I remember the first time I heard the story about stone soup. I was about 8 years old and it was a muppet story or something like that for kids on television. Even then I understood what was going on in the story. The two main characters used the only resources they had, their street smarts, to come up and get fed. For those who don’t know, here is the story:

Two travelers come to a village, carrying nothing more than an empty pot. Upon their arrival, the villagers are unwilling to share any of their food stores with the hungry travelers. The travelers fill the pot with water, drop a large stone in it, and place it over a fire in the village square. One of the villagers becomes curious and asks what they are doing. The travelers answer that they are making “stone soup”, which tastes wonderful, although it still needs a little bit of garnish to improve the flavor, which they are missing. The villager doesn’t mind parting with just a little bit to help them out, so it gets added to the soup. Another villager walks by, inquiring about the pot, and the travelers again mention their stone soup which hasn’t reached its full potential yet. The villager hands them a little bit of seasoning to help them out. More and more villagers walk by, each adding another ingredient. Finally, a delicious and nourishing pot of soup is enjoyed by all. 

Now, I copied this story from Wikipedia because I didn’t feel like retyping it. But basically thats how I remember the story. Now, according to Wikipedia, the two morals of the story are:

1. We can all work together, co-operate and end up better off.
2. If you want to get people to do something, don’t tell them how desperately they are needed. Don’t try to appeal to their sympathy and kindness. Instead, create the impression that you are giving them the opportunity to be part of your success.

I can kind of go along with that, but they left a part out. The biggest part of this story is that the two travellers stood in the town square. They went where they could get the most exposure. To plug another post “They went where the food is“.

Now, to the point of the post. Most projects need a little money to get rolling. Even projects that can be planned and executed effectively can usually be done faster, better and with bigger payoffs if you have a Money Man in your pocket.

I get emails and phone calls about where to get financing. I mentor start-up entreprenuers and their first question is almost always “Where do I get money?”. Well, there is a lot of places to get money, so here is the breakdown.

Friends and Family - most of us don’t have family with money. So you might say that this is a dry well. That’s not true. Remember the stone soup story. If you can find 10 family or friends willing to invest $100 each in you, you can raise $1,000. If you can borrow the money, thats better (as not everyone wants to deal with friends and family as business partners.) I have done this myself. It is never easy, but approach your family and friends like you would a strager. Have your business plan in hand (did I mention that you should always have a business plan?). Explain to them why you need the money, what the business is about and how soon you could repay them. Have a promissory note on hand too. Even if your business fails, you want to pay these people back. They are your family and if you pay them back, they will lend you again.

Your Network - Now my family always told me that when it comes to people, there is family, friends and acquaintances. Your network would be considered all the people you know that you wouldn’t call your ace boon coon, your number one roll dog. You know who I am talking about. Your co-workers, neighbors, old schoolmates, your employer – all these people are open game. Friends of friends are a great source too. I can’t tell you how many business contacts I have made that came from a friend saying “You know I can’t help you but a friend of mine…”

SBA - SBA stands for Small Business Administration. Now I have never done this myself but I know people that have gone through the process. There are loans available for almost any type of business for any reason. These loans are actually funded by banks and credit unions but guaranteed by the federal government (believe it or not, the government wants you to be rich. They can squeeze more taxes out of you that way and you will hire other people and they will tax them too.) They are worth a shot because they are more likely to lend you money than a bank would.

Banks - Yeah, don’t waste your time. You are basically asking them to give you money with nothing that they can go after if you don’t pay. This is called an unsecured loan and unless you are pulling down serious dough, a long time customer and have a high credit score, you have better chance of getting their money with a gun.

Credit Cards - A sucker’s bet. Don’t do it. I don’t care how sure you are that you are going to pull off the score of the century. If you are late once on a credit card, that rate could go up to almost 30% interest. That is a hole that is almost impossible to dig out of. You are better off tricking for the cash.

Now most of you know about these options. But I am going to share afew other lesser known “Stone Soup” options to get some money.

Peer to Peer Lending - This is a fancy way of saying that there are people out there with money that want to lend it out to people like you. They want a return on that investment. The cool thing about P2P lenders is that you may have the opportunity to talk to the people lending you the money. See, they want you to succeed. So they may offer you free advice or insight that gives you ammunition to hit your target more accurately. Here are a few sites to check out:

• Prosper
• Zopa
• Lending Club
• Kiva (for our international readers)
• Loanio
• Virgin Money

Not all of these are technically P2P but each of them has a way to get you the money you need.

Special Investors – Now you can call these guys “Angel Investors” or whatever you like. I have dealt with these guys and I have had one of my projects funded this way. My experience was great. I have no complaints. But the question is “Where the hell do you find an investor that you don’t know?” Well that is the trick man. You can find some online. You can start by going to the town square and set up your pot and get the fire going. You can reread this post to get the ball rolling but I did leave something out of that post. I left out something very important.

Most people hate their jobs.

I know this sounds obvious and stupid, but think about it. Everyone wants to do what you are doing. They want to be the Captain of their own ship. Most of them just don’t have the stones to jump in the mix. This means that if you find someone who makes a lot of money at their job, and you offer them a piece of your life, they will trade that money for your time.

In simpler terms, find yourself a Dentist, a Doctor or a Lawyer and let them in on the action. Statistically (and in my experience) these people hate their jobs more than anyone else. They are literally dying to find someone like you. I get hit up all the time by doctors and lawyers in my circle who have the next great board game or business idea. They have the dough, they just don’t have the time.

So, if you want to get your hustle going, set your pot of stone soup up in the village square. That means that you have to let everyone know that you are on the scene and you are going to hustle your way to the top. You will be surprised how many people will want to throw a little something into your pot to get a taste of your “Stone Soup”.

Keep Hustling