Business Loan

When you're ready to start a small business, the best first step you can take is to find funding for that business. One of the biggest reason 95% of businesses fail in the first one to five years is due to lack of funding. So getting funds from somewhere can be critical to your small business success.

Thankfully there are many ways to fund a small business. Due to its very nature, the smallness of a small business makes it much easier to fund. The downside of course, is that many traditional funding sources won't often be interested, because there's no much return on the investment for them. So this article will look at some practical, everyday ways to get small business funding.

1. Credit - If you have a line of personal credit at your local bank, or you have credit cards with enough available funds on them, an easy way to get small business funding is to simply use these. The credit cards are a very expensive way to get funding for your small business though, so many people leave this as a last resort.

2. Family - Many small businesses get their initial funding from friends and family. Whether it's given as a loan, a gift, or as an investment will be up to how you'd like to structure the agreement. When you get small business funding from friends or family, it's just as important to have a written agreement in place with them as it is if you get your funding from other sources. This will lessen the potential for any problems down the road.

3. Clean House - An excellent way may people get their first small business funding is by simply cleaning their house. Instead of throwing things away though, they have a giant yard sale, take everything to a local flea market, or sell it at an online auction site such as Ebay. Sometimes you can make several thousand dollars from a weekend yard sale or flea market visit, and this is often more than enough funding to get a lot of small businesses started.

4. Lifestyle Changes - A more drastic move which works for many people, is to simply change their lifestyle. If for instance, you have several cars you're paying $300 a month for, you can scale down to just one and have an extra $600 a month to use for funding your small business. The same applies for your living quarters. If you're living in a home or apartment which costs $1500 each month, but are willing to scale down to something more along the lines of $900 or $1000 per month, you'll have several hundred dollars more each month to use for funding your business.

Another way to incorporate lifestyle changes without scaling down is to simply get a second job. Whether part time or full time, getting a second job and putting all of those earnings away into savings for one year is often an excellent source of small business funding.

Angel investors are people who put in emerging business ventures. Angels typically supply both capital and know-how to companies who are in either their start-up Oregon enlargement phases. To reflect the increased hazard of investment in such as firms, angels seek a higher rate of tax return versus traditional populace stock investments.

Angel investors carry through the funding need that bes between capital provided by friends and household and capital provided by venture capitalists. Person angel investors often compose checks from $25,000 to $100,000. Recently, angel investment have got go more than organized, and angel groupings often put from $250,000 to $500,000 at a clip to meriting ventures.

Angel investors often have similar funding criteria as venture capitalists. They desire to see proprietary intellectual property, a large market size, management squad members with expertness and experience, and a current evaluation that allows for a good tax return on investment.

In identifying and attracting an angel investor, companies should seek angel groupings that are located in their region. For instance, the Technical School Seashore Angels have got funded over 85 Southern California-based companies since 1997. When seeking individual angel investors, it is critical to web in order to make a personal connexion between yourself and the angel. Also, ideally the individual have experience within your specific field so he/she tin supply industry contacts and operational expertness in improver to capital.

Running a small business usually means you have to be a "Jack of all trades" but you
can't afford to be "a master of none".You need to be master of your marketing in particular because marketing drives sales and thus income.To survive, and thrive, you need to be able
to implement the essential marketing steps for small business.These steps
will give direction to your marketing,allow you to control the message you are sending
to customers, and increase the returns on your marketing efforts.

Most small businesses are prone to indulging in ad hoc marketing activities because
of a lack of time and planning. "It seemed like a good idea at the time" is a common, and often costly
reason given for having undertaken a marketing activity. The essential marketing steps for
small business will eliminate the guessing and ensure that your marketing is planned and focussed.

Whether a small business's marketing is ad hoc or not, it often gives out mixed messages
to potential customers.This is not only confusing to the customers, but makes it almost
impossible for the business to meet their customer's expectations.In effect you are spending
time and money to create unhappy customers!

It goes without saying then that by following the essential marketing steps for small business
and taking control of your marketing message, your business will benefit from the increased
returns generated by a more disciplined approach to marketing.

In today's competitive and crowded market place, you just cannot afford to guess when it
comes to how you are going to market what your business has to offer. To do so is to play
russian roulette with your business and your future. And there is no reason why you should go
down that path. By following some straight forward, proven marketing steps for small business
you can ensure that you stay ahead of your competitors, and out of the bankruptcy courts.

It was not so long ago when I was watching my nephews eagerly upload their MySpace pictures and create their profiles. All the rave with teenagers and music bands, MySpace has becomeso much more!

