All Articles Tagged "capital"
How to Get a Gov't Grant for Your Business
(Wall Street Journal) — Grants aren’t for only nonprofits. Small businesses can sometimes get their hands on that money too—and get a big boost in the process. Take Wombat Security Technologies Inc. When it was spun off from Carnegie Mellon University in 2008, the software start-up had seed money from the school but needed more to develop new antiphishