Sick of Chasing after Angels, VCs and Bankers for Funding to Grow your Business?

You might not have to anymore.

Equity Crowdfunding is giving promising young companies a chance to raise money from the crowd in a whole new way. Ever heard of it? If not, think of it like a Kickstarter campaign, but instead of a physical reward, people get shares of your company.

Sound too good to be true? It’s absolutely real: you can now sell shares of your business to almost anyone, as long as you’re incorporated, your head office is in a participating jurisdiction, you have a business plan, and you’re not doing anything illegal.You also have to raise your funds on a secure equity crowdfunding portal. Securities regulators set the rules for exactly how you can raise money.

If it seems like everywhere you look, doors are slamming and you just can’t get the money you need to grow your business, equity crowdfunding might be your answer.

That’s why experienced business plan writer and start-up coach Jessica Oman, founder of Renegade Planner, has released a free Ultimate Guide to Prepping Your Business for Equity Crowdfundingto help more business owners learn about this exciting opportunity.

When Jessica set out to learn everything she could about equity crowdfunding, she found a lot of fragmented and incomplete information that was hard for the average business owner to absorb. Seeing the need for a complete overview of equity crowdfunding, Jessica sought experts from around the world to help her create one of the first totally free, simple and concise guides to equity crowdfunding in North America specifically.

How does Equity Crowdfunding Work?

To raise any money with equity crowdfunding, you have to be totally transparent about your company’s performance and finances. This is a marketplace where the crowd gets to know everything about your business so they can make an educated decision to invest in you or not. So if you don’t have a business plan, nows the time to write one. If youve been slacking on ANY filings or taxes, catch up.

There’s an important legal component too; a securities lawyer can ensure your corporate documents are in order and help you structure your equity crowdfunding offer, including the type and price of shares. There are actually quite a few legal considerations to be made before you launch an equity crowdfunding campaign, so you must connect with a good lawyer. Yes, it costs money and no, its not the most exciting part of your campaign, but you absolutely have to do this part. Its non-negotiable.

Once all the housekeepings done, you can choose a platform to showcase your company and your equity offer. Look for a portal that offers a lot of resources to help you mount a successful campaign. Just like Kickstarter, you have to have a great marketing campaign to make sure investors know about your offer, so the more support you can get from the platform, the better.

Also take a look at the due diligence or vetting process that the platform uses. Some portals make companies apply to work with them, while others require just a simple sign-up process. Platforms also charge a fee, which could be a flat rate or a percentage of the money you raise. Fees could range from a few hundred dollars to several thousand.

Know that it will cost you some money to launch an equity crowdfunding campaign (in legal fees, platform fees, and consulting or business plan coaching fees), but it’s so worth it to know that your business is healthy and organized, you have a superb business plan, and you have an excellent crowdfunding platform to help you boost your campaign.

How Equity Crowdfunding Fills the Financing Gap

If you’re a startup owner then you know how hard it is to find financing for your business, especially if your company is really new. It’s hard to get bank financing as a new company, because you don’t have many assets and startups are considered high-risk to lenders. ManyVenture Capitalists won’t take a chance on a really small company and it’s hard to even grab their attention when thousands of new businesses are popping up all over North America every month.

With equity crowdfunding, under the correct exemptions you can raise small amounts of money from almost any member of the public, connecting your company to capital that simply wasn’t accessible until now.

And once you do, you have direct access to a group of investors who can become powerful ambassadors for your brand.

Ready to grow your business? Download your FREE Ultimate Guide to Prepping Your Business for Equity Crowdfunding and get set to skyrocket your business!

Tags: Financing, Start-Ups, Non-Accredited Investors, equity crowdfunding

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Source: Icrowdnewswire