Tips to help investors show you the money

Perhaps the most daunting task on an entrepreneur's to-do list these days is obtaining funding for a new business.

Business owners often turn to online business solution providers for help with business name registration, trademark registration and even designing a company logo.

However, the art of asking for money requires a good business plan and typically some face time with the small business owner for financiers to feel comfortable giving them money - especially during a recession.

Some business owners are looking a bit closer to home to solve these funding woes.

According to an article in Entrepreneur, experts suggest that obtaining business loans from friends and family is a fairly common practice when it comes to start-up funding.

By borrowing from relatives or friends, both parties benefit says the magazine. Business owners benefit from an interest rate lower than from a bank, while familial lenders can earn a bit more than a high yield savings rate.

Borrow from yourself too, advises the magazine. "Entrepreneurs tend to rely on their savings for about 30 percent of their initial startup funding," says the article.

But if an entrepreneur does intend to look outside the family circle for financing, a number of people are increasingly using the web to connect with business partners and funding resources.

The internet is playing another role in helping new business owners get up and running.

According to an article in the New York Times, economists say that the internet has acted as an "extraordinary tool" to help entrepreneurs reduce costs for bookkeeping, interacting with customers and scaling up a small idea into something bigger.

In the article, the executive director of the entrepreneurship program at the University of San Francisco says that small businesses can achieve big results when starting a new business after being laid off from a large corporation.

Mark V. Cannice says, "If there is a silver lining, the large-scale downsizing from major companies will release a lot of new entrepreneurial talent and ideas - scientists, engineers, business folks now looking to do other things."

A number of small businesses born during economic downtimes have flourished and grown into industry giants, including such well-known brands as FedEx, General Motors and Procter & Gamble.

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