Small Business Social Funding: Preneuraholics.com

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I recently learned of a cool new website via my ongoing social networking, and I was impressed enough with the idea  to share with you here on Return On Now.

[NOTE: I am in no way, financially or otherwise, affiliated with the service I am about to preview for you.]

For those of you who interact with me on Twitter, surely you’ve seen the materials I’ve been sharing regarding the difficulty of getting your hands on financing or investment capital for your small business ventures. Credit markets have been squeezed to a pulp, it has been challenging to figure out how decisions are being made at the SBA, and angel investors and venture firms are being more cautious than we’ve seen in years when doling out funds. What’s an entrepreneur to do?

The answer: Turn to your peers!

Preneuraholics was created to connect business owners who need some startup capital with other business owners who might be gracious enough to donate a few dollars to the cause. For a nominal $49 fee, you can list your business with a description of it and why you need the money. Then, others can donate whatever they feel comfortable sharing, even as little as $10.

Preneuraholics: Small Business Social Funding
Preneuraholics: Small Business Social Funding

This is a great idea! With all the talk about goodwill and giving back, there is finally an easy way to share not only advice and insight, but also cold hard cash. The power of this model will come from the number of participants. After all, most of us can afford to donate $10 or $20 to a struggling entrepreneur who just needs a break. In the grand scheme of things, that is not a lot of money to give up, but it can add up rather fast with solid participation. In fact, the site does a great job of highlighting how fast funds can add up…again, with the right level of participation by not only the businesses themselves, but other small business owner peers.

Need more incentive why you should participate here? In their own words…

It is time to take back the American Dream.
Americans are uniting together to develop a whole new system of small business funding.
By joining forces we can help each other.
It’s all in the power of unity!

And who can argue with those points? Not me, for one.

The site is still very new, so they are just now building up projects seeking funding and participants to help make it happen. I chose to write it up because I think it’s an idea that needs your support. Please check out the site, create a login, and see if there’s anyone you can help. Heck, reach out to them afterward and introduce yourself. I, for one, would be more than willing to engage with a new contact who believes in my idea enough to donate to it.

Please come back after you review the site and let me know what you think of it. And if you want to engage with the site proprietors directly, you can find them on Twitter @preneuraholic.

10 thoughts on “Small Business Social Funding: Preneuraholics.com

  1. I think this is a FANTASTIC idea.

    Put the power to fund great ideas into
    the hands of the movers and shakers like us who believe.

    Terrific Concept. I’m in !

  2. I am the founder of Preneuraholics.com and I want to thank you for your support of this new funding concept. Peer to peer donations specifically for new small start ups or struggling businesses is a whole new ballgame.

    While there has been overwhelming support for the idea, participation has been slow. Some of that could do with the crisis in Haiti. Also, the site went live just 3 weeks ago. Hopefully reviews such as this will help get the word out and drum up donations.

    Thank you so much for your validation of the concept!

    Sylvia

  3. Pingback: New Source for Funds! - Page 9 - Young Entrepreneur Forums

  4. Rick – I’m so glad to hear you also have interest. I encourage you to go check out the site in more detail. It’s still early, and I foresee this building momentum in the coming weeks and months. I did notice that a handful of projects are already listed for you to consider.

    Sylvia – Keep the faith, because your reasoning is sound (re: Haiti, age of site, etc.), and your model has a great deal of potential. It has become much more difficult to get funded since the whole Wall Street fiasco, particularly for those of us who need it the most. Thank you for engaging with me on Twitter.

  5. Pingback: Preneuraholics Unite Blog » Blog Archive » Validation for Peer to Peer Funding

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  7. Great post! I seen a post on this by a friend, and I had to check it out for myself. There are so many people looking for small business funding, and they are unable to get it. This really looks promising!

  8. i run a small business both online and offline and they serve as my primary source of income. my small business at home is a mini hyrophonics vegetable farm.

  9. Hi, do you say, this is a new blog? Wow, you are very smart…your kontent so great, and give a value for us. And your domain OPR 3. That’s amazing.

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