January 13, 2022

2 min read Every startup eventually asks the question: “Where will our funding come from?” There are several sources of funding that your organization can tap into. Some of the most common funding sources include consultation, contractor, crowdfunding, and supplier funding. Let’s take a closer look at each. Consultation Funding Consultation funding is using consultation work to pay the bills and salaries while you are building out your product. Consider looking for consultation work in addition to selling the product as some customers want more assistance in installing and using the product than in just buying the product itself.  The consultation also brings new insight into how the customer intends to use the product and what problem they are trying to solve. This is useful information to guide your product roadmap. Consulting work gives you more information about the market and the competition as you’ll encounter competitive solutions. This is also a great way to generate positive references to use when you launch your standard product into the market. While consulting may not be your ultimate goal, it can be a useful way to fund a portion of your product development. Contractor Funding Many enterprise software programs come from service businesses solving a problem for their clients. In searching for a solution on the market, they find none, so they build their own. Later, other clients come ready to buy it. This is one of the most overlooked forms of funding in the startup space. In contractor funding, you sell a customized version of what you want to build to an anchor customer for a substantial one-time fee and then use the funds to build out the platform you envision of which the customer gets a non-exclusive license.   The advantage here is you have a customer telling you exactly what they need and what they will pay for. They improve the product by testing it and telling you what changes to make. They become a happy customer that you can use to attract prospective customers. After three more of these engagements, you will have $1M of investment in your platform with zero dilution. Crowdfunding Crowdfunding can be sourced as prepayment for a good or service, or from accredited or non-accredited investors. Prepayments let you pre-sell your product before you build it. This works best for physical products that require funding for the design and manufacturing of the product. It’s a great way to test the market for a new product as it provides customer feedback on the product, price, and promotion. There are several platforms available for showcasing your product. There’s also crowdfunding from non-accredited investors. On these platforms, anyone can invest in your startup. It is for equity, so you need to understand the implications of it on your cap table. Finally, there’s crowdfunding from accredited investors which is no different than raising funding through angel investors and venture capitalists. The only difference is using a crowdfunding platform to find and engage the investors. There are a growing number of crowdfunding portals offering both general and specialized sites. Crowdfunding works well for startups with a product that is clear to grasp and easy to understand.  Supplier Funding Another source of funding is supplier funding. Supplier funding comes from those who provide services to your company such as contract manufacturing, software development, legal, accounting services, and more. Suppliers provide their services in exchange not only for cash but also for equity. This reduces the amount of equity funding you need to raise from investors. Contract manufacturers will invest in your business and in exchange they look for the startup to use their manufacturing services. Software development firms invest in startups by taking a portion of their software development fee in the form of equity. There are other examples, including lawyers and accountants who provide services in return for equity. This aligns their interest with your interest as the business must succeed for the equity to be worth something.  Hall T. Martin is the founder and CEO of the TEN Capital Network. TEN Capital has been connecting startups with investors for over ten years. You can connect with Hall about fundraising, business growth, and emerging technologies via LinkedIn or email: hallmartin@tencapital.group