It is now the mecca of small business owners and networkers the world over!

MySpace, like Ryze.com and others,allows you to create a profile, share some pictures and add a bit about your interests. You can even post to your own blog and upload music for "your sound" when people click on your home page.

Now I konw some of you are already shaking your head "no" because you've heard some of the negative publicity surrounding MySpace, or you think it's just for fun.

I would counter with the simple, yet sad, truth that you can meet unsavory characters anywhere and, with a few precautions, the benefits far outweigh the risks!

Here's just a few of the ways you can use MySpace for your business:

1. Networking.

Once you set up a home page and profile (it took me THREE minutes!), you can start meeting "friends" and inviting them to join your network. You will soon notice that others will also invite you to join their networks as well.

MySpace will put a notice on your private page letting you know that someone wants to be your friend -- YOU then have the power to accept or deny them based on their profile. The more friends you have, the larger your network. You can also choose to keep your network small and focused only on those people who fit in your target audience.

2. Share a little more.

While you want to remain professional and not share things you wouldn't share in a face-to-face networking environment, your MySpace page gives you the ability to share a little more about yourself than you would on your standard website home page.

I, for example, put up some photos of our "children" (dogs and cats) as well as pictures from recent trips -- not things you will see on my usual site.

3. Cross-polination for increased traffic.

You can increase your website traffic by referring readers of your MySpace to your website and vice versa. You can also post your standard blog posts onto your MySpace blog -- it takes about 30 seconds and will further help to drive traffic.

4. Sell your stuff.

Do you have an e-book, regular book or other item to sell? If so, you can include them on your MySpace home page and capture some sales that you otherwise may have missed.

5. Send an announcement.

MySpace lets you send announcements to your friends -- the announcements appear in their private inboxes.

Are you offering a new teleclass? Selling a new product? Hosting a workshop? Send an announcement and let your friends know!

It's quick and painless to set up an account. You don't need anything fancy and can add to it anytime you wish. This is a great task for your virtual assistant! Don't have one? Don't despair -- any kid on the block will be happy to do it for you! :-)

While you may not have a thousand friends or make a million dollars overnight, MySpace is yet another great (and free!) way you can market yourself AND your business.

So what you are waiting for?

Anyone who is closely related to an accountant cognizes that there are not four, but five seasons in a year: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, and 'Tax Season.' During the other seasons, we collect leaves, snow, and mosquito bites. During 'Tax Season' we collect paper. And more than paper. And if you have got a small business or investments--even more than paper.

Whether you engage person to set up your taxes or attempt to decipher the word forms yourself, it is imperative that your document be in order for this 'fifth season.' Organizing your tax-related documents is not just a undertaking for the eventide of April 13th. Good tax organisation is a year-round process.

Some pitfalls of being disorganized at tax time:

You run the hazard of misplacing of import receipts/documents

You experience stressed from the huffy elan to the tax preparer/post office on April 14th

Your tax preparer may charge you more than money if they have got to pass clip wading through your hemorrhoid of loose receipts.

How to rectify these tax-time situations? Prepare now for adjacent twelvemonth by getting organized!

Set up an all-year unit of ammunition data data data file system

Designate a box, piano accordion file, or a file cabinet for year-round paper storage and retrieval. Make booklets for receipts, credit card and bank statements, anything you have got spent money on or need to maintain path of for tax purposes. As you get such as documents, topographic point them in the appropriately labeled folder. This is good not only for tax clip but for when you have got to recover certain document throughout the year.

Give your tax-related papers a home

Every January, our letter boxes go flooded with written documents necessary for filing your taxes. At the beginning of the year, designate a large envelope or box in one country of your home or a data data file in your file cabinet for these papers. Examples of these are:

W2's

1099's

Mortgage interest statements

Bank interest statements

Real estate tax statements

Investment statements

Receipts for charitable donations

Sort and make classes for your papers/receipts

By early February you should have got received all paperwork necessary to finish your taxes. Take that envelope/box/file of collected document and kind them by category. This procedure will enable you or your tax preparer to quickly turn up your document and receipts. Some basic classes are:

Salary

Real Estate

Medical

Childcare

Investments

Save your tax preparer exasperation by throwing away the envelopes that your statements came in and rupture off the perforated edges from your income statements. Group the written documents into the classes you’ve created and paper cartridge holder them together. Topographic Point all of these document in a booklet or large envelope.

