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Lack of capital is one of the biggest threats to entrepreneurs across the world, especially in tough business environments like Africa. In fact, most people say it’s hard – almost impossible – for entrepreneurs to raise capital on the continent, especially if you’re a startup. But, in most cases, “lack of capital” is not the problem. The real problem is  “lack of awareness.” Below are some practical ways of financing your new business idea. Bootstrapping When first getting started, many entrepreneurs use “bootstrapping,” which means financing your company by scraping together any personal funds you can find. This typically includes your savings account and any home equity lines you may have. In many cases, using the money you have instead of borrowing or raising is a great approach—in fact, some entrepreneurs continue to bootstrap until their business is profitable. This can be beneficial because it means you won’t have extensive loans and monthly payments that bog you down, especi...

A pitch is basically delivering a business plan verbally. A pitch typically takes the form of an entrepreneur or group of entrepreneurs presenting or describing their ideas to prospective investors. An elevator pitch is simply a very short pitch that distils the idea into a short summary that takes only as long as a short elevator ride. A video pitch is a pitch done via a short video rather than in person. Regardless of the means chosen to pitch, the aim is typically the same; describing a business opportunity with the intention of securing funding to develop the idea further. When it comes to succeeding as an entrepreneur or in any business, making presentations and negotiations cannot be side-lined. For starters and aspiring entrepreneurs, pitching is an ultimate necessity. In order to get funding and support, one has to be able to constructively pitch his/ her ideas to the appropriate people. You may need to pitch to clients, banks, governmental bodies and many others. As such, it i...

A vast majority of people have invested in mutual funds, mostly through a 401(k) plan at work, a Roth IRA, aTraditional IRA, a 403(b), a SEP-IRA, aSimple IRA, or another retirement account. Unfortunately, many new investors can't actually tell you what a mutual fund is, how a mutual fund works, or how you make money from a mutual fund. This brief introduction to making money from mutual funds was designed to help you answer those questions. You Can't Start Making Money Investing in Mutual Funds Until You Understand What They Are Before you can learn how to make money investing in mutual funds, you have to understand what a mutual fund is. I put together an extensive resource to help you understand this called   "The New Investor's Guide to Mutual Fund Investing" (N3000). One of the articles in that series was called 'How a Mutual Fund Works'. To save you time, I'll give you the short version. Basically, a mutual fund is a term used ...