Thursday, January 22, 2009

Free Money for Small Business

You can have all the free money for small business you want. You have been dying to find out how right? Well I am about to tell you the secret. This will change your life forever!

You have heard all this before right? Just send $29.95 and we will tell you how to get all the secret grant money the state and federal government hands out like candy at a parade. Well the truth is that there is no such secret grant or loan program. Sorry to burst your bubble. This is one of the biggest scams perpetrated online targeting small businesses. Free money for small business sounds great though and people continue to send the scammers their hard earned cash.

There are special programs from the state and federal governments to secure money for your business; however, it is rarely a free gift. It is usually earmarked as government backed loans. Local lending institutions will actually write the loans and the government will guarantee them. This makes the loans much easier to get since the banks know that no matter what, they are guaranteed to get their money back. They will also issue grant money for businesses in areas they have deemed to need economic stimulus. Say an inner-city neighborhood has been declining for years and the local government wants to revitalize the area. They can apply for federal and state grants to issue to businesses willing to locate there or stay put if they are there and thinking of leaving. It also works for rural areas where small towns are starting to die. They may receive money to give to local businesses to help stabilize the area. Along with grant money, local governments also will sometimes give tax credits to businesses to locate in their areas. This is, in a way, free money for small business.

Also, there may be an alternative to receiving free money from the government. Try friends and family members. There is usually someone close to you that may have some extra cash burning a hole in their wallet. With today’s low interest rates they may be willing to take a chance on your business. It can be set up as a loan or you may be able to trade some equity for the cash infusion. If you’re willing to take on a partner then it would be ideal for you to accept the money. However, remember they will now have a say in the operations and it could put a strain on the relationship. Remember, there are a lot of friendships that end over money situations. The same goes for family members that may invest with you. They may not understand if the business goes under, even if it has nothing to do with your management. Christmas dinner may be awkward when grandpa asks you to “pass the potatoes please”, and cousin Larry pipes in with “would you also pass the $30,000 that I gave you last fall while you’re at it’.

Another great place for some almost free money for your small business is the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance. It is available for free and contains the grant money distributed by the government. Now it may sound easy right? “Here is what I was looking for”, but you have to realize that to receive some of these grants every thing has to be in perfect order. You may have to be of a certain race, have one arm, live in a specific neighborhood, graduated 78th out of a class of 211, and submit the paperwork on a Tuesday at 3:17pm. So it is possible. Okay, I take it back, there is such a thing as free money for your small business.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Finding Money For Small Business

Finding money for small business can be challenging, especially in these tough times. More and more, business owners are turning to non-traditional means of funding their enterprises. The good news is there are plenty of alternatives when looking for money for small business.

First of all, there are always the traditional methods of finding money for small business. These would include banks, credit unions, and the SBA. Now the SBA does not actually loan money for small business, but they do guarantee the loan and it makes it much more attractive to the banks. Of course you have to have great credit and plenty of assets to cover the loan. In today’s business climate these traditional methods of getting money for small business are getting increasingly hard.

This brings us to some not so often thought about methods of getting money for your small business. There are quite a few and with this article I would like to throw a few out there, and maybe get you to think of a few on your own that you may have not considered.

First, one of my favorite ways to get money for small business is one you have been warned about time and time again. It is using friends and relatives to get money for your small business. I know, you should never think about it right? I disagree. As long as you treat the money for your small business as a real loan and have a binding loan document you should be fine. Just realize that your friends and relatives expect to get there money back and you should expect to pay it back. It has to be treated as a business arrangement. Also, you have to be willing to pay the money for your small business back, even if the business goes under. Using friends and relatives can work out great because they are usually willing to give you great rates and terms that you may not get anywhere else.

Another method of getting money for business is using government grants. You will see lots of ads on television and the internet for programs that show you were to find grant money for small business, but most of these programs are scams or you can find the information yourself. You will have to do some searching but everything you need can be found for free.

Also, a really good method of getting money for small business is using peer-to-peer lending. Programs such as Prosper.com are great for getting that money you need for your business; however, unfortunately at the time of this writing Prosper has been halted by the government because they have accused Prosper of acting like a bank. The way these programs work is after you sign up, you can request a loan and people bid on you and the rate they are willing to lend at by your credit rating and the story you tell about why you need the money for your small business. People hedge their risk by lending small amounts to several people. Hopefully Prosper.com will be allowed to continue.

Hopefully these methods have given you some ideas for your business. More importantly I hope they have made you think about other ways you can find money for small business.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Helping You Find Money for Business

Welcome to Money for Business. This website provides information on finding loans, grants, and any other method of financing an ongoing business or start up. If you have questions not covered on Money for Business feel free to email questions to sizzlingletters@hotmail.com