There are many short-term sources of funds available to a company, which require varying levels of collateral, personal guarantees, and interest expense. These funds are needed to cover immediate funding needs that would not be addressed by a long-term loan. Here is a listing of potential sources of short-term funds:
You can delay paying suppliers, but they may eventually retaliate with higher prices or a lower order priority. This is essentially an interest-free loan, but can only be used with care. It is better to formally negotiate longer terms with selected suppliers.
You can add staff and use a variety of procedures to accelerate the payment of accounts receivable by customers. For example, you can concentrate collection efforts on the largest overdue invoices, on the grounds that it is more cost-effective to bring in a few of these payments than a large number of smaller payments associated with smaller invoices.
Commercial paper is quite inexpensive, but is only available to large firms with a high rating from a credit rating agency. This debt rolls over frequently.
Credit cards have very expensive interest rates, and funds are generally only available in modest amounts. However, if your margins are quite high, then it may be possible to pay the interest on these cards. Some entrepreneurs have used a number of credit cards to initially fund their businesses.