A10. Is FUNDING essential to have your 1st Million?

Well without funding nothing can work but it is a thing which is seldom available.

Whether it is yet to start this could be a problem but this is an ever going problem even when you are running business successfully.

It is quite true that a successful business man will not have money lying idle in bank accounts or in safe. His money will be used intelligently to make more money and so on.

Except for very few of those who are lucky to blessed with generous Venture capitalist funding, most of new start ups will have to face this issue.

How can others put fund to it when even family or friends don’t support it despite knowing him for decades. In many cases the promoter himself don’t wish to fund himself and dreams of relying on others to invest in him.

Banks and financial institutions needs guarantee or collaterals which might be quite tough especially in start up times.

So how to go about it. There are 1000s of books on the subject how to get funded. So I need not to repeat the same.

What author did and wish to suggest is:

Invest in yourself

Try to get support from your family or friends –and give them better returns.

No matter what-you succeed or fail-return their loans.

Even if you fail, keep repaying even if it $1 a month to prove you are credible and honest.

Get it going

In due course of this journey, God will send you some angels to help out in one form or other to get you going

Some of such unknown angels are

Some suppliers who can give you credit once they develop trust with you

Some customers who can send money before they get goods.

Some Biz associates who like your way of working or concepts

And by then some banks may also be considering you.

These are one of most easy funding ways and that too without any interest or cost of capital but cannot come into place if you don’t start.

Even as of now despite being a millionaire and proven successful many times and in many domains I still find challenge to get new project funded because I am unable to  convince most of investors.

Why?

All of my projects are unique and new n with no precedent or past experience.

And I won’t put rosy but hazy plans to bluff with fantastic projections. I believe in- Commit less & do more but most of investor wants to see more first.

I usually estimate – cost to be on higher side and revenue to be on lower side –to be safe in worst case scenario but that generally don’t work for investors.

Some of My friends don’t know even my business capabilities.

Also is common saying that when money is involved in friendship one looses both- friend as well as money.

Even if they are convinced with my project or me, the terms they may be expecting is not balanced to each other.

So even for me a number of projects which could have made me grow multiple times was not executed off for simple reason – lack of funds.

Then how was I able to make progress despite all such problems

I worked in same way as I explained above;

I invested in my decision upto the extent of my all savings or assets; 

Even borrowed on heavy interest or profit sharing;

I proved and proved –that I am a trustable to customer, to supplier, to banks.

On some projects, which I could kickstart;

I kept working in direction I decided;

I kept working even when most may give up;

I was able to make it successful somehow.

Now all who know me believes- I will do what I say or think

Even if it may sound incredible at 1st, I will do what I decide upto extreme, no matter I succeed or fail.

Being a foreigner –to get funded is almost nightmare when I had no collateral. Almost 10+ yrs of doing  $ 30-40 million per annum business I was not having any banking credit lines of single $.

Even when I had collateral to give security- banks will be generally loan only 60-70% as compared to 75-90% for locals or PRs which is almost double of investment I need to start something new.

Somehow most of banks in Singapore have a mindset that locals and PR are more reliable than foreigners. They just think that foreigner can run away anytime but don’t realize that they cannot take property or land with him & it is same mortgage or charge which they put to locals. Hope they shall correct in due course and wont have different policies.

But Many times it worked and in fact worked very well most of time

Actually I had no other choice.

When I was successful I thought to help a handful within my means which may have same funding problems.

I made a TV show and tried to identify potential business to help them to fund but I was shocked to see that the contestants even decided NOT to get funded despite being offered a good shareholding for their efforts.