Consider a Small Business Administration (SBA) loan as an alternate source for funding. There are two basic types of SBA loans; a 7a and a 504. In a 7a loan, a local lender and the SBA team up to present the investor with options. In this case, the lender, not the SBA, actually makes the loan. Behind the scenes, the lender offloads some risk to the SBA in order to be comfortable underwriting the loan to your start-up business. The advantages of using a 7a are two-fold. First, there are no job creation criteria and second, you establish a local banking relationship that will serve you well as you operate your business.
The SBA underwrites a 504 loan directly. It is a great program for up to 1.5 million dollars but it does have job creation criteria that need to be met. For further information, visit www.sba.gov/expanding for complete descriptions and criteria.