Finance for New Business

When starting a small business, there are two sure fire ways to to kill your new business: Poor management and inadequate funding. Poor management is not surrounding yourself with educated people to make your business work.

There are two types of financing: equity and debt. For some small businesses, equity financing isn't a reality, venture capitalists are looking for the next hot companies promising them with a strong IPO and solid returns in the aftermarket.

Venture Capitalists invest millions of dollars in these hot new companies, and simply aren't interested in the little business guy. So, that leaves debt financing.

Some new business owners rely own their own personal savings, or borrow from friends and family members to get started. This focuses the mind because all startup expenses come out of your pocket.

A basic rule of thumb is to develop a start up cost worksheet to estimate your initial expenses and then double the amount you think you'll need. But don't knowingly overstate the amount needed to cover the overhead, because that takes money away from other things--including your pocket.

Finance Start-Up

We suggest using the U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA) - www.sba.gov for your financing needs, they are here to help the new business owners of the new internet world.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent Agency of the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. It is charged with the responsibility of providing four primary areas of assistance to American Small Business. These are: Advocacy, Management, Procurement, and Financial Assistance. Financial Assistance is delivered primarily through SBA’s Investment programs, Business Loan Programs, Disaster Loan Programs, and Bonding for Contractors.

SBA’s Business Loan Programs

SBA administers three separate, but equally important loan programs. SBA sets the guidelines for the loans while SBA’s partners (Lenders, Community Development Organizations, and Microlending Institutions) make the loans to small businesses. SBA backs those loans with a guaranty that will eliminate some of the risk to the lending partners. The Agency's Loan guaranty requirements and practices can change however as the Government alters its fiscal policy and priorities to meet current economic conditions. Therefore, past policy cannot always be relied upon when seeking assistance in today's market.

Federal appropriations are available to the SBA to provide guarantees on loans structured under the Agency's requirements. With a loan guaranty, the actual funds are provided by independent lenders who receive the guaranty of the Federal Government on a portion of the loan they make to small business.

The loan guaranty which SBA provides transfers the risk of borrower non-payment, up to the amount of the guaranty, from the lender to SBA. Therefore, when a business applies for an SBA Loan, they are actually applying for a commercial loan, structured according to SBA requirements, which receives an SBA guaranty.

In a variation of this concept, community development organizations can get the Government's full backing on their loan to finance a portion of the overall financing needs of an applicant small business.

SBA’s Investment Programs

In 1958 Congress created The Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program. SBICs, licensed by the Small Business Administration, are privately owned and managed investment firms. They are participants in a vital partnership between government and the private sector economy. With their own capital and with funds borrowed at favorable rates through the Federal Government, SBICs provide venture capital to small independent businesses, both new and already established.

All SBICs are profit-motivated businesses. A major incentive for SBICs to invest in small businesses is the chance to share in the success of the small business if it grows and prospers.

SBA’s Bonding Programs

The Surety Bond Guarantee (SBG) Program was developed to provide small and minority contractors with contracting opportunities for which they would not otherwise bid. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) can guarantee bonds for contracts up to $2 million, covering bid, performance and payment bonds for small and emerging contractors who cannot obtain surety bonds through regular commercial channels.

SBA's guarantee gives sureties an incentive to provide bonding for eligible contractors, and thereby strengthens a contractor's ability to obtain bonding and greater access to contracting opportunities. A surety guarantee, an agreement between a surety and the SBA, provides that SBA will assume a predetermined percentage of loss in the event the contractor should breach the terms of the contract