Scott Allen, who keeps track of all things entrepreneurial, has a recent article about where to find dough for a new business.

I’m pretty much in the camp that says any sort of external funding is a bad thing.

Evil, actually.

For one, you get sloppy.  Real sloppy.  I remember an old pal of mine telling me about his start up and all the new goodies (office furniture, new computers, yaddy yaddy) he was acquiring.  When I asked him where all that stuff was coming from and how it was being funded (he’d had a loan from a family member to start up his venture), he said something like . . . ahh, not to worry, the company’s paying for it.

For two, the thing about taking money from someone else is this:  those money givers will usually have expectations of you all of a sudden.  Not only do their want their money back, they want other stuff too — they’ll want interest, or part of the venture . . . but, worst of all, they’ll actually start expecting you do things to your business . . . telling you what it should look like, how you should promote it, on and on.  And, most galling, they’ll even start telling you how you should act.

Now, is that why you went into business for yourself?  Hmmm.

Stay away from other people’s money if you can.

If you just can’t, check out Scott’s excellent summary of other options.

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