Traditional banks and credit unions typically serve both consumer and commercial customers providing a full suite of personal and business banking solutions.

Consumer and business credit cards are unsecured (uncollateralized) debt with interest rates from 0% (usually short-term introductory) to 28% (usually a penalty rate).

Equipment Financing are loan programs specifically designed for borrowing to purchase different equipment, where the equipment is also collateral for the loan.

One of the most common forms of debt capital is loans from friends and family. Whether used for startup or expansion capital, it’s best to treat this source of capital with the same diligence and reverence as any other loan.

Hundreds of direct loan and finance programs exist from city, county, state, and federal agencies.

Several government loan guarantee programs exist through state and federally funded programs.

Home Equity Lines of Credit leverage personal home equity built up over time on residential property.

Several different international trade financing options are available including export working capital, term loans, and export credit insurance.

Sometimes leasing can be an option for gaining access to new (and used) vehicles and other capital equipment.

Lines of Credit are obtained from banks and credit unions for covering short-term working capital needs such as employee payroll, labor, materials, payables, and inventory while waiting for receivables to be paid.

With vendor terms, a company benefits from the generosity of its suppliers to “finance” the purchasing of goods or services with a promise to repay within a given timeframe as agreed.

Asset-based lenders (ABL) use business assets as collateral to provide entrepreneurs access to non-bank lines of credit or term loan products oftentimes to meet business cash flow or working capital requirements.

Creative entrepreneurs sometimes use Certificate of Deposit Accounts (CDs) pledged by friends and family to fill much-needed collateral gaps when their personal and business assets fall short of a bank’s collateral requirements to complete a loan request.

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Certified Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and non-traditional lenders fill the gaps where traditional lenders leave off.

When lines of credit are not available, factoring may be a short-term cash flow management solution to explore.

Merchant Cash Advances or MCA is a type of upfront term loan for working capital typically repaid with high-interest rates out of a merchant services account.

Several online non-traditional lenders serve small business capital needs with term loans and working capital lines of credit.

Prepaid sales, also know as unearned revenues are sometimes used as a debt-based crowdfunding strategy.

Seller Carry also known as “Owner Carry” or a “Seller Carry Contract” is when the owner/seller of an asset (equipment, real estate, business acquisition) self-finances, via a direct loan with interest to the buyer.

Angel Investors, Angel Conferences, and Private Equity firms are other sources of equity funding that can bring startup or growth capital into a business.

Business partners are another potential source of equity funding that can bring startup or expansion capital into a business.

When friends and family make equity contributions to help start or grow a business in the form of cash or business assets, it makes them investors and part owners in the company.

Owner equity is the cash founders put into the business anytime, whether starting or growing the business or investing personal cash into the business to bolster slow periods of low cash flow.

Angel Investors, Angel Conferences, and Private Equity firms are other sources of equity funding.

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The development of the global crowdfunding space and associated online platforms has resulted in a few domestic equity-based crowdfunding platforms for entrepreneurs to choose from.

Grants are outside cash contributions sourced from different types of public, private, and nonprofit organizations.

While not technically equity, licensing pays the owner (usually) a one-time upfront fee in exchange for providing use of something or access to information, intellectual property, process, or activity.

After readily accessible capital sources are exhausted, some entrepreneurs may be tempted to look at retirement funds as an option for shoring up small startup budgets, filling expansion capital needs, or adding working capital when cash flow is tight.

One of the most common forms of crowdfunding is reward-based, where crowd funders provide monetary contributions, oftentimes through an online platform like Kickstarter.com, in exchange for the promise of tangible and intangible rewards.

While not technically equity, royalties are a type of licensing fee paid to owners based on asset usage often calculated as a percentage of sales revenue.

Seed funds provide small start-up capital investments in exchange for a small amount of equity, mentoring, and sometimes incubator space.