Growing organically is all well and good. But sometimes, you need outside capital injections. Where do you look for it?
The obvious culprit in looking for capital injection is a bank. You can borrow money against your assets, submit to covenants that place restriction on what you can do as a company. Very often those restriction comes in forms of financial ratios, that you can't breach.
If you do not want to borrow from banks, there are other lenders in a private market. You can try crowdvesting platforms, where you can sell small amounts of debt, you can use crowdfuding to fund your ventures in advance (before you create the product), or you can borrow money on classical P2P lending platforms.
Another source of capital is equity. Equity is the precious claim on the whole company, the less you have it the less control over the company you have. There are times however, when it is prudent to sell a stake in your small business.
You can either get growth capital from angel and venture investment companies, where they fund unproved companies with a lot of potential, or you can try partnering with private equity partner, that specializes in more mature small to midsize companies.
Another possibility is to sell minority (or majority) stake to a large corporation, who would like to move into your niche. Or you can take in an equity partner who cannot only put capital into your company, but also complement your skills or product lines.
Speaking of combining, merging with your competitor or supplier is definitely something a private equity financier can get behind.
These days, funds can be found in different places. If there is an opportunity to grow, there is a capital to let you.