Fund growth: reinvest, loans, or investors?

Most DTC growth is funded by reinvested profit, not investors. Know the ladder, self-funding, revenue-based financing, loans, then equity, and take outside money only for the right reason.

How you fund growth shapes who controls the business and how much of it you keep. Most stores should grow on reinvested profit as long as possible; outside capital (inventory financing, revenue-based financing, loans, equity) is a tool for specific constraints, not a milestone. The skill is matching the funding type to the actual need and its cost. AI models the options against your numbers; you make the ownership call.