ForumsStarting a Business

You have a couple of possibilities:

1) Get the extra money from friend or family.

2) Get some of the 'extra' money from future customers. If you have a business that will have customers and you can raise even a little from them, this ought to impress bankers (if you future customers believe your plan and put up money this is a great sign). Might help put them over the edge.

3) Put it on a credit card! Not a great idea and I really suggest avoiding this!

4) Find a partner for the business. An operating partner or a silent partner. Maybe an angel investor of some type in your community (just google angel investor to learn more). This will be challenging and take a lot of time to find someone, but if you really believe in your idea it could be the route to take. There is a ton to learn and do in starting a business and sometimes a partner can help in other ares besides just money. Still it's not a step to take lightly.

In addition to score, I would go talk to some bankers as well. If you can get some feedback from them, you might find out more about what is needed.
Plus you start to build up a relationship. If you come back several times with updates to the plan and with more money in hand -- eventually they will see that you are serious and committed. That will help them sell it to others in the bank (many business loans are either formally or informally reviewed by multiple people at the bank).

Lastly, have you looked at the SBA site? Few startups can get an SBA loan, but the information on the site is useful. Lots of pages, but read all you can and you will learn even more.
http://www.sba.gov/services/financialassistance/index.html

The above posts are very informative and helpful, but they didn't mention one option you have right now. If, and this is only if, you are already able to produce a product of some kind you should look into going ahead with a store front online, it's much cheaper to do than you might think especially if you look around a little first. The site will help you gauge how good an idea you have in the first place and if the idea has any merit and you have any work ethic whatso ever you should be turning a profit in a few months. Look into free store fronts like ecrater.com and other solutions to lower your inital costs and you'll be able to save even more up front. Like I said this only applies if you can already produce a product and were eventually going to sell it online anyway. This isn't the best option you have but for instant gratification types it is the quickest to turn a profit, provided you know anything about marketing yourself and your product/service...but the above ideas are less risky in the long run. I do know however that doing what I suggested ended up saving me several thousand on an idea that would never have worked that I was sure was gold...a little of my embarassing past for you to chew on.

There are other options, see:
http://www.usagovernmentgrants.org/womens_grants.html

You can have the best fico score in the world but the
business plan will not work for the bank and you are denied.
You can have this fico score, the bank reads your business
plan and notices you have the niche that will make it and
they will then find a way to back you (knowing you will be
bringing funds into their bank).

This is not a bubble bursting moment, you simply walked into
a wall, now you must go over it by jumping the hurtles that stand
in your way. Refocus by asking to speak to a bank officer as
him or her to review your plan and convience them to mentor
you through options for a loan (let them know how important
they are to your future plans).

Look into SBA (Small Business Administration) website for
additional loan options.

I would really like to know what angle bank this was, perhaps we all would.

Good luck with your venture rahinson, It's always pleasing to hear a good turn
out now and then atfer so much hard work.

Partnership

Rahinson:

Congratulations! That's great news - a nice shot of adrenaline to get your momentum going again.

It's a great idea to approach a bank or other lender and find out ahead of time what they require for review when determining if they will provide funding. However, I would recommend that before you put a business plan in front of them, you make sure that it is solid.

This will do a couple of things for you:

• It will give you a higher chance for securing funds the first time
• It will reduce the risk of turning off a potential investor that might not give you a second chance
• It will give you better odds for success in launching your business

Good luck. Sounds like you have a flexible bank that is willing to work with you to get your business off the ground.

All the Best,

Doug Dolan

The Solopreneur's Guide

http://thesologuide.com