New Energy Articles Blog

Determining the type of loan you need and the amounts of financing you qualify for is no easy task. Your FICO score may not be at the magic number of 680, which is needed for most loans. There are different types of business loans to assess that may help you get up and running.

Step 1 Apply for a SBA loan

Obtaining business credit is not as simple as delving into a personal savings account. Banks and other lenders are often reluctant to lend money to new or struggling banks and prefer to finance firms with an operating history that span at least five years and can maintain a strong sales record. To circumvent this dilemma you may consider applying to the Small Business Administration’s loan guarantee program, which guarantees loans to first-time and small businesses.

Step 2 Obtain funds through your business

Like many business owners, you may also consider raising capital through ownership of your business. Such action, however, requires a change of business structure to c-corporation and the establishment of a Board of Directors, if your business does is not already incorporated accordingly

Step 3 Let others invest in your business

Another option to obtain business credit include angel investors, however, this alternative requires a solid business plan and at between five to seven years of shared ownership.

Step 4 Seek online help

The final source that many small business owners are seeking is online person networks such as prosper.com or lendingclub.com. This selection is ideal for short-term loans with roughly 10%-15% interest. Such loans are easier to obtain than many secured loans.

Step 5 Fund your start-up

There are three loan types to consider-collateral, secured, and unsecured loans. Collateral is the asset that a lender can confiscate or hold if payment is not forthcoming, like home equity. Secured loans are loans that have a guarantee for payments, such as mortgages. Examples of unsecured loans include a line of credit or credit cards. Unsecured loans are the option many business owners choose to finance business operations.

Pick the alternative business credit funding options carefully as the monies need to be repaid.

Tags: Business, Finding, loan, steps
Posted in Uncategorized | | No Comments »

Determining the type of loan you need and the amounts of financing you qualify for is no easy task. Your FICO score may not be at the magic number of 680, which is needed for most loans. There are different types of business loans to assess that may help you get up and running.

Step 1 Apply for a SBA loan

Obtaining business credit is not as simple as delving into a personal savings account. Banks and other lenders are often reluctant to lend money to new or struggling banks and prefer to finance firms with an operating history that span at least five years and can maintain a strong sales record. To circumvent this dilemma you may consider applying to the Small Business Administration’s loan guarantee program, which guarantees loans to first-time and small businesses.

Step 2 Obtain funds through your business

Like many business owners, you may also consider raising capital through ownership of your business. Such action, however, requires a change of business structure to c-corporation and the establishment of a Board of Directors, if your business does is not already incorporated accordingly

Step 3 Let others invest in your business

Another option to obtain business credit include angel investors, however, this alternative requires a solid business plan and at between five to seven years of shared ownership.

Step 4 Seek online help

The final source that many small business owners are seeking is online person networks such as prosper.com or lendingclub.com. This selection is ideal for short-term loans with roughly 10%-15% interest. Such loans are easier to obtain than many secured loans.

Step 5 Fund your start-up

There are three loan types to consider-collateral, secured, and unsecured loans. Collateral is the asset that a lender can confiscate or hold if payment is not forthcoming, like home equity. Secured loans are loans that have a guarantee for payments, such as mortgages. Examples of unsecured loans include a line of credit or credit cards. Unsecured loans are the option many business owners choose to finance business operations.

Pick the alternative business credit funding options carefully as the monies need to be repaid.

Tags: Business, Finding, loan, steps
Posted in Uncategorized | | No Comments »

Copyright 2006 strength-training-woman.com

I recently gave a seminar to folks interested in starting their own online business.  Most of them were looking for information about shopping carts, search engine optimization, hosting, and tech related issues.  I believe they were all stunned when I explained that I would not address any of their questions until they told me their niche.

It felt as though 5 minutes passed by before any one said a word.  I could tell that not one person knew their niche.  I expected this.  In fact most hopeful net entrepreneurs miss this very important first step.  Choosing your niche.

It is so easy to get caught up in technical details, marketing, cash-flow charts and such, but what good is stressing about those concerns when no niche is chosen?  It’s like putting the cart before the horse.  Step 1 in creating an online business road map to success is defining your niche.

Websters.com defines a niche as a situation or activity specially suited to a person’s interests, abilities, or nature.  It also says a niche is a special area of demand for a product or service.  A niche is a target market.  It is focused, not broad.

Here are a few examples of niches: golfing for women, hot rods of the 1970’s, Greek desserts, and organic herb gardening.  Here are examples of topics that are not niches: golf, cars, food or gardening.  Do you see how a niche is focused and a topic is broad?

Determining your niche is the first step to producing a successful online business.  Your business should be built around 1 niche.  Your products or services should provide solutions to problems or concerns within your niche.  Your site content should provide information about your niche.  Creating an online business around your niche helps you rank better at search engines, positions you as an expert, and creates buzz in your industry.

Here are a few simple questions to help define your niche:

- What are your hobbies?

- What experiences/skills have you collected through school and jobs?

- What is your biggest passion in life?

- What hobby/experience/skill/passion would you enjoy building a business around?

- Have you often been told by people that you should go into business doing a particular thing?  For example, sell your famous muffin mix or sell your web design services.

My best advice is to choose a niche that you are passionate about.  Building a business takes effort and patience.  You will have a much harder time motivating yourself through the difficult periods of business if you dislike your niche.  So choose wisely.

Follow your gut and pick the best niche for you.  Income will follow where passion and hard work lead.  Begin researching your niche industry and then move forward with your plans.

A successful online business road map will look something like this:

- Choose niche.

- Research industry.  Find problems people have in that niche.

- Brainstorm a service or product to solve people’s problems, or become an affiliate for an existing product/service.

- Choose a hosting company that provides everything you need in one low cost price.  A good hosting company will provide support, easy page building, traffic analysis, search engine optimization, ability to create a newsletter and RSS feed and much more.  Check out my site to see who I use for my online business.

- Begin building your site around your niche.

Tags: Define, entreprenuer, Finding, hosting, how to, Lynn VanDyke, niche, online business, SBI, SiteSell, Topic
Posted in Uncategorized | | No Comments »