Jumpstart Your Business

Most times a small-business owner who is looking for support and financing needs to look no further than the local neighborhood. Here are six local sources of everything from training to help in securing local government contracts and also sources of loans for small companies.

1. Contact your state, county and local development departments. Among them are: statewide programs such as capital access programs; loan guarantee programs; and small business low-interest loan program that helps small companies acquire land, buildings or equipment.. There are also regional or city-based programs, such as economic development loan pools — low-interest loans for land, building acquisition, renovation or machinery and equipment purchases. Such aid is available since cities and regions are interested in promoting the economic health of their region and creating or retaining jobs in their area.

In these tough financial times, small businesses need to try out new ways of cutting back on their expenses. One new trend is to follow certain feeds on Twitter. This very popular social media site contains a wealth of information on using money wisely. Here are 4 helpful feeds for you to follow:
• USATODAYmoney — Keep track of the country’s financial picture and see how you’ll have to adjust to the changing times through USA Today Money’s tweets. Their items will let you learn how to be smart with your small business cash flow.

As a small business owner, you owe it to the business to decide whether your lender is right for your business or not. Banks and lending institutions use five factors to grant credit to you or your business and these are:

Capacity
Your ability to repay the loan. They look at your cash flow and your expected business performance over time to see whether you have the ability now and in the future to be able to keep up with the loan payments.

If you think that you’ll be able to get a grant to start your for-profit small business from the federal government or even from a private foundation, think again. Even with all of the billions of dollars floating around under the American Recovery and Re-investment Act, you still can’t find grants for your small business start-up.

Cut-backs rule the day, but according to Ben Worthen, staff reporter for the Wall Street Journal, not all cuts are equal. Some cuts provide longer terms savings; some, more immediate.

Henry Paulson knows that if you need capital to help start your business, you can’t expect to get it from a bank or other lender without your having to qualify for it. Here are 5 tips he would recommend to help you qualify for that loan:

All along we have suspected that the financial meltdown was driven by mortgages. Here is a new look at how this happened and how it can easily happen again.

Here are 10 points to ponder before starting the quest for financing:
1. Whether you’re a start up or established business, you need a well thought-out and documented business plan with your financing request fully laid out in the business plan. All sources of funding will want to see your business plan.

To make money in a small business, the entrepreneur needs to know certain basic things above and beyond having a great idea for a business. Here are five tips for getting the business off the ground on the right foot:

1. Have enough cash to start up the business without having to wait to get a loan.

2. Know whether your business idea serves a niche or a growing market.

3. Know why your customers should buy from you and not your competitors.

4. Know how to reach the people who want to buy your product or service

5. Determine a price that is both profitable and competitive

There is no doubt that you need a major credit card if you place a lot of orders online or by phone or you need to make reservations for hotels, motels, car rentals and airline flights when you travel. If you have over extended your credit limit or have run into a poor credit situation, there may be an answer for you – the Prepaid Credit Card.