Business Financing: What It Means and Why It Matters

Finances are essential for running any business. It plays a very important role that not only helps a business get started but also helps it grow over time. There are many ways to get money and many places to get it. To learn more about financing, we need to look at what it means at its core, how it is used in business, and how it is obtained.

What Is Business Financing?

The financial assistance that business owners need to meet a variety of business needs is known as business finance. The following are some uses for business financing:

• Starting a company from scratch 
• Managing routine business operations 
• Acquisition or purchase of corporate assets 
• Addressing urgent cash-flow issues 
• Developing or expanding a business 
• Several organizations, including public banks and NBFCs, are the source of these business funds. Alternatively, they could come from contributions made by the owners, sponsors, investors, and company funds.

Why Is Business Financing Important? 

Without money, no business or project can be run. Finances are a must-have for people who want to expand and run a business. A business will need business financing from the beginning to the end. Here are some important benefits of getting financing: 

• Business finance will give people money to help them get their businesses started. With this money, they can easily buy land and other business assets they need for daily work. Business financing would help them stop worrying about money and let them focus on getting their business up and running. 
• Owners’ capital might need to be increased to enable them to create their ideal business. Entrepreneurs can buy and use the latest technologies and machines with business financing. This will help them improve the quality of the products or services they offer in the industry sector. 
• When entrepreneurs are in trouble, business financing is a big help. It would let them quickly get the needed cash without selling business assets or personal belongings.

Types of Business Financing

There are two main types of business finances: equity and debt. Both are popular ways for businesses to get money. Here’s what you need to know about each kind of business financing: 

• Equity Financing

People or investors can give businesses money in return for assets through equity finance. Depending on how much they invest, investors become part-owners of the business. All the funds invested by the current shareholders or owners will be counted as equity financing. In equity finance, investors give money so the company can buy shares from them. When the company starts to do well, it will get a return on its investment from the shares.

• Debt Financing

Debt financing includes funding obtained from sources outside of the company. Entrepreneurs can obtain bank loans and other types of financing to cover urgent capital needs. The NBFC or bank will charge interest on the sum that the business owners borrow. The lender won’t hold any stock in the business. Instead, the borrower would repay the debt with a set interest rate over a set period.

Sources of Business Finance for a Business Owner

Getting money for a business can take a lot of work for new and experienced business owners. The decision to get business financing should be carefully thought out because it ties the owners down in many ways. If business owners want to look into different ways to get money, they should look at all types of business financing to see which works best for them. They can also mix the two to keep the property and avoid getting too deep into debt. 

Here are the two most common ways to finance a business: 

• External funding 
• Internal funding

External funding

The term “external funding” includes all types of debt financing and money borrowed from lending institutions. Most outside funding comes from bank loans from both the public and private sectors. External funding includes any money that is borrowed and paid back with interest. External funding can be helpful when you don’t want to sell shares of companies but need money to cover cash shortages.

But keep in mind that when you apply for a loan from external funding, you may have to use company assets as collateral or security.

• Debt

The most common way a business gets money from outside sources is through loans from financial firms. Businesses can get cash loans from banks, NBFCs, and even private lenders to help them grow and improve. For business purposes, banks will lend up to Rs. 50 lakhs. A lot of money is given to businesses that have been around for a while. Most banks offer loans to new businesses through special government programs for entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs).

• Equity

Entrepreneurs can also get money from people outside of their business. They can tell interested investors about their business idea or project and ask them for money. If investors want to give money to their cause, they can. In exchange, they will get a share of the company.

Internal funding

Internal funds are those available for business use that the company’s owners can extend. Since owners can still maintain control over the business, this approach is relatively secure. They may also be able to avoid having to pay high-interest rates and significant debt. The following are some common techniques for internal funding:

• Owner’s capital 

A business owner can use his income to help the business grow and develop. This money will come only from the person or people who started the business. 

• The sale of assets 

Entrepreneurs can get money from the company by selling no longer-needed assets. There are bounds to how much you can sell for cash. A business should have enough extra resources to make a sale profitable. 

• Retained profit

Entrepreneurs can use their business’s profit to improve their systems and pay for unexpected costs. Even though the profits are usually used for improvements and are part of the owners’ revenue, they can be the greatest way for a business to meet immediate needs.

Conclusion

No matter how big or small, every company will require access to funds at some point during its lifecycle. Having dependable, easily accessible business financing is essential, especially in uncertain times. 

Several variables will determine which funding strategy is best for your company. The BHive team will work with you to identify the best business financing option. For more information related to business financing, you can contact our experts at BHive.