So many (business) ideas, so little cash

Posted on January 25, 2008 in Personal thoughts by DM

stylish spiral notebooks When I had been working as a corporate hack for about ten years, I came to a point where I desperately wanted to own my own business. So in the mid-90’s when I was downsized out of hackdom, I took the opportunity to do just that - I did freelance business communications and marketing work under my own awning as Green & Company Creative Services.

For a few reasons, this only lasted about four years, and by the end of it I was glad to return to the (at least somewhat) secure and social world of cubicle dwelling. Since that time, I’ve taken it as a sign of hope that I continue to have a lot of ideas for businesses. Businesses that I’m certain will make me wealthy.

In just the past couple of years, I’ve thought seriously about starting a junk/thrift store, a t-shirt printing business, a biker leather retail store, an online gift shop, a house-flipping business, a mail-order food business selling giant brownies, and a private detective agency.

The signs that I am contemplating starting a new business are that I immediately brainstorm and purchase a relevant domain name, open up my copy of Paint Shop Pro and design a logo, and then rush to Walgreens to buy a stylin’ spiral notebook to record all my plans for that business. My life could have taken any number of these turns (maybe more than one of them, simultaneously!) were it not for the same roadblock presenting itself again and again:

Money.

Last year I had come up with several good ideas for t-shirts for women bikers. I went through the initial steps of domain name/logo/spiral notebook, and expanded my knowledge of PSP so I could effectively create my designs in-house. My research showed that I would either need to invest in some pre-printed inventory from a screen-printer, or in a commercial-grade heat press to make the shirts myself. I needed about $2000 to make it happen either way, but I quickly realized I did not have a source for that money. We had no savings, my husband’s business was in a very slow period, and I was fairly certain no bank would make me a business loan because of past problems with poor credit. (I’ve been working to rebuild my credit through our mortgage and a vehicle loan, but how do you know when it’s okay to ask for money again?)

I would have needed closer to $50,000 to really start the leather store - I sure as heck didn’t have that lying around, and wasn’t comfortable applying for a business loan in such a high (to me) amount.

Recently, though, I’ve done a little research and I’ve learned that an actual business loan was probably not my only option. An unsecured line of credit - particularly in a smaller amount - might have been the way to go because you don’t have to put anything up for collateral: the loan is made on your promise to repay, like a credit card. Unsecured loans are made by banks, consumer finance companies, and these days even online. The interest rate is a little higher than a collateral loan, but that’s the price you pay for asking the lender to take the risk. And, while I wasn’t willing to bet my house on giant brownies, I was certainly willing to make payments on a $2000 unsecured loan had I known I could get one.

So - perhaps business ownership isn’t completely out of the picture for me after all. I assume that lines of credit are a little harder to get these days, what with the housing market illustrating the dangers of making loans to high-risk buyers, but one day I certainly hope to be among the favored who qualify.

Meanwhile, I think I will stock up on stylin’ spiral notebooks, just in case my ship comes in.

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