You’re Sitting on Startup Money and Don’t Even Know It

Self-funding doesn't have to mean emptying your savings account. You can bootstrap your company using strategies most entrepreneurs overlook. Some are unconventional. Some require creativity. None of them require a massive bank balance or perfect credit score.

Here are six:

1. Vendor credit or payment terms. Most suppliers offer net-30, net-60 or even net-90 payment terms. Translation: you get the inventory or materials now and pay later. This keeps more cash in your pocket upfront and gives you time to sell products before the bill comes due.

2. Pre-selling your product or service. Why wait to collect money when you can get paid before you deliver? Tough Mudder funded entire events by pre-selling race registrations. Customers reserved their spots for race day and the company got cash to build obstacle courses. Everyone wins.

3. Selling personal assets. Turn unused equipment, vehicles or collectibles into startup capital. Steve Jobs sold his VW van and Steve Wozniak sold his HP calculator to fund Apple's first production run. You might have something sitting around doing nothing that could become working capital. Try Facebook Marketplace for offloading the goods.

4. Bartering services or products. Got skills? Trade them. A marketing consultant swaps strategy work for accounting services. A coffee shop owner provides product to a contractor in exchange for buildout help. It's old school but it works. Just make sure you formalize the arrangement so everyone knows what they're getting.

5. Crowdfunding. Pre-validate your idea and collect cash from early supporters before you build. Platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo let you test market demand while getting paid upfront. Bonus benefit: you get proof of concept at the same time.

6. Sweat equity. Work for free now and put every dollar the business generates right back into operations. It's not glamorous but it's how a lot of successful companies got their start. Private businesses generate over 60% of annual business net income in the U.S., and much of that value comes from hours owners invest before they can afford to pay themselves.

Here's one final tip: self-funding works best when you stack multiple resources together. Combine vendor terms with sweat equity, add crowdfunding to personal assets or blend pre-sales with bartering. Pick the best fit for your situation and start building.

Want the full playbook on funding your business? I cover these strategies and more in my books Your First Business Blueprint and Blueprints Beat Cocktail Napkins. And here's something new: I'm working on The Business Money Blueprint, a comprehensive book on small business funding. Publishers abandoned this topic assuming everything moved online, but entrepreneurs still need a real roadmap. Coming soon.