Sources of start-up funding for small business run by ASD person

Have you thought about crowdfunding?

Crowdfunding: What You Need To Know

That's a possibility.

That's a possibility.

richardsw16 said:

May be harder to persuade people to donate for purely altruistic reasons

You never know.  I've heard of people donating for things like saving someone from bankruptcy, helping someone off the streets, helping a student to pay college fees, etc.  It's quite heartening sometimes to read of things like it: people willing to give money not just to a charity without really knowing what it's going to be spent on, but actually to be able to see tangible results of their giving.

I was once sub-contracted to an IT recruitment business that started up solely with £150k raised from crowdfunding.  Most of the investors were already quite well off IT professionals who stood to benefit from the contracts that the business could offer them once it was up and running - most of which came from companies like Microsoft and IBM.  They couldn't lose!  They were investing in their own future job offers!

Here's a news story about Ursula Stone's start-up...

Enterprise Flourishes on Blooms from Bin

Yes - I've backed a few crowdfunder projects myself, but they had a specific product at the end. May be harder to persuade people to donate for purely altruistic reasons, although I could offer them visits to their area/school (if it's not too far away!).

I haven't contacted NAS directly yet. A job for next week ...

Thx for your interest and help.

Wow! What an amazing business. I've been involved in crowdfunder projects before, but these were for music recordings where the people who donated got a copy of the CD or better - something tangible. Hadn't thought of crowdfunding for business start-up funds. Thx for the link. This has really got me thinking.

Like Martian TomI was going to suggest crowdfunding - I have backed several projects (music production, book publication, film making, student art show). It's a good way to raise funds if your project has popular appeal and you can think up rewards which will appeal to people. If it is for a good cause altruism may be reward enough but offering sponsors updates on the progress of the project is often appreciated. 

I would speak to NAS as they will have access to specialist software which can be used to find funding sources. This might even be of interest to them in which case a joint funding bid might be worth considering. There should be a local enterprise scheme in your area to offer funding advice too. 

Here's an encouraging recent success story.  This woman started up her floristry business after being made redundant.  She retrieves 'past sell-by' bouquets from supermarkets, then reproduces them for residential homes, mental health groups and other charitable organisations.  She got her £70,000 start-up money from crowdfunding.

The Flower Bank