Q: I have very little in the way of capital, other than home equity, to invest in a small business. I want to buy a small business but don’t want to use home equity, which will be used later to partially finance my kids college education. What other sources of financing are available and which is the best?

A: Unfortunately, buying a business is not like the “no money down” real estate infomercials you see on TV. You will need to fund the down payment at the very least.

Your best option will be seller financing and in the best case scenario, this can be around 50% of the purchase price.

Surely there are cases where the seller may finance more, but it’s rare. I fully understand your desire to not leverage any of your assets and I’m definitely not an advocate of being reckless.

But, if you’re not willing to leverage your assets such as your house on a business that you believe that you can grow, then chances are that the particular business, or business ownership itself, may not be for you.

Buying a small business requires some risk. Clearly, with the right information you can dramatically reduce the risk and eliminate the guesswork. But, entrepreneurship requires you to bet on yourself. You need a burning desire to succeed and belief in yourself to do so. You’ll find that the most successful entrepreneurs have put it all on the line at some point to be where they are today.