| ASK SCORE: Financing your business
QUESTION: I am interested in starting a business in Collier County, but have limited financial resources. What are my options for obtaining a business loan? Benjamin W., Naples ANSWER: Benjamin, yours is one of the most common requests we receive. If your resources are limited, it is doubtful that you will be successful in securing a conventional business loan from a bank. However, there are a number of other available options you may consider: The Small Business Administration (SBA) makes guarantees for various types of business loans. Visit the financing section of the SBA's Web site to learn about their various products. See their finance planning section at www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/start/financestartup/index.html The SBA has a special section for women entrepreneurs at: www.sba.gov/services/specialaudiences/women/index.html.
General Business News
IBM has announced new software and resources to help mid-sized customers more effectively manage the quality of their software and network infrastructures, just like their counterparts in large enterprises. The new software underscores IBM's expanded focus on providing small and mid-sized businesses with the solutions necessary to remain competitive in the market. Typically, IT departments in small and mid-sized businesses lack resources or a formalised IT department to support their operations. These businesses also face many of the same basic challenges as large enterprises, and as their businesses grow their reliance on technology increases. Whether it's creating a scalable and flexible infrastructure that manages and monitors IT resources and tasks, securing data, effectively evolving their application assets and meeting regulatory compliance regulations, IT is critical to supporting the client's needs. Software delivery teams are also under pressure to accelerate the pace at which they conduct software upgrades and releases.
City University of New York class builds up minority contractors
Diloo Brown has big plans for Brown Fox Development Corp., the Harlem-based drywall and tiling company. "One day I want to have the largest drywall company on the East Coast," said Brown, the chief operations officer for Brown Fox. But Brown, 54, knows just wishing won't make it so. That's why he was among 38 minority and women small contractors who beat a path to City University of New York this fall to enroll in the "Construction Management Building Blocks" training program. Organized by Skanska USA Building Inc., CCNY and the Harlem Business Alliance, Building Blocks is an eight-week course intended to expose small general and minority contractors to issues they need to master to make their businesses grow. Topics covered during the twice-a-week, three-hour classes - held at CCNY's Harlem campus - include marketing, estimating a job, project startup and closeout, scheduling, accounting, the legal process, human resources, safety and bonding.
China builds African empire
FROM giant state corporations to a host of small businesses, Chinese companies have opened up a new frontier in Africa that is expanding so fast it is already altering commodity markets and manufacturing from Cairo to Cape Town. Last week, China released figures showing that its trade with Africa is growing by more than 20% a year. Western companies face fierce competition from Chinese firms to buy Africa’s natural resources and sell goods and services back to the continent. China’s drive into Africa marks a historic shift from its traditional role as a politically motivated aid donor to a hardheaded commercial partner. This was underlined last February when eight African nations rolled out red carpets for President Hu Jintao on a 12-day tour of the continent, his second in nine months.
Smart Growth Resource Library: Small Farm Funding Resources
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Rural Information Center offers a Small Farm Funding Resources guide that contains information about issues to consider before starting a farming operation, with links to full-text guides on how to start a farm business and develop business and marketing plans.
This resource also contains information about funding sources for beginning farmers, training, technical assistance contacts, organizations with resources and programs for beginning farmers, and more.
Read more at the resource link below. Resource: http://www.nal.usda.gov/ric/ricpubs/small_farm_funding.htm View Printer-friendly page .
|
