Official or formal sources of finance for your small business may range from commercial loans from banks, capital from strategic investors or even a business credit card. However, the biggest advantage of running a small business is that you get a lot of scope for adjustment and modifications as far as financial requirements are concerned.
You can even run your business by borrowing money from your friends and relatives provided they are willing to give and the amount received is enough for you. Since you are the sole proprietor of the business or a partner along with your spouse, there is hardly any scope for complications arising if you accept money from such sources.
If you don’t want to deal with any individual and if you simply want to use your own money, you have the option of selling an asset and using the same to fund your business. However, sell of asset is not a smart move because you will lose the asset and will retain the money.
Instead, going in for a home equity loan to utilize the existing equity in your house may be a smart move. Getting a personal loan by offering an asset as a security will help you retain the asset. If the business succeeds, you can easily repay the loan and will end up with a successful business and the asset still in your hands.
This is one significant advantage that small businesses enjoy. You cannot expect the founder of Microsoft or Apple to mortgages his personal property for the company. That is going to look very bad as far as the finances are concerned. You can do it privately and no one would be any wiser.