Call your tax preparer early

If you're using a tax preparer, phone call in January to schedule a mid to late February tax appointment. Doing this military units you to form and collect all the necessary information by that date. Also, accountants get very busy as April 15th approaches. You don’t desire an exhausted accountant doing your taxes...

Being organized at tax clip will give you greater control over the tax readying process. Instead of feeling overwhelmed, you will experience a sense of composure and accomplishment. Instead of frantically searching for written documents you will be able to bring forth them at a moment’s notice. Instead of your accountant cursing your name, he/she volition sing your congratulations when you show them with an envelope of organized document and receipts.

The sooner you get organized for tax clip the sooner you may get that large refund check. If that’s not motive enough, I don’t cognize what is...

As a small business owner, it's wise to familiarise yourself with some cardinal tax deductions that may reduce your tax measure for 2004.

Employee Benefit Plans - You may subtract parts to employee benefit programs (such as wellness insurance programs and retirement plans). Depending on your fortune the upper limit part that you may subtract per employee in a qualified retirement program can travel up to:

$100,000 Oregon more than With a Defined Benefit Plan

$ 44,000 With a 401(k) plan

$ 41,000 With a SEP-IRA or Keogh

Automobile Expenses- You can elect to subtract the existent disbursals incurred (including gas, oil, tires, repairs, insurance, depreciation, and rent or rental payments) for the business-related portion of your car or motortruck expenses, or simply take the 2004 criterion mileage rate of 37.5 cents per business mile.

Social Security Taxes - You may subtract Sociable Security and Medicaid taxes paid to fit required withholdings on employee wages, federal unemployment taxes, as well as existent estate or personal property taxes paid on business assets.

Home Office - Depending on whether you utilize your home or other existent estate for business purposes, you may subtract some or all of any mortgage interest paid, as well as some or all of the care and repair disbursals associated with the property. The cost of public utilities and business stores associated with business usage are also deductible.

Depreciation - Depreciation may be taken on passenger cars, equipment used for amusement or recreational intents (i.e., photographic equipment, cell phones and computers), as long as these points are used solely for the business.

Bonus Depreciation - The 'bonus' depreciation tax deduction of up to 50 percent of the cost of new business equipment in the twelvemonth of purchase uses only to property placed in service on or before December 31, 2004. You may desire to see making any important equipment purchases before year-end to take advantage of this expiring provision.

Professional Fees - You may subtract professional fees, such as as those paid to a lawyer or accountant.

Meals and Entertainment - You may subtract 50 percent of repast and amusement disbursals associated with the behavior of your business.

State and Local General Sales Tax - Beginning in 2004, you will have got the option of electing to take an itemized tax tax tax deduction for state and local general sales taxes in stead of the itemized deduction provided for state and local income taxes.

Charitable Donations of Vehicles – Through 2004, a deduction equal to the just market value of a donated vehicle is allowed. Starting adjacent year, however, the tax deduction allowed will generally be limited to the gross return from the sale of the vehicle by the charitable organization.

Remember to maintain on data file the records and certification necessary to confirm all of your deductions. You should confer with a tax preparer or professional tax advisor to determine how specific tax regulations may impact your individual situation.

If you have recently started an Internet or home business, your probably a little intimidated by having to submit a tax return and the possibilities of being audited. Simply follow these guidelines and rest assured that filing your next tax return will go smoothly.

Get yourself an accounting ledger booklet

The first thing that you need to do at the beginning of every year is purchase yourself a accounting ledger booklet. These can be found at your local office supply store and can be found for under $10. You can deduct your millage and the accounting legder also.

Keep a millage tracking sheet in your car

Each year I make myself a simple spreadsheet that I keep in the glove compartment of my car. Each time that I need to get office supplies, or I go to the post office to mail flyers, I write my beginning and ending millage down on the spreadsheet. At the end of the year, I just transfer the millage over to my accounting ledger.

Keep track of your Utilities

If you have a room in your home that is used only for your internet business and nothing else, you will be able to deduct a portion of your utilities. I especially like this because I have to have these things anyway with or without the internet business and now they are tax deductible. Everything from gas, electricity, long distance and garbage pick-up are allowable deductions. Be sure that you keep your payment receipts in your accounting ledger.

Other Business Expenses

You will also be able to deduct any payments to your internet service provider. If you have a website you will be able to deduct your domain name and hosting plan expenses. Other deductable items could be anything you have purchased to maintain your business such as: fax machines, copy machines, scanners, ink cartridges, desks, chairs, phones, pencils, paper, etc.

