In recent years, the corporate finance world has seen a dramatic transition. As many as fifty financial products and services are available today, catering to various sets and subsets of business loan seekers. These products have made it very difficult for a first-time credit seeker to select a financial vehicle that will enable his/her business to expand. Below is comparing two such financial products that provide small businesses and startups with financing, i.e., crowdfunding and small business loans.
What is Crowdfunding?
Crowdfunding is a relatively new phenomenon. A corporation receives sponsorship from different individuals/investors through small donations/bonds during crowdfunding. The company agrees to sell a product niche or equity share of the company. Business people commonly use crowdfunding to raise funds for their ventures. The money comes from crowdfunding platforms, where people can list their ideas or products. The money is generated by online payment methods by interested persons/investors to fund the idea or project.
Features of Crowdfunding
As crowdfunding’s success depends upon persuading individual investors or investment groups to come together in support of your project, it will enable you to use your potential customer base securely before you start your business.
This means that before you spend more time and resources on your idea. Your campaign won’t take off, you won’t have access to capital, and you’ll be able to go back to the drawing board if there’s not enough appeal.
However, crowdfunding needs a lot of upfront effort and manual labor on your side, and your campaign can always be ineffective, and it will all be in vain. You’ll need to have a solid, multi-faceted marketing strategy to pull in pledges. You would also need to keep up with administrative work, such as corresponding follow-up and investor follow-up.
What are Small Business Loans?
Ever since its inception, business loans have been an integral part of the banking system. However, the main focus of banks providing company loans has always been one big, commercial customer. Consequently, small business owners had to rely on lenders of private money and proxy financial assistance to get financing. To say the least, the terms of those private-sector loans were very exploitative. The loans offered by NBFCs are designed for specific business needs and thus have terms that fit the financial resources of a small or medium enterprise. These loans are thus called small business loans.
There are low business loan interest rates and a shorter repayment window for small business loans than a conventional business loan. Therefore, small business loans are usually unsecured loans and are thus more appealing to SME owners who do not have significant collateral assets.
Features of Small Business Loans
Conventional bank loans can come with strict conditions for application/approval and bring a little more risk upfront. It is also worth noting that unlike equity crowdfunding, which allows you to give equity in your company to investors until a business loan is paid in full, your company’s ownership is entirely yours.
At the end of the day, you can only know which choice is best matched with your particular circumstance and priorities. Examine should choose thoroughly and consult with a small business advisor or mentor to help if necessary.
Conclusion
Since a crowdfunding campaign’s success depends entirely on the interests of individuals or investors, it is not a viable business financing choice for all SME borrowers. A crowdfunding advantage is that it helps you gauge the public’s interest in your concept or product. But that too needs a lot of immediate effort, and on your side, the preliminary investment could be involved. Thus, if the crowdfunding campaign fails, both time and money will be wasted.
On the other hand, your budding company can get more secure business financing through small business lending, particularly from non-banking lending platforms. Thus, business loans are not disadvantaged as they offer everything from financing required to lower interest rates and flexible reimbursement opportunities to make the business idea work.
