Biz Tips
A majority of the start-up businesses that come through our doors inquire about grants, loans, and initial funding. Answers to these questions are often hard to give. There is a widespread notion that there is money out there for people looking to open a hair salon or consulting firm or whatever it might be. Unfortunately, that is not the reality.
Government grants are given out for research, for non-profits, and not much else (i.e., not for commercial ventures). Even if you happen to be starting a non-profit, grants are often hard to secure, and there are some pretty particular reporting requirements in order to maintain that funding.
Sometimes grants are allocated to small businesses in industries like childcare or green technology through state or local organizations, but they often require matching funds or other combined financing. Business.gov offers this online tool to search for grants you might qualify for.
Loans, on the other hand, are pretty widely available to small business start-ups. Here are some resources:
SBA 7(a) Loan Program guarantees small business loans from banks and other lending institutions for both start-up and existing small businesses. This is the most common option for SBA guaranteed loans and because most banks and some other commercial lenders participate, loans are widely available. While the lender agrees to structure the loan, it shares the risk with the SBA, making it easier to make loans to small business owners. Find out more about the 7(a) Program on the SBA website.
SBA Micro-Loan Program is another lending option with the SBA that provides. These are small, short-term loans that average $13,000 and max out at $25,000 and are distributed through community organizations with SBA funds. Find out how to apply for an SBA micro-loan here.
New York State’s Community Development Financial Institution Assistance Program (CDFI) provides micro-loans to business owners who may not qualify for bank loans, as well as minority and women-owned businesses. CDFI also offers one-on-one counseling and business development assistance to facilitate credit-readiness. Click here to find more information and a list of participating financial institutions.
New York Business Development Corporation (NYBDC) is an organization that works in partnership with lending institutions to provide term loans, many of which do not meet the requirements for traditional financing. NYBDC, a WBC resource partner, handles lending for non-profits, veterans, women and minority-owned businesses, business located in Empire Development Zones, and other conventional business ventures. Find out more about these services on the NYBDC website.
If you’re looking for further resources, Business.gov has a lot of information on small business financing. Check out the user forums for additional insight.
What has been your experience looking for grants and loans as a small business owner or start-up? Leave a comment.
Author: Biz Tips, Financial, Funding, Resources, Start-Up | No Comments »
I’m writing this post as we at the WBC 
are sorting out annual projections, setting up budgets, and scheduling the coming year of programming. Our year starts in September, so in the quiet summer months, we have some time to collect ourselves and get our stuff together.
Yes, this is a post about organization.
I had a conversation with a woman today looking to start a business. We get a few of these calls a day. Daunted, they ask “What do I need to do?” “What are my first steps?” “How can I get funding?”
Well, first, we say, you need to get everything in order. Your market research, your business plan, your financial projections. And we have counselors who can help you with that. If there is one endeavor in your life that you need to be incredibly well-prepared for (apart from having a baby or getting married, maybe), it is entering into a business venture.
But this is only the beginning. Good organization is essential at all levels of business. A business runs like a well-oiled machine if you scrupulously track your book-keeping, update and maintain a robust client database, and if you can properly account for your time as an owner/manager/sole proprietor/independent contractor/CEO.
So for those both in and out of business, we want to share with you the organization tools that we love…
Click here to continue reading.
Author: Biz Tips | No Comments »
SCORE blogger Rieva Lesonsky wrote this great post on the top 15 sites for women in business. We think these are great sources and tools you can use to grow.
- AllBusiness.com
– Center for Women’s Business Research
– Committee of 200
- ForbesWoman
- The Hot Mommas® Project Mission
- NAFE (The National Association for Female Executives)
- National Women’s Business Council
- NAWBO (The National Association of Women Business Owners)
- OWBO (The SBA’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership)
- SBA (The U.S. Small Business Administration)
- SBDCs (The Office of Small Business Development Centers)
- SmallBizDaily
- Small Biz Nation
- WBENC (The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council)
- WPO (The Women Presidents’ Organization)
Commenters also suggested these additional sites:
- Business.gov
- Women’s Leadership Exchange
– Women Impacting Public Policy
- Women Entrepreneur
Find the full post on the SCORE Women’s Success Blog
You can also check out our blogroll down on the right-hand side.
What sites do you find helpful? Let us know in a comment below.
Author: Biz Tips, Media, Resources, Women | 3 Comments »
(This post comes from WBC board member Tom Grifasi, of Enterprise Holdings System Corporation, as a follow-up to this introductory post about the business application of social media.)
