If you have no capital at all to put into the business then you will really struggle to get any borrowing. Generally speaking you will need to put up 50% of the capital personally, at which point most banks will lend assuming you have a half decent business plan, some experience in what you are going into and your credit history is reasonable. The general order people tend to finance their businesses is as follows: 1. Personal savings 2. Re-mortgaging their own house 3. Borrowing from family and friends 4. External finance (loans etc) Probably not what you would like to hear but unless you can come up with a sizeable amount of money without going to the banks you will struggle enormously in getting funded. Regards,
------------------------
James Smith
Chartered Accountant
www.jamesesmith.co.uk

---------------------------
Your indispensable guide to Small Business Bookkeeping, Self-Assessment & VAT

One idea is to go and have a chat with your local business link. If it is an existing business you are looking to buy and you can provide accounts for the last few years to prove it is running profitably, and you can convince them that you have the right skills and have a good plan to continue running the business etc etc then they may be willing to guarantee a bank loan for you. Nothing to lose anyway and if nothign else it will focus you into getting a biz plan prepared and all your thoughts down on paper. And if they cannot help, they may be able to give you some good advice regardless.
------------------------