Matrix

If anyone has please tell me about your experience and what you did, thanks alot.

If you are a for-profit, you may be eligible for a loan. A non-profit, you may be eligible for a grant. Historically for-profit businesses are not considered for grants because of their ability to make money and repay loans. You should seek out local angels. These men and women not only provide finance but may also provide expert assistance.

I recommend that you go to your local SCORE or SBDC counselor. These men and women are experts in providing assistance with your small business.

I am starting an online service to match those in need of residential services with the contractors who actually do the work. The service is free for the homeowners in need of service, and the leads that go to the contractors are charged at 5-10 dollars per lead. The website consist of a form where the user enters personal information about their home and their project requirements. I do have an SSL certificate in place on my server to protect peoples’ personal information.

What legal documentation is necessary for a business like the one described above?

You will need to file with your state to collect sales tax on in-state sales and get a "doing business as" certificate. If you want to incorporate you will have to take care of that, but it is not necessary or important right now.

If you had a business plan but little cash, how do you aquire enough cash for your business?

You should not start a business if you cannot pay cash for it.

If you business fails (and many of the new ones do) and you paid cash, you simply move on.

If you borrowed money, you are left with debt you have to pay – possibly for a long time to come.

Also, paying cash will prevent you from making many mistakes you will make if you borrow. It is plain psychology: we think before paying cash and do it much less (or do even not at all) when we borrow.

So, if you truly believe your business plan is sound, save what you can, get an extra job, save more, then and only then start it. As it develops, reinvest part of what you make into it to make it grow.

Good luck!

—
Larry
http://georgiaitsolutions.blogspot.com/

I’m brainstorming non-traditional ideas for a business that I can start on a part-time basis and specially interested in plans that are easy to set up and can be run on a shoestring budget.

If you’re looking for offbeat ideas to start off on a limited budget here are 3 proven jobs / businesses that I know work today:

1. VINYL LETTERING & PRINTING
This is a lucrative home business that very few know about. You can charge per letter for your decorative or calligraphic ideas and still have startup costs within budget.
Source: http://VinylLettering.50webs.com

2. LOW BUDGET FILM MAKING
From websites to media houses, everyone needs video that’s high on quality but low on cost. With the dirt-cheap (even free) tools available on the market today, this is not as hard as it seems.
Source: http://NoBudgetFilmMaking.50webs.com

3. FREELANCE VIRTUAL ASSISTANT
This is the more ‘traditional’ of the two above but has a proven place for companies looking to outsource their customer support jobs to people around the country. These companies have been around for a long time and the trend continues even today.
Source: http://VirtualAssistant.50webs.com

Is there anybody who attempts to establish an Internet start-up?
I mean to establish a website

Right here. D w a i n e c @ r o c k e t m a i l . c o m

I will be waiting for an email.

This is great startup internet company – and nothing similar exists in the market. We need an angel investor or line of credit. Getting seen by investors and taken seriously by a bank is the challenge.

My sister is a retired investment banker, and a current business consultant in NYC. You can e-mail me at timkavanagh1200@yahoo.com with more particulars, and I will forward the same to her. She is not an angel investor, but if she thinks she can help you find an angel or a sufficient line of credit, then she’ll be in touch.

It is hard to find grants to start a business. Unlike the myths that some perpetuate, federal government and even private foundations hardly give grant money for a for-profit business. And yes, grants mean PAPERWORK – lots and lots of it, that is why a cottage industry of grant writers was born.

Nonetheless, you can go to the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) http://www.cfda.gov and Grants.gov http://www.grants.gov – these are two sites created by the federal government to provide transparency and information on grants. Browse through the listings and see if you can find any grant that would support a for-profit venture.

Even if you buy books on "how to get grants" or list that supposedly has information on grants — all of them are mere rehash of what CFDA has, albeit packaged differently. But still the info is the same – hardly any grants for starting a for profit business.

Even SBA does NOT give out grants. From the SBA website http://www.sba.gov/expanding/grants.html…

"The U.S. Small Business Administration does not offer grants to start or expand small businesses, although it does offer a wide variety of loan programs. (See http://www.sba.gov/financing for more information) While SBA does offer some grant programs, these are generally designed to expand and enhance organizations that provide small business management, technical, or financial assistance. These grants generally support non-profit organizations, intermediary lending institutions, and state and local governments."

Most of the federal grants are given to specific target groups with specific requirements (e.g. minority business owners involved in transportation related contracts emanating from DOT – Grant#20.905 Disadvantaged Business Enterprises Short Term Lending Program

Grants are also often given to non profit groups or organizations involved in training or other similar activities (grant 59.043 Women’s Business Ownership Assistance that are given to those who will create women’s business center that will train women entrepreneurs

For private grants, you may want to check the Foundation Center’s Foundation Grants for Individuals Online. It’s a subscription based website ($9.95 per month) but their opening blurb only says that the database is ideal for "students, artists, academic researchers, libraries and financial aid offices." Entrepreneurs are apparently not one of them, so I take it they also don’t have listings of private foundations who give grants to would-be entrepreneurs.

http://www.cfda.gov
http://www.grants.gov
http://gtionline.fdncenter.org
http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol66/grants.htm
http://www.sba.gov/expanding/grants.html

Through the looking glass, because it is only a fantasy that the government gives grants to people to start a small business.

That is why guys like Matthew Lesko who sells the secret of getting these grants is constantly under investigation for fraud, because he is selling a lie.

The government gives out grants to encourage specific behavior, but does not finance peoples start-up businesses. I work for a government agency and I have to answer this question everyday. There are no grants to finance business start-ups, there is no free money.

I would like to start up a photography studio, but I am a very artsy person, so the paperwork and legal startup issues are tough for me to navigate.

There are several places where you may be able to find a mentor:

1. Government Mentoring Programs such as SBDCs, which works with community colleges and local business development councils to offer mentoring programs http://www.sba.gov/sbdc/sbdcnear.html ; or the Women’s Network for Entrepreneurial Training http://www.sba.gov/womeninbusiness/wnet_roundtables.html

2. Volunteer programs such as SCORE http://www.score.org which is composed of mostly retired executives and entrepreneurs

3. Formal mentoring programs such as
Athena Foundation http://www.athenafoundation.org/programs/globallinks.html
Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program http://www.helzbergmentoring.org/HEMP/
The Aspen Institute MicroMentor Program http://www.micromentor.org

4. Professional organizations such as the National Women’s Business Council http://www.nwbc.gov/Mentoring/programs.html

5. Industry and trade associations

6. Local business groups, such as the chamber of commerce

7. Local chapters of business groups

I have developed a means to make braces/orthotics using CAD/CAM technology. I have the equipement and people with the expertise; but I need someone who knows how to advertise and has the money to do it correctly.

try to get a local orthodontist involved they have business experience and money