Starting a business with alternative funding

When an entrepreneur opts to launch his or her own startup, he or she will likely have to commit a great amount of capital to the venture. Obtaining this capital is not so simple, however. It involves leveraging the help of a bank or lender, who in turn will make a credit decision whether to hand over capital to the entrepreneur. However, for those launching a venture during economic turmoil, qualifying for credit can become nearly impossible, making it necessary to turn elsewhere. To this end, a number of entrepreneurs have opted to use credit cards to finance their businesses. While this may not always the most solid safest business plan - this often backfires and leaves small business owners down and out if the venture fails - there are some who have seen success. For example, Charles Huang from Harmonix saw his video game, "Guitar Hero," find success after maxing out his credit card in 2007 to finance the venture. In the 1990s, Sergey Brin and Larry Page also helped form Google by leveraging their credit cards, Redeeming Riches reported. However, there are other nontraditional credit options that entrepreneurs can leverage. For example, lenders often band together to put up between $25 and $1000 in the form of peer-to-peer lending.