The major social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn) have become household names and major marketing tools for business. However, two factors are often overlooked when a business decides to jump into the social media marketing:
First, there are dozens of social media sites (loosely defined) which can push your marketing message. Once you determine which sites seem to be popular with your target market, you can begin to focus your efforts and even create orchestrated campaigns to “cross market” your messages (aka “advertise your advertising”). Here’s a short list to get you started:
http://www.squidoo.com
http://www.tagfoot.com
http://www.ezinearticles.com (also, http://www.articlemarketer.com)
http://www.digg.com
http://www.stumbleupon.com
http://www.zimbio.com
http://www.mixx.com
http://www.friendfeed.com
http://www.big-boards.com
http://www.craigslist.com
Second, after Google acquired YouTube, their search algorithms changed and now give YouTube postings an advantage in Google search results. Therefore, video clips on YouTube will generate a better click-through rate to your website and your message than most other efforts at SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
And finally, what most marketers miss—even those who successfully use online marketing such as Social Media sites—is the Conversion Rate. That’s the ability to capture visitors to your site, turning click through visitors into bona fide leads, newsletter subscribers, etc.
Author: Biz Tips, Guest Blogger, Marketing, Media | 4 Comments »
In this day of constantly-refreshed status updates, tweets, texts, and feeds, we’d like to know:
How connected is your business?
We’ve recently joined Twitter and YouTube and have been maintaining a Facebook page for a while now, even syncing our feeds with a new platform, TweetDeck. This is all in an effort to make ourselves more available to you.
But we’re interested to see how many of you are tapping into social media. If you are connected in this multitude of ways, what benefits are you seeing from it?
A recent survey of our clients cited that the biggest concern in 2010 was marketing their business. And we are a firm believer in this kind of media’s marketing potential. We’d like to investigate this further, so stayed tuned for more content about how you can use social media and information sharing to your advantage.
Tell us what you think… Leave a comment!
Author: Biz Tips, Marketing, Media | 4 Comments »
Hi! Happy February!
I just wanted to stop in and share with a piece of relevant advice we came across. It comes form Janet W. Christy, author of Capitalizing on Being Woman Owned: Expert Advice for Women Who Have or Are Starting Their Own Business.
In light of the status of the economy and small business in 2010, she advises:
“Watch government announcements closely. In 2009, two characteristics of the stimulus package (officially the American Recovery and Reinvestment ACT) became apparent. First, the money was going to come through the same channels it has always come – for example: road and bridge money would go to Departments of Transportation or cities or counties to award contracts. Second, most of the money was going to come very slowly. It is important to pledge to watch the government announcements about stimulus packages, incentives and other money related actions because those announcements will provide information about who will receive the money, how it can be used and may include clues about if and how Woman Owned Business can be involved.”
I’m sure many of you, like me, watched the State of the Union address last week. The focus, as predicted, was on the status of small business and jobs in our struggling economy.
President Obama offered these incentives:
“I’m proposing that we take $30-billion of the money Wall Street banks have repaid and use it to help community banks give small businesses the credit they need to stay afloat. I am also proposing a new small business tax credit – one that will go to over one million small businesses who hire new workers or raise wages. While we’re at it, let’s also eliminate all capital gains taxes on small business investment; and provide a tax incentive for all businesses, large and small, to invest in new plants and equipment.”
At this time, these are just executive proposals, so we remind you to watch the legislative process, see what is passed, and how it can ultimately benefit you.
What do you think about these proposals?
Leave a comment!
Author: Biz Tips, In the News, Policy | 2 Comments »
Hi there, Gabby here!
I’ve just returned from my holiday vacation on the West Coast and I’m excited to be back in the office and on the blog. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday break and is ready as we are at the WBC to tackle 2010.
Some exciting things are happening at the Women’s Business Center right now:
First of all, if you’ve been to our homepage recently, you might have noticed that we are now on Facebook and LinkedIn!
Since we are a partner organization to a college, we thought it was only appropriate for us to start a Facebook group. And if you’re not on Facebook (or you just can’t get enough of us on the web), we would be happy to be a part of your professional network on LinkedIn!
Also, we are happy to announce that we will be holding our second-ever Sister Mixer this February at the Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens Society! Some of you may have attended the first Sister Mixer this summer at Dug’s Dive on the waterfront. We invite you to come again for some fun, informal networking with other guests and clients of all WBC programs. For more information, click here. We hope you can attend!
I also wanted to share with you, in light of the new year, some advice for small business owners in 2010. This article, published over on WebCPA, highlights the top ten tips shared by 750 real small business owners, based on past year’s experience.
They advise:
1. Start Preparing Your Taxes Now
2. Cut Personal Expenses
3. Think Green
4. Have a Long-Term Plan
5. Don’t Focus on the Money
6. Use the Web (one thing we really emphasize at the WBC)
7) Rely on Yourself
8. Focus on Sales
9. Stay in Touch with Family
10. Stay Healthy
You can read the full text of the article here.
To leave a comment, click here.
Author: Biz Tips, Events | No Comments »