In the start-up money hunt, seven tips

USA Today:

One of the questions would-be entrepreneurs ask me over and over is how they can round up money to start a business. I've even had a few hit me up for money out of my own pocket. (Sorry; no can do!)

Fortune Small Business has a dandy new article outlining seven ways to find start-up money. I've listed several in stories I've written on finance, here and here. Here's a summary of Fortune's tips:

* Bootstrapping. "Bootstrapping means using whatever resources you have on hand to help you get your business to the next level," Tom Ehrenfeld, author of The Startup Garden: How Growing a Business Grows You, told Fortune.

* Friends and family. Entrepreneurs also raise money from relatives, colleagues and other people they know well.

* Banks. A long shot because banks typically will only consider companies that have been in business for two years.

* Grants. Tech businesses and start-ups launched by women and minorities may qualify for special government grant programs.

* Angels. These are typically wealthy people who invest directly in start-ups to turn a profit. Unlike friends, family or neighbors, angels tend to be professionals in how they pick their business investments.

* Venture capital. Nearly impossible to get; fewer than one in 10,000 start-ups qualify for venture money. Most are tech-oriented with tremendous prospects for growth. (The next Google? yes; a small crafts retailer? no.)

* Customers and suppliers. Customers might invest in return for special deals. Suppliers sometimes offer to finance machinery and other capital goods or inventory at favorable rates.