I’ve always believed that Cash is King.

It is easy to get cash if you have good credit. That doesn’t mean you can’t get cash if you don’t have good credit, it’s just easier if you do.

People give you cash when you have cash, but not when you need it. Same with credit — they will give you credit when you have credit, but run away from you when you don’t.

My experience is that the best time to get it is when you DON’T need it!

The best time to get it is when you have the time to plan it.

As you continue to plan or grow your business, think about the best time to bring in the cash or line of credit.

If you don’t need it today, still go get it today, and then think about what you could do with that money.

If you had extra cash today, one thing you could do is to think about the new network you are opening up for yourself, and the new opportunities you can create by introducing your business to other people.

The person who might give you a loan may open a door to a new partnership, a new collaboration effort, or a new event that could introduce you to even more opportunities.

They also might have different ideas or thoughts that could guide or support you in your business.

As you apply for loans or lines of credits, just remember that you are also marketing your business. It’s not necessarily that it will always happen, because they are busy doing what they need to do, which is looking for entrepreneurs to fund so they can earn money from that endeavor.

That’s THEIR business model. Yours is selling products or services.

Before you ask for money, think about how you can organize yourself to ask for it:

• Create a plan — even if it’s only a single page — of how you would use the money. I call it Milestone funding: I need XX dollars to accomplish A, B, and C, within this period of time, and the source will be (fill in the blank). This will allow me to move an inch, a mile, or whatever distance towards my bigger goal of X, Y, and Z. Example: I need $100k over the next year to open a second location in another city.

• First, I need 25k right away, to go for legal and administrative support including signing a lease, and securing the location. I will (as an example) personally fund that from my own savings. This will take 1–3 months, and allow us to a) Establish a new location; b) Establish legal protection; c) Sign the lease.

• The last $25k I need is for the last 3 months of this operation to ensure that we continue marketing and selling, holding a grand opening, and some PR to bring attention to the new location. I plan to use my line of credit for that, to keep us afloat.

With this example, I hope to open your eyes to think about how you could create a quick plan for your use of funds.

This will help you get the money you need or want.

BEFORE YOU GO

We see our blogs as opportunities for dialogue. Please share your thoughts as comments.

1. What can you do to secure money when you don’t need it?

2. What can you do to create a plan to use that money to advance your business in a positive direction?

3. What else have you done to secure funding in difficult times?

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Faris Alami is Founder and CEO of International Strategic Management, Inc. (ISM). He works internationally, presenting Exploring Entrepreneurship Workshops and other entrepreneurial ecosystem — related ventures.