Advertising / Membership Fees

If you pay for advertising or your internet business has a membership fee, these expenses can be deducted also.

Labor Expenses

Many home business owners pay members of their family to help with the home business. Be sure to keep track of the wages that were paid to employees or family members.

Entertainment Expenses

I don't have too much to deduct in this category, but several times a year I will meet a potential client over dinner. Keep track of your dinner expenses, including tips...this is all deductable also.

Income

In addition to all your deductable expenses, you will also need to keep track of any money that you make with your business.

In closing, simply keep track of all your millage, utilities, office supplies, labor and income in your accounting ledger. Be sure to attach a copy of your receipts. Total up each category at the end of the year and take the entire booklet into your tax preparer.

You will find that having a home business can be hassle free at tax time if you have taken the time to keep track of your expenditures and income.

Best wishes for your future success and prosperity!

Sincerely,

What began as just an ordinary night out with friends turned into a lesson in business building and self-motivation. You see when I started my own business working from home I was naturally a bit wary. I'd never had my own business before. I was the typical person who had a job and put up with it. But that had changed and now I did what I wanted to do. A new life was beginning.

The trouble was even though I knew what I was doing, actually explaining it to other people was difficult. A business publishing and marketing information products was just right for me. But getting people to understand what I did was the hard part. So usually I just didn't bother. I just got on with it quietly and enjoyed every moment.

But two conversations that night were to change all that and now I take every opportunity I get to talk about my business.

First I happened to meet an old colleague who I hadn't seen or spoken to for over eighteen months. He was the Training Manager at a company I used to work for. The subject naturally got around to work and to what I was now doing.

I explained as best I could my business and soon the questions were being fired at me. But then came the comment that made me realise I should really talk about it an awful lot more.

"Well remember me when you're developing products. You know I can talk about anything!"

That's right! My old friend had offered his services to help my business. We went on to talk about possible training niches and all of a sudden new product ideas were coming to mind. He happens to be a very good trainer and a very good presenter and public speaker. I quickly decided I would certainly be talking to him in the future about joint ventures.

We went our separate ways but I had a new spring in my step.

I then met up with my usual circle of friends and expected the usual conversations about sport and music, our favourite topics.

But no! I was asked how the new business was going. And then I was asked by one friend what exactly it was I did. Previously I might have quickly glossed over the subject but not now.

In fact I then spent at least half an hour explaining it all. I went right the way through how I identified a niche market, including explaining what a niche market actually is. I told him about how to research and develop the product and then how to create it. I had to explain what digital products were and how they were sold.

Well, not only was he interested but he started coming up with all sorts of product ideas. In fact he said he was so excited by it that he would have trouble sleeping that night. I gave him a couple of ideas for products that he might be able to create or at least do so in a joint venture with me.

It really was amazing. I was buzzing and felt really motivated to get on with building my business. The simple process of talking to people and telling them what I do had given me renewed enthusiasm.

But the point of relating all this is that if you do the same you will be surprised at where it will take you. New doors will be open to you and opportunities and ideas you never imagined will present themselves to you.

Just take on board these key points:

• Take every opportunity to talk about your business.

• Be patient and be prepared to explain things and answer questions.

• Ask plenty of questions about your friends' and acquaintances' interests, hobbies, and jobs. Product ideas are bound to come out.

• Offer to show them how they could create a product. If they are interested then work on it together.

• Be confident and be proud of your business.

• When success comes be willing to share it.

Starting out in business is never easy. But the vital thing I learned on my night out was that if you talk to people about what you do you really will gain a great deal. Your confidence will soar and your motivation to go out and achieve your goals will be boosted to new heights.

I'm now building a successful business and you can too.

If you knew how many small businesses spend all their time trying to save money, and that's good for sure, but you can't save you way to success. Don't get me wrong, managing expenses is important for any business, but sales are the life blood. Cash is king, so you need to be prudent with your money and - you need to increase sales to generate the cash you need to grow and build your business.

So how do we do that? Here are just a few thoughts that if acted upon can increase your revenues and fill your cash drawer today.

1. Sell more to new customers: That seems obvious, you gain new customers. If you aren't getting new customers then know why. Do you have the right sales people? Do the sales people have the right skills? Are you selling the right market? What about your products, are they aimed where they should be?

2. Sell more to existing customers: Ask how might increase sales to your existing customers? Grow your business by getting existing customers to buy more frequently? Serve your existing customers better. This is about rate of sales.

