Options for Raising Money for Your eCommerce Store

As compared to other stores and ventures, eCommerce stores have fairly low requirements.  You don’t have to have an actual storefront or on-site employees.  If you’re determined enough, you may even be able to handle everything on your own.  But eCommerce stores still need some funds, and you may find yourself in trouble if you don’t have them.  Here are some of the ways that you can get the money you need.

Crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing, sometimes known as crowdfunding, allows individuals who are not a part of your business to become involved, even if you aren’t a corporation or a large business.  The Crowdfunding Industry Report reveals that more than $2.7 billion was raised in 2012 alone, and this year, it’s expected to exceed $5 billion.  A number of sites have started up for just this purpose. The most popular ones include Kickstarter, Indiegogo and Crowdfunder.  Different platforms have different requirements, and some allow pure donations while others require actual investment strategies.  But if you can put together a compelling marketing ad to convince people why they should invest in your business, then this is a great option for you.

“Crowdsourcing, yeah!”.  Accepté board with mr. Brinkhorst by rutgervz, on Flickr.  This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Sell eBooks or Other Virtual Information Products

One of the other ways that you can raise money for your eCommerce store is to sell eBooks or other virtual information products.  Since you already have your eCommerce store up and running, you should have all the basic tools that you will need.  Depending on your target location, you may either use Paypal, Mercado Pago or another eCommerce payment option.  Just make sure that the content is good.  Once you have these types of products up, they can sell at a relatively fast rate with little to no overhead, making them ideal for fund raising.

Incorporate and Offer Shares

One of the more complicated but potentially lucrative methods for raising money for your eCommerce store is to incorporate and offer shares.  One of the primary benefits of corporations is the fact that you can go and get investors on board with your store.  It’s easier to do this these days as opposed to years ago.  Having corporate status will also make it more likely that banks and other lending institutions will lend you the money that you need.  It does require greater adherence and attention to local laws than crowdsourcing, but it’s still worth it in terms of other benefits.

When you need cash for your eCommerce store, you have a variety of options that you can turn to.  One of the solutions that is growing in popularity is to set up a crowdsourcing option.  Through this, people can become involved in your project without you having to incorporate.  You can also sell information products that are virtual in nature like eBooks.  They cost relatively little, and they require low overhead.  You can also incorporate your eCommerce store and actually offer shares of your store to investors, increasing your potential access to banks and other lending institutions.