Maintenance Care CEO, Dan Roberge, and his busines partners had a choice to make when starting the company we now know as Maintenance Care a CMMS software. Dan Roberge talked about some of the pitfalls that some may encounter when starting their own business in an article written for business.com, here are some highlights from the article.
When starting your own business, unless you have plenty of savings or sonmeone who is fronting the money, you need to think about how you plan to fund your company. Two choices that will focus on today is self-funding and outside funding. Here are some insight on what may work best for you.
Outside Funding
There are a few issues with outside funding but not everyone has the money to do it on their own at first. Outside funding encompasses a variety of ways to get the money you need such as angel investors, bank loans, venture capitalists, and more.
A few of the problems with outside funding include:
- Getting funding in the first place. Often, banks will not give you capital without your company having money in the first place.
- With investors, you often give them part of your business or the ability to control part of your business and that leaves you not owning 100% of what you have built.
- By taking outside funding, you owe the money and it is often harder to start making a solid income or getting the company to where it is making a profit.
"We knew that if we declined the investment offers, the road to success was going to be longer and harder, but the payoff would also be bigger in the end. For me, the most important thing was maintaining control of my company and vision. I didn't want to give that away" says Dan Roberge, CEO of Maintenance Care.
Read More: Crazy or Crazy Like A Fox? Dan's Story About Self-Funding Maintenance Care
Self-Funding Your Business
Self-Funding is something that is harder to do and will often take longer, but it can be done. Dan Roberge was recently published on Business.com telling his story about self-funding. Here are a few things he says to keep in mind that will help make the process easier.
- Pay as few people as possible when starting out. If you can run your company on a skeleton crew – do it. Why pay out money to others if you can possibly do it yourself and save money?
- Maintain an outside income. If you have a job already, keep it while you are getting your business off the ground. You have income coming in and can still focus on your company that way.
- Be flexible. Work as hard as you can and be prepared to make sacrifices.
- Pay your bills. The money goes fast but by paying off credit cards and monies owed, you can get a larger line of credit when you need it by having a good history of payment.
- Get as much credit as possible. Get credit when you can and as much as possible so that if you need it later, it’s there.
- Find happiness in the little victories. No matter how small the victories, be happy. Even if it’s your first customer or first payment – those are victories.
- Be patient. Last but not least, it takes time but have patience and things will pay off in the end.
With patience, determination and a lot of long hours and hard work, your dream of business ownership could also become a reality. Don't give up!
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