3. Sell more volume to existing customers: Figure out a way to sell more volume to your existing customers. That is, increase the size of the purchase. Whatever they're buying now, get them to buy more tomorrow. This is about volume.

4. Sell more products or services: Simply add to your product offering. What do your present customers buy now from a competitor that they could be buying from you? Be ready to serve your customers in new ways.

5. Increase your price: How much do you charge today versus a year ago? Look at your pricing on a regular basis. Make sure your price supports your business.

6. Make more each time you sell or serve: What is your margin and does it support your business model? What do you make each time your people make a sale? Do the people selling even know that and do they sell to support the best margins? Make sure you're getting what you need and deserve.

These are a few key things you can do to grow your small business. On this spinning globe we call earth there is one sound principle we must live by … we grow or we die. The same is true for your small business. You and your business must grow or die. Always pay attention to cost but always know … you must grow your business or you won't have the cash to be king.

Payday loans in essence are actually be a very good idea for people who desperately need a loan just before they are due to be paid. The problem with these loans is that lenders are not satisfied with a small interest rate but are adding on huge percentages to the small loans. These interest rates or loan fees as they are called are way too high in proportion to the small loan.

People who cannot work with their money and go broke a few days before they get paid are the ones that are suffering under this system of lending. If would be better for them if they rather learned to budget with their money so that it lasted as long as the month did.

It is a wonder that many of these countries where these loans are so popular are allowing this sort of loan practice to take place. These high interest rates should be made illegal as many innocent people are getting into debt through them. Many borrowers get so deep into debt through these loans that they have to file for bankruptcy as they have no other way out.

There are some lenders that call these loans the post dated check loans. The borrower is told that by giving the lenders a post dated check for the date when they will be receiving their next salary check they can immediately have access to cash. The check will be made out for the amount of the loan plus the high interest rate. On the specific pay day the check will be deposited in your banking account by the lender. If you do not have sufficient funds in the bank to cover the check, it will bounce and you will be liable for bank charges as well.

For starting a business all that you need is sense of imagination, knowledge of innovations, and above all ability to gear up with tough challenges. If you have all but don't have sufficient finance, then don't worry! Market today is flourishing with the lenders who offer business start up loan.

To start with a business, borrower must know everything about a business i.e. from pre-production to post- production.

Before opting for the business start up loan, borrower must make the rough estimate of the initial expenses like purchasing a land, construction, machinery, furniture, or raw material, hiring employees, etc so that borrower can easily apply for the loan. Therefore business startup loan requires hard investment as compared to the seasoned business.

Depending upon the nature of business, borrower can either opt for the secured or unsecured loans. No doubt, presence of collateral would provide a positive boost to the borrower as collateral plays an important role in the secured loan. For the secured business start up loans, borrower can avail the amount ranging from £ 50,000- £ 1,000,000. Moreover borrower enjoys flexible repayment term ranging from 3-25 years, which can prove to benefit your financial terms.

In the unsecured business start up loan, borrower without placing any collateral can avail the loan with easy repayment terms but comparatively at higher interest rate compared to the secured business start up loan. The loan amount can vary up to £ 75,000 for the time duration of 10 years.

Before applying for the business start up loans, be careful while reading the agreements as some can be negotiated with the lender. These lenders can be easily accessible from the prominent banks, financial institutions, and online lenders.

The more you know about your business and about your target market, the better it is. As in this competitive world, if you have to make your own place you have to overcome the upcoming challenges.

Business start up loan provides the borrower a platform to build his image with his new business.

Perhaps a series of business magazines would be more appropriate. Do your homework properly and you can target your offline adverts in much the same way as you can your online ads using keywords. You can run a series of small ads in a number of different publications at minimum cost and analyze the response.

Drop those that fail and work on those with which you have some success. You can do this with specific magazines, specific newspapers and posters. That is why many of the ads you see in newspapers have a code. They are there to provide the advertiser with tracking information. The poorer responding adverts are dropped and transferred to another publication to continue the testing.

You can advertise your web site by putting it on your car, on your business cards and on all letters and other offline communications you send. Even put it on your greetings cards and as part of your signature. All of this helps to get your website known, if not a specific product.

If you lean how to use offline advertising for an online business, you will be adding another string to your bow, and broadening your advertising reach. That can only be good for sales, and there is no logical reason why online products should only be advertised online.

The bottom line is, you are always looking for the path of least resistance, the way to make more sales using less money. That's it – and sometimes offline advertising can be a good addition to your marketing mix for your online business