Crowdfunding proves a capital idea for restaurant venturesCrowdfunding proves a capital idea for restaurant ventures

When I started out in business, there were essentially three ways you could fund a new venture: Obtain financing through a family member or friend, a private investor, or – as was most common – borrow it from the bank.

While the first two still remain viable options, the recent global banking crisis has meant that lending by banks – many of which in the U.K. were bailed out by the government – all but dried up. This led to conventional debt becoming extremely scarce, creating a void and making it nearly impossible for new ventures to obtain the financing needed to get their businesses off the ground. 

It is out of this void that crowdfunding has grown.

Crowdfunding is not, by any means, a new phenomenon. There are cases throughout history o...