This is a question was originally posted on Quora.

There are many ways to fund your business even if your credit is terrible.  Here are 9 options for you to consider.

Depending on collateral available you can get:

• Hard Money Real Estate Loan for 60 – 70% of asset value.
• Business equipment can be leased for about 50% of the equipment value, even if you have terrible/no credit.
• If you Invoice other businesses Invoice Factoring is an option which covers up to 120 days until your invoice is paid.
• Purchase Order Factoring can cover the period of time while your product is being produced.
• Merchant Cash Advance uses your credit card sales as collateral and closely related to this are alternative lenders that provide unsecured loans based off the deposit activity in your checking account.
• If you sell to consumers you can find lenders to finance your customer which may allow you to get paid before you even deliver the product or service.

Outside of collateralized loans like the ones above you can also:

• Equity or crowdfund your business. If you have ever seen Shark Tank on TV you have an idea how it works getting money from an Angel Investor or Venture Capitalist.
• Borrow from your 401k or IRA tax free. This option is designed for the person looking to purchase a business.
• Credit Cards and Merchant Cards. Does your business have cars and trucks, if so a gas card is relatively easy to get even with bad credit as merchants want to establish loyal customers.

I’m sure I’ve left out a handful of other options that could work to finance your business if you have terrible credit. They key to getting financed with poor credit is having a little creativity.