Think you need a loan before you can start your business? Discover the counter-intuitive secret to securing funding by taking action first.
Let’s discuss the fascinating paradox of entrepreneurship. The chicken-or-the-billion-dollar-egg dilemma. You have an idea that can change the world, you are self-motivated and have a vision of success that is so vivid that you can almost taste it, but there is a roadblock, a massive one. That roadblock resembles a dollar sign and has stern-faced loan officers guarding it. On one side, “I can’t start your business until I have funds” and the other side screaming back “We can’t provide the funds unless you start your business.” At that point, I can understand doing the curls and bed yoga and dreaming about a nine-to-five job. But what if the entire mindset is turned around? What if I say that the most powerful thing you can do when you need a loan is to start your business right now without any outside funding.
Flipping the Script: Why Action Attracts Cash
Now let’s ponder the other side, from the lender’s perspective. Picture this. An entrepreneur walks into your office and says, “I have a brilliant idea of a gourmet cat food delivery service. I need ₹50,000.” As a lender, you would be left without any cash to give and only words and excitement to go with. That is a risk, a huge one.
Let’s say a customer enters the store, and states, “I want to discuss scaling my gourmet cat food business. I did a pilot from my house three months back. I coded a website, created an Instagram which has 1.5k follows, and literally sold 400+ subscription boxes just from organic marketing and a farmers market stall. Oh, and my website is outdoing my expectations. I also have customer appreciation letters, sales analytics, and a step by step scaling the production plan.”
You know for a fact who you’re giving the money to. Of course the last person. Unlike the first, the second came prepared, proved the concept, and eliminated the risk. This is the separation you need to have. If you intend to launch your company, and are working with the bare necessities, you are essentially building an astonishing portfolio which a bank or any financial institution would race to grab.
Create Your Business Model, Not Just a Wish: A business plan is not a formal document only to please bank managers. It is your personal action plan. Don’t bother with Business software, just focus on your document, clear everything out. Identify your precise buyer persona. What value do you add to their lives? What is your unique selling proposition? Pay attention to every detail of your expenditures, both big and small. This makes a clear outline of precisely what you need to do, and it shows concrete working solutions. This is your initial task Before you attempt to bring your business to life.
Build Your Minimum Viable Product (MVP): No need for a sophisticated factory or equipment, just a prototype. Want to start a handmade jewelry business? No need to get a storefront. Create five necklaces and offer them through Etsy or to your friends. Want to establish yourself as a business consultant? Don’t rent an office. Provide free strategy sessions to a handful of small businesses in exchange for a testimonial. This MVP is your initial offering, your initial metric, your initial access to the market, and your initial evidence for demand. Your first sale is the most significant step in validating the concept to launch your business.
Become a Tribe Leader: Now-a-days, having an audience can be equivelant to having currency. You can share your insights through a blog, TikTok, or an email newsletter on a topic you enjoy. Document your journey, share your hobbies, and build a community. If you walk into a bank and tell them you have a email list of 5,000 people, the bank will see you as a valuable asset. You will have presented them a ready market. This will help showcase your understanding of modern marketing as well as build effective amomentum for your business.
Show Some Skin in the Game: Even a micro-scale of bootstraping can show positive results. This will help convince lenders that you are investing into your idea through the most valuable asets, time, and energy. If that ₹200 you managed to save is spent towards the idea, it shows the lenders that you have put in the sufficent amount of effort. This will help show them that you are not to waste their finances and are in fact, dedicated towards the business, showcasing your grit.
Instead of viewing the necessity of a loan as a dour signal, think of it as a test—a call to arms. You don’t begin the journey of starting a business at a bank, but rather at a kitchen table, with a singular idea and immense drive. Through perseverance, formulating blueprints, building, testing, and subsequently, growing the audience, you shift from a hopeful dreamer to a verifiable entrepreneur. Instead of asking for a chance, you shift to presenting an opportunity, with the loan transforming from a starting line into an afterburner, and the business itself an unchained wildfire.
Answer this, what one case building activity can you take within the next 24 hours to put the wheels in motion for starting the business? Time to get to it.
