You've got an idea for a business and you're going to start it - woohooo! Chances are, you're going to need some cash to do it.

It would be lovely if we all had plenty of savings and an ability to win the lottery at any given point in time, but the reality is that many of us start our businesses on a shoestring. It's different for every person so I'm going to tell you what I did:

I had a number of part-time jobs as I set up my business as I wasn't earning much in the beginning and I needed money to live on. It meant that anything I earned through my business could be used to pay business expenses and to invest in buying equipment.

The first thing I got was insurance, as I couldn't run a business without it. I used my own money, kept a record of how much I'd spent, and when I earned that back, I paid myself back. I also did the same for registering my company with Companies House (more of that later).

I wish I'd set up a business bank account right from the start. That would have made figuring out my accounts a lot easier at the end of the year! Many banks give businesses a year or so of free banking when they're starting out, so shop around.

I already had a laptop and I asked my sister, who is a web designer, to make me a basic website. It did the job in the early days and only cost me the price of the hosting and domain name. While I'm all for paying people properly to do their job, there are certain situations where you can persuade people to help you out!

I didn't have accounting software, I used a spreadsheet and quite often the back of an envelope! My advertising consisted of social media posts and printing out flyers (on a friend's printer) and walking around Bristol and putting them on notice boards. I used my personal phone and laptop that I already had.

I didn't have much equipment, just a few things that I could carry in one bag and I made sure that I had plenty of ideas and resources that used the environment around me. As my income grew, I invested more and slowly built my equipment up.

I do things very differently now, I pay for services that make my life easier and are cost-effective as they save me time. Time that I could be spending on growing my business.

So, you'll need to think about what the essentials are for you to run the business that you want to run and figure out what they cost and how you're going to pay for them.

You can see what the more traditional ways of financing a business are in Dan's blog here: www.heelanassociates.co.uk/15-ways-to-finance-your-start-up/

Below are suggestions of places to look for funding, especially if you're a CIC or social enterprise:

Alpkit foundation: alpkit.com/pages/foundation

Awards for all: www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/under10k

Esmée Fairbairn: esmeefairbairn.org.uk/applications/

Joseph Rowntree Foundation: www.jrct.org.uk/am-i-eligible

School of Social Entrepreneurs: www.the-sse.org/courses/community-business/

The Key Fund: thekeyfund.co.uk/apply/

You can find out more about starting your own business by clicking the button below:

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