Do you have the guts to take a loan for a business startup?

$20K for a “business startup” is hardly a large quantity these days. It takes more than that to open a food cart business from scratch.

Yeah, but I am not a credit person. I can’t stand the idea of being in a debt of 20k

Well, borrowing certainly isn’t the only way to fund a business startup. If your idea and business plan are good enough and you have the reputation / credentials / history to provide some assurance that you can pull it off, it shouldn’t be difficult to find someone to take on as a co-owner of the business (a silent partner, in other words) who would front you the money for a share of the profits. You could even write the agreement in such a way that if the business takes off in “x” years then you could buy out his share for an agreed-upon sum.

I say “shouldn’t be difficult” because these days $20K really isn’t “a lot of money” to someone who has any. As if I would know.

@CWOTUS Yes, interesting idea.

I was going to say that at least with a loan, you still own the whole thing whereas with an investor you lose ownership (and sometimes control if the agreement is badly written).

So it depends on what you have the stomach for.

Yes…I borrowed 67 times that this year to buy my company. Put up everything I own and worked for the last 20 years and even borrowed against my 401K to make this happen. HS that was and still is nerve wracking.

four years ago I borrowed $880,000 to start my business, and I have repaid it already.

@cruiser Whoa, was it worth it?

@robdamel Ask me in 15 years after I have paid off the loan! So far so good though.

A guy I worked with used to talk about how long it was before he would retire. “326 days and a wake-up!” “275 days left!” and on and on.
When he retired, he took his retirement buy-out, and invested it in a sandwich and coffee shop. And he put that sandwich and coffee shop next to the biggest Starbucks in the city.
3 months later, he had lost his entire retirement. He is now back to work for my company, as a contractor.

My sister’s father-in-law was well off when he retired from dry-walling. He took his IRA money, and opened a small tile shop in Redding. It took two years for that tile shop to bleed him dry, but it did. He ended up living with my sister.

Quoting the film “Lost in America”, I will say “Protect the Nestegg!” I may go back to work after retiring, but I will not open my own business if it means jeopardizing the nestegg.

Don’t forget, it is easier to get financial assistance with a minority business. That includes a female owned business.

I really don’t. I’m not a risk taker with money. This is also one of the reasons I love poker but prefer to play online with virtual money.

Not in this economy.

I probably don’t have the guts. But, the people who do are the ones who have more of a chance of being successful, because if you never take the loan, and you don’t have the money to start otherwise, you never have your business. Unless of course you save the money yourself, which is what I am more likely to do. Wait until I have the money myself.

I have done it several times in the past.
Owning your own business, IMO, is worth the risk & the debt.

$20K is a drop in the proverbial bucket.

I would do it if I have a collateral I could afford to lose. If I’m going to be on the streets if the venture was unsuccessful, then no. There is guts and there is recklessness.

@mazingerz88 @SpatzieLover @JLeslie Yes, yes, good answers. I`m thinking twice now about taking that loan (in favor of taking it). I talked to another entrepreneur face-to-face and I see it in a new way.