Anyone who wants to set up a business usually needs start-up capital.
Determining capital requirements
In order to know how much start-up capital is needed, the capital requirement must first be calculated. This concerns not only the investments (e.g. for office, equipment, etc.), but also the cost of living in the start-up period. Experience shows that the income after the start is rather low. Once it is clear how much money is needed, a financing plan must be drawn up to determine where the money is to come from.
Equity
The first and best source of start-up capital is your own money: equity capital. For founders who also need to borrow money, the share of equity capital should preferably not be less than 20 percent. In this way, they show that they are also responsible for their entrepreneurial risk and do not leave it only to the bank.
Bank loans
If the equity capital is not sufficient for the start-up, loans can be a solution. These are available from banks at the current interest rates.
Collateral
Banks and savings banks usually only lend money against collateral. Examples of collateral are mortgages (charges on real estate), Life insurance policies, building society savings contracts or savings deposits.
Guarantees
Guarantees are a special form of collateral. Guarantors guarantee the repayment of a loan and must pay the debt if the borrower is not (or no longer) able to do so.
Guarantee banks (in Berlin theBürgschaftsBank Berlin) guarantee for borrowers who want to take out a loan with their house bank. Guarantee banks usually guarantee up to 80 percent of a loan.
Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is the collection of smaller financing contributions via special crowdfunding platforms on the internet. An overview of thevarious forms of crowdfunding is provided by the Berlin Chamber of Industry and Commerce.