Securing Small Business Startup Funding

Most first-time founders know their funding options. What they don't know is which ones they actually qualify for — and that gap is what kills most startups before they ever find their footing.

This book fixes that.

It starts with two things every founder needs but most skip. First, your True Launch Number™ — the real amount of money it takes to open your doors AND stay open through break-even. Second, an honest look at your actual funding profile. Not the profile you hope you have. The one lenders actually see.

From there, the book walks you through every major funding source available to first-time founders: personal savings, friends and family, SBA loans, CDFIs, microloans, grants, crowdfunding, and equity investment. No hype. No wishful thinking. Just clear benchmarks so you know what's realistic for your situation.

The goal is one page: your Capital Snapshot. Your total funding need, your confirmed sources, and the gap — if there is one. When the numbers add up, you have a real capital plan.

No finance degree needed. Just the willingness to look at your numbers honestly.

A companion volume to The Small Business Startup Revolution (2024).

Get the Book

Securing Small Business Startup Funding is available in three formats. Choose the option that works best for you.

Paperback Edition —$24.99

Designed to be written in, referenced repeatedly, and built for founders who want a hands-on planning experience.

Hardcover Edition — $34.99

For founders who want a durable, professional reference they'll return to throughout their business journey.

eBook Edition — $9.99

Available instantly across all major platforms — start reading within minutes of purchase.

Looking for a Gift for a First-Time Founder?

Give someone who is preparing to start a business more than encouragement—give them a practical plan for funding their launch.

My Founder Gift Edition includes a personalized, author-signed hardcover copy of Securing Small Business Startup Funding, a handwritten note of encouragement, a purchaser gift card, a custom True Launch™ bookmark, and gift-ready presentation.

Price: $54.95 + shipping

Available exclusively as a personalized gift edition on Etsy.

Prefer Amazon?

All versions of the book are available there as well.

Free Worksheets Included

Regardless of format, workbook purchasers can access every worksheet referenced in the book as a free, fillable download.

Professional Review

Foreword Clarion Reviews ★★★★

“A thorough entrepreneur’s guide, Securing Small Business Startup Funding details all the work that needs to be done to transform a business idea into a thriving reality.”

Foreword Clarion Reviews also describes the book as “a helpful entrepreneur’s resource” that explains how to line up financing for a new business venture.

The review highlights the book’s practical treatment of loans, grants, private investment, crowdfunding, and other funding sources, along with its worksheets and diagnostic tools for determining startup capital needs, building a capital plan, and funding the path to break-even.

Read the full Foreword Clarion Review →

About the Author

Asbury Lockett, JD, MBA, is an entrepreneur, business mentor, and small business advisor who has worked directly with hundreds of founders through the Small Business Development Center, the Women's Business Center, and the NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership. A Stanford and UC Berkeley graduate who has also founded and operated multiple businesses, he writes from both sides of the table — as an advisor who has guided founders through the funding process and as an entrepreneur who has navigated it himself. This is his second book for first-time founders.