Let the Government Help Start Your Home-Based Business!
New home-based business owners need to tap into all the resources possible. Achieving success means overcoming obstacles and finding solutions to challenges. Starting a new home-based business is, in itself, a challenge, and surprisingly enough, the federal government can be a great resource to help get your home-based business underway.
Start-up funding can be difficult to find. Most banks don’t like to lend money to businesses that haven’t proved their worth yet. Angel investors are one option to getting that much-needed money for starting a home-based business, if you can find one. Although not recommended, using a savings account or cashing in some bonds is another option. Dipping into debt with credit cards is a third, and probably the most popular.
The government has multiple loan funds set up to help start a new home-based business, and this can be a great way to obtain start-up money. Programs for low-income, the disabled, military veterans and more make funding a business venture accessible to many entrepreneurs. Once an applicant has applied for and received a loan, repayment is arranged, usually with very reasonable payment schedules.
Grants are also available through the federal government. Grants ranging from five thousand dollar to six-figure amounts are available for research and development of businesses. Grants are a great funding option for starting a home-based business, because this money isn’t a loan and doesn’t have to be paid back. Consider a grant to be a gift, though it is a gift that you have to apply for and be accepted to receive. Many government agencies offer grants grouped by categories such as agriculture, real estate, and general business.
But there is more to starting a home-based business than money. Knowledge, training and information resources are important. The government has numerous sources for assistance with business development, expansion and renovation, all accessible to small home-based businesses. Your local Small Business Administration office (or the SBA) is the place to call to obtain this information.
The SBA can also help set up small home-based business owners with counseling and training to acquire new skills vital to management and operation. Guidelines for applicants and forms are available through the SBA. There are other services available as well that provide advice on areas such as managing labor relations with employees or improving skills required for business management.
What is important to remember is that new home-based business owners should access any and all available resources possible. A good foundation of business skills and training goes a long way towards operating a successful business. Opportunities may present themselves when they are least expected, take advantage of every bit of help and advice possible. Starting your home-based business with government resources is a great idea, and soon you’ll be well on your way to owning a substantial home-based business.
Mike has been online since 2004. He can show you 3 simple steps to turn your Internet Marketing Business profitable.
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Top Ten Grant Tips
What’s the point in having a great idea if you don’t have any cash? You need capital to move your business from an idea to reality. One route that you can use to get the money you need is to look for a business grant.
Here are some great tips to getting that grant approved.
1) Talk to your local grant agency, local council economic development officer and Business Link to see if there are any grants available in your specific area.
2) Work out exactly what you need the money for because grants wont be provided for general running costs, they will support a specific outcome for example premises, training, trademarking etc.
3) Grants are often tied to strict selection criteria such as age, gender, ethnicity, unemployment or have a specific purpose such as research and development or innovation. If your idea doesn’t fit into it don’t try to force it.
4) Make personal contact by phone or ideally face to face with the grants officer and don’t just send in your application cold. Talk through your proposition with them to check whether your idea is suitable and it is worth applying in the first place.
5) Prepare a thorough business plan to bring with it but make sure it stands out from the crowd. Most importantly you will need to present a thought provoking vision, a passionate commitment, clear benefits and robust cash flow forecasts.
6) Know that grants are often handed out on a cyclical basis. Research upcoming deadlines and be prepared to wait several months for a decision don’t expect a quick answer because it doesn’t happen that way.
7) For larger amounts of funds, one grant will not usually fund ALL of the proposed costs so you will likely have to find more funding from another source.
8) Ask yourself if this business could get off the ground without a grant. Look at alternative sources of finance, such as loans, 0% credit cards, credit unions, friends and family. Funders will want to make sure that there is no chance of you moving ahead without their support.
9) Don’t stop watching your business process. It’s easy to get distracted by the allure of grant money and this can become the focus of your energy rather than building your business.
10) Become steadfast because many people convince themselves that the only way to start a business is to raise large sums of money without realizing there are other, less conventional routes that can be taken. Think of finding creative ways to support your start-up business until it turns profitable. The key trick here is to start small, start selling and start generating your own cash to fund your business growth.
Dwayne Garrett is the author of several eBooks and popular software applications, he also offers an affordable Government Resource that will help you to make sense of getting free grant money. http://www.GrantMoneySecretsRevealed.com
Outline Of A Complete Business Plan
Telling you how to develop a complete business plan is just not the same as showing you exactly what needs to be included in one. Below is exactly what you need to include in your business plan so that you have a decent place to start. Here is a quick nine-step guide to what you will need in your company’s business plan:
1. The executive summary: The executive summary is what introduces your business strategy to the reader and probably is the most important section for lending institutions. If you can’t convince a grant agency in the first two or three pages that you’ve got a good business proposal for them to listen to and that you’re not going to leave without some funding to help you get started. This summary is also important as a communication tool for employees as well as any potential customers who need to understand your goals and ideas.
