Article by Sue Malone

For those small business owners who think they were ignored in the new stimulus bill (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009), think again. While the debate continues to unravel as to “who gets what and whether it is enough”, one thing is certain: more money is coming in the direction of small businesses through the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Remember, this is the agency responsible for the outreach, licensing, and implementation of, you guessed it, money into the pockets of small businesses. This is done through private licensed lenders who have agreed to join the SBA program. In other words, if your local community bank has a commercial loan department, it might very well have a SBA department which makes these loans. They are called SBA loans because the Federal government will reimburse, to a certain percentage, defaulted loans, thereby giving incentive for the private banks to loan more money. Net effect–more loans will be available for small business concerns.

Before we talk about how much more money is available to the SBA under the stimulus package, let’s look at the current status of one of the popular SBA loan programs. There is a loan program out there and SBA lenders are actually making loans currently: the Community Express Loan Program. This gives unsecured small business loans between ,000 and ,000 with very little paperwork, answers typically in two days, interest rates presently at 7.75%, funding and two weeks, and monies wired directly to your business account. There are still lenders participating in this program, although Congress has failed to make the program permanent and still has a 10% cap on the number of loans. Enter the Obama stimulus bill. Let us look how it affects this program and small business lending as a whole.

Read the rest of this entry

AS: 101 Businesses You Can Start With Less Than One Thousand Dollars: For Stay-at-Home Moms & Dads

Read the rest of this entry

You’ve read all of these great things about internet marketing and how it will open up the door to financial freedom for us all. Before you actually start trying everything you see online, it is important for you to do your due diligence regarding internet marketing.

Read the rest of this entry

Open
Question/Description

“A research study shows that entrepreneurs managing small businesses in Pakistan consider formal business planning a mere wastage of their precious time.”
Do you agree or disagree, support your argument with solid reasons.

(Your answers must be brief)

Product Description
A complete guide to getting your business or professional practice publicized/advertised…. More >>

Read the rest of this entry

Getting the Word Out with Power and Persuasion

A well defined business advertising strategy is the key to home business success. All home businesses need to communicate their advertising message either to generate new business opportunities or to reinforce their message to their customers. As a home business entrepreneur, you can advertise your home business either online or offline or use a combination strategy. All three pathways are known to be very effective.

For your home business, the avenues of business advertising may be either online or offline.

Read the rest of this entry

Every business needs cash and loans for small businesses can be one of the ways to get that cash. Here are a five tips to make the process a little easier and less painful.

1. Start thinking about a loan for your small business now, don’t wait until the last minute. Plan ahead. Forecast a cash flow statement for the upcoming six months and revise it at the end of every month. If it looks like you’ll need a cash infusion three months down the road, start applying for the loan now and you won’t run into a cash crunch.

2. Get your financial records for your business in order even if you don’t need a small business loan right now. Lenders of loans for small businesses will want to see your basic financial statements: accounts receivable, accounts payable, revenues and profits and loss statements. If you keep these records organized it won’t be a huge undertaking to get them together for the loan officer.

Read the rest of this entry

Also need tips on pricing, what supplies to get and the best clients to target? Also any other advice would greatly be appreciated. This is a one man operation.