Marina Khidekel You can tap creative funding sources for your startup, but as these founders learned, it's hard work.

Raising capital can feel like a rite of passage for startup founders—a signal that your company is on the map.

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Prior to launching her business, Hugimals World, Marina Khidekel served as chief content officer at Thrive Global and as a deputy editor at Women's Health and Cosmopolitan. Today, she leads Hugimals World as CEO and writes about founder life for Inc.

Shows like Shark Tank have made raising appear shiny and accessible, inspiring countless entrepreneurs to pursue equity funding. Off-screen, a cottage industry of pitch competitions and programs teaches founders how to pitch their companies to investors.

So many founders focus on fundraising because securing capital can fuel a business's rapid growth and ambitious plans. But it's not the only way to fund your business, and it's not always the savviest choice.

When I launched Hugimals World in 2022, I chose to bootstrap my business. This let me retain full creative control over my weighted, anxiety-relief plush gifts even as I continued to figure out my vision. There are tradeoffs, of course. Growth is slower, and every step needs to be financially precise. Still, bootstrapping has allowed me to focus on creating products that resonate with customers and to grow the business on my own terms.

These are just two of the available options for funding your business. There's also crowdfunding, loans, grants, lines of credit—the list goes on. And there is no universal rule that works for everyone and every business.

But by learning from those who have walked the path, you can decide how—or whether—to raise capital, with clarity about the tradeoffs, benefits, and partners that will best serve your business and vision. Here are some hard-won lessons from the founders in my community.

Scale Big—With the Right Partners