2. A small section on company startup: This section of your business plan is where you have to clearly explain the thought behind the company’s creation and how you or your business associate came up with the idea to start your business.
3. Your company goal: You will have to use this section to explain in as few paragraphs as possible what your short and long-term goals for the company are. How fast do you think it will grow? Who will be your primary customers?
4. Biographies of management: This section will be used define your management team and what their purposes are. This section should include information such as the names and backgrounds of lead members of the management team and their responsibilities.
5. The product/service you will offer: This is where it is a must that you include a key piece of information that needs to be included in this section; which will be a discussion of how your pharmacy actually differs from every other business on the market.
6. The market potential: This is the section where you will really want to remember that you’ve got to convince everyone that you’re after is relatively large and growing. You’ll need to do some research for this section.
If you’re planning to open a locally based business, you need to check out the demand for your offering within a certain radius that is based on what you determine is a reasonable distance from your business. If you are planning to open a Web-based business or one that relies on both the Internet and local traffic for revenues, you’ll need to evaluate demand on a local and/or a national basis. You can also seek to get this type of information online as many different sites will perform this analysis for you.
7. The marketing strategy: This is the section where you will have to ask yourself how you plan to tell the world you’re open for business. For example, questions like; Will you advertise in print, television or on the Web or all of these? Will you use online marketing tools like search optimization, to get your company listed on search engines and advertised on other Web sites? You’ll also need to include how much you plan to spend on marketing.
8. A 3-5 year financial projection: This section should have a summary of your expected financial forecasts, including spreadsheets showing the method that you used to reach these projections. You’ll want to use your balance sheets, income statements and cash-flow projections for the entire period that year. The summary in this section is also where you would tell grant agencies how much money you’d like to get in order to cover your startup costs. The assumptions that you make in this section will make or break your company’s success. If you’re unsure about using this kind of financial modeling, find a professional.
9. An exit strategy. All good business plans include a section that lays out the benchmarks you’ll use in deciding to call it quits. The strategy could be based on a specific figure, revenue growth, the market’s reception to your idea, or a consensus among top officers.
Dwayne Garrett is the author of several eBooks and popular software applications, he also offers an affordable Government Resource that will help you to make sense of getting free grant money. http://www.GrantMoneySecretsRevealed.com
Business Grant Money Information
A successful business often starts with a single idea. Then, with a little help from outside financial resource, this idea is later turned to reality. See the trend here? While we’re not saying that money can make the world go round, it can do a lot of unusual feats, like turning your ideas into dollars, for instance.
But then, there lies a problem. How many bright ideas do you think have people come up with? A thousand? And out of all that, how many of them had been turned into successful business enterprises? Ten? Twenty? Thats because the person who came up with the idea doesnt have the financial means to make his idea work.
Now, what if we told you that there is a way for you to finance your dreams? No, we’re not talking about loans. We’re talking about business grant money.
Unlike a loan, a business grant does not require you to pay back the amount. In fact, thats the reason why many people refer to it as free money because it is, technically, free, though there may be obligations and sanctions imposed.
The great thing about business grants is that it is out there. It exists, though you may have to dig deep to find one that suits you perfectly. And when it comes to federally funded grant money, you may have to dig a bit deeper than usual.
You see, while many private institutions and nonprofit groups offer business grants to enterprising individuals, the real money (a hefty chunk of it, in fact) often comes from government.
Congress allocates about $67 million in business grant money to be distributed to the 57 federal agencies all over the United States. For a simple street-paving project proposal, you may get awarded something around $1,000 – $25,000 in grants.
The only requirement that the federal government imposes is that your business project must be beneficial to the local community or the general public. A search through the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) will lead you to two types of business grants: one for rural businesses and one for minority business enterprises.
For a rural business grant, the purpose is to promote sustainable economic development in rural communities with exceptional needs. Since the program gives a strong emphasis on helping existing businesses grow, eligible applications for the grant money for starting a business are public entities and nonprofit corporations that may in turn award money to the residents they serve.
Other eligible applicants for the money for starting a business include Indian tribes on Federal or State reservations or other Federally recognized tribal groups, and cooperatives with members that are primarily rural residents and that conduct activities for the mutual benefit of the members.
On the other hand, minority business grants offered at CFDA is aimed at fostering new minority business enterprises and maintaining and strengthening existing firms to increase their opportunities to participate and receive benefits of our economic system.
Applications eligible for this program for grant money for starting a business are Federal, State or local government entities or quasi governmental entities, American Indian Tribes, colleges, universities, nonprofit organizations, and for project organizations.
T J Madigan has been established in online business since 1998 and is director of a number of successful online projects one of which is http://www.articles.net.au your best source for FREE articles and information.