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Small Business Ideas

Finding Funding for Your Small Business Idea

One of the main challenges facing aspiring business owners is financing. In most cases, small businesses simply do not have the funds to operate and grow the way the owner envisions or wants. That’s why there is such a high demand for small business funding. The problem is, there are limited options. Few individuals or organizations are willing or able to finance new businesses. In addition, competition is fierce. Lenders have to decide which firm can offer the best return on their investment. In this article, we’ll take a look at the options that are open to you when you have a business idea:
• Venture Capital – while venture capital has a somewhat negative reputation among small businesses, venture capitalists are actually just people who want to invest money. They have a responsibility of ensuring that they will have good returns by minimizing risks. If you are interested in tapping these types of firms, it is important to note that in most cases, they only invest in exceptional start-ups. They tend to prefer companies that focus on new markets and those that develop new products.
• Commercial Lenders – banks are a common source of funding for small businesses. While banks don’t invest in businesses, they lend money to them. But just like venture capitalists, they scrutinize the business to see if it is worth lending to. It can be very difficult for start-ups to secure funding this way unless they have collateral.
• Small Business Administration (SBA) – the SBA was set-up to provide advice and funding for small businesses. SBA loans are typically administered by local banks. One important requirement is that a third of the business capital must come from the owner. The rest can be guaranteed by personal assets. If you can secure funding from an SBA-certified bank, do so. These tend to be more business-friendly than commercial loans.
• Friends and Relatives – people often underestimate how willing their friends and relatives are to helping them. While it can be hard to mix your personal life with business, it can be worth it. The terms of the loan are often lax because they trust in you. Just be certain that the repayment details are ironed out early on to prevent misunderstanding.
There are many other sources of funding you can check out for small business grants. Opportunities depend greatly on your location, industry, and expertise. For example, there may be certain local government agencies may be tasked with helping small businesses with funding.
On the other hand, you can also check out if there are private investors who may be interested in your proposals. If you decide to do this, connections are important. Getting the chance to present your business plan to would-be investors is fifty percent of the task. At the end of the day, it’s all about having the courage to go out there to present your business. You won’t get money for nothing. So it is important to do your work beforehand to find out which individuals, groups, or organizations will be interested in your proposals.

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Income

Finding Home Business Ideas That Are Suitable For You

Would you like to start a business home idea? There are several home based businesses which you will be able to choose from nowadays, below are couple of of the home based business ideas.
Many of the individuals will like to sit at home and earn a five figure income. These people do not have to worry because there are lots of home based businesses out there in the market these days one could choose from.
Translation service
If you have a mastery over a language and translation is easy for you, then you will be able to convert this into a great business home idea possibility for you. These days most of the multinational companies are ready to spend a lot of cash so-as to get a good quality translation service. You will also be able demand a very good price if you’re well versed and have adequate experience in translating texts. Actually, most of the on-line companies charge huge amounts of cash for translation services. Most of the time one project would be sufficient to tide you through the month. These companies are prepared to spend so much money as they know that there is no translation software in the world which could actually substitute the human translator
Photography
If photography is your hobby, you’ll be able to convert this into a home based job and make plenty of cash from it. Nowadays photographers are in huge demand. It might be wedding photography or fashion photography, you could identify the niche that you are interested in and then get projects accordingly. You could offer specialised and sophisticated photographs at huge costs. In fact most of the higher end photographers are making millions nowadays.
Script writing
Every storyline be it a block buster or a small screen requires a good script. You would be able to transform script writing into a business home idea if you find script writing to be your true calling. You would be able to earn lots of cash, you will be doing something that you really like and you would also be able to make a name for yourself in the industry as a script writer. But you would need an impressive port folio for this, that means that you will need to start small, writing scripts for small screens. You will be able to command a good price when you grow and diversify.

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Business Owner

Creating Change: Finding Something to Be Passionate About

One of the biggest differences that I notice that separate people who are really truly happy from everyone else, is that those who radiate happiness are passionate about something in their lives. Recently I went on a site visit with some clients that I work with who are interested in putting a business together. They had done a few feasibility studies but couldn’t really decide which direction they wanted to head in. I had the chance to take them on a tour of a business that had some similar components to the kind of operation they were thinking of running. The group left the visit unable to decide the direction they wanted to head in.
They had three initial goals: be able to grow and sustain the organization, be able to hire people with disabilities, and be able to turn a profit. The one thing they lacked was passion. I very carefully chose the business that I took them to for the tour. The owner of that business has passion oozing from every cell of his body and his enthusiasm is highly contagious. When the group asked him what made his company so successful his response was: “That’s what I do.”
After listening to this gentleman for more than two hours the group walked away with this lesson: You have to have passion to be a success. You have to live, breathe, and feel your work. Without passion you are just going through the motions and you will not succeed, or your success will be short-lived. Find your passion before you invest your money, before you invest your efforts in developing a business plan, before you invest your time and energy into a business.
The group that I was working with left the tour with a few ideas. They went back to meet with their board of directors and they have narrowed down some choices that they are at least a little bit passionate about. With some more research, and site visits to various businesses hopefully they can find a business idea that they will truly be passionate about, and can implement with great success.
If you find that your happiness quotient is low and that you’re lacking a bit of passion in your life, here are some steps to get back on track:
1) Make note of what excites you. Carry a small notepad or notebook around for a week. When you are feeling happy, jot down what in particular is generating that feeling of happiness.
2) Take a trip to a book store. What section do you gravitate towards?
3) Spend some time in solitude. Let your mind wander a bit. Listen to your thoughts
4) If you could spend a whole entire week doing anything that you wanted, what would it be?
5) If you told someone else “That’s what I do!” what would it be in regard to?
Whether developing a business or not, we all need a certain level of happiness and passion in our lives. I am sure that on some level, we all know this but with all of the day-to-day activities in our lives we often forget this lesson.