Equity Or Debt?

When the cost of borrowing is high (as now), growing businesses will look to equity investment, in order to fi nance working capital/growth. What should businesses consider, when looking at an equity fund raise?

'Crowd funding' was popular a few years ago, particularly for businesses with a strong image/link to consumers (drinks companies are the obvious example). The challenge is how to manage a large number of equity (share) investors. This requires a planned communications strategy, and a well-prepared, plain English investor pack. There are now some corporate "crowd finance" funds, which pool private money, and offer more structured facilities. Some of these also offer loans, and asset fi nance.