Finding a business loan used to be a pretty black and white affair. You’d call up your local bank and book an appointment, wait a few weeks (or months) and then sit down with the bank manager, explain why your business needed some money, and hope that you’d caught them after their morning coffee.

Since the birth of Alternative Finance, however, getting your hands on funding to grow your business has become a lot easier, but equally, a whole lot more complicated. This guide will explore the various different types of alternative finance out there, help you decide whether it’s a viable route for you, and how to prepare your business to raise finance. (more…)

Business owners that are exploring some of the newer business funding options, commonly referred to as ‘Alternative Finance’, can sometimes struggle to distinguish between ‘crowdlending’ and ‘crowdfunding’, not least because they sound remarkably similar.

Both describe ways of raising business finance, but there are huge differences between the two which need to be clearly understood to avoid any tears at a later stage.

So how do crowdlending and crowdfunding differ, and what opportunities do they offer start-ups and small businesses? (more…)