks can sometimes give you pretty poor rates for business lending. It’s why asking friends and family is certainly a viable option. You need to make it as official as possible to give them peace of mind. Draw up a promissory note using a promissory note template and make sure it’s signed and witnessed. You need to make sure you set fair repayment terms too. Don’t overcommit, but at the same time make sure they’re happy with what you’re paying back.
The one thing you don’t want to do is ruin any friendships or relationships over money, so make sure the people you’re lending off can afford it and that you’re not putting them in an awkward position before asking the question.
Can A Combinator Help
If your marketing business has a unique angle, or you’re bringing some big clients from your old business it might be possible to look at combinators and accelerators for help. These can inject substantial amounts of money into the business to help it get off the floor. Your marketing ideas need to be top notch and you’ll need to occupy a good space. Application can take a while and you really need to make sure that your application is as best as it possibly can be before applying because you’ll be going up against other good businesses for consideration. These combinators can’t invest in everybody.
Stay Freelance
Sometimes staying as a freelance marketer is the right option to take. Setting up a business costs a lot of money and if you’ve got a decent client base as a freelancer you won’t necessarily need to create a business yet. Save up some more, make sure you know how much things are going to cost and then purchase once you’re in a better place to do so. Don’t push to finance a business when you’re not their financially because you can bet there will be some extra costs you didn’t foresee which can throw your whole budget off plan.
Getting Accounts In The Right Order
Once you’ve financed your business you need to make sure you start keeping your accounts up to date. If you’re not used to bookkeeping on any level it can be pretty difficult. It can be even harder if you have to calculate more complex elements of accounting like depreciation or embedded leases. It might be worth getting an accountant or hiring a bookkeeper to help you out. If your accounts are in the right order and have been kept up to date, you’ll find it a lot easier to keep things in check. If you ever need more financing in place the fact you can properly handle finances and keep things in order will stand you in good stead too.