How can I financially back a new business?

I have a great business idea and it requires me to open a store. How can I financially back this idea without going into crazy debt? I have no savings at this time.

The easy answer is to ask family to back the idea with private loans. Remember to treat it professionally rather than personal, money makes enemies out of friends.

You could also incorporate and give your family stock and by that partial owner ship in the business, but retaining a larger majority of stock than was given out so that you retain control, especially since I imagine you would be involved in day to day operations, but incorporating has rules that has to be followed and may be too complicated for your situation.

And, when all else fails you can always try to get financing from a bank.

You can start out like enron =)

Try doing a stall or see if you can hire space within a shop. Great way to start.

The two most viable options are to:
1) Find a group of people with capital (money) who believe in your idea and would become partners in your company in order to get the business started. This usually requires giving up some of the ownership in the company in trade for the funds to start up the business.
2) Present your proposal to financial institutions in order to obtain capital through the form of loans.

Another option is to apply for government aid. The federal government offers grants (money you dont have to pay back) and other programs to help entrepenuers get their business off the ground.

You need to find investors who share your enthusiasm for the idea but have substantial resources. Without any savings, you will by definition go into debt to start a retail business. You can check with your local and state government for grants or low interest loans for your business but again, you will go into debt. A bank will require collateral - savings, home, investments, etc - in order to lend to you.

Look for angel investors in your area - search on the web, local chamber of commerce, local business groups - or incubators - quasi-government agencies that support start-ups.

In order to avoid crazy or any debt, you need to generate sufficient revenues from the get go. You need customers in order to generate revenues. I would focus on finding the customers before finding the resources to open any business. Having watched many small retail clients go under and out of business, I can say that they never focused on finding the customers (marketing) to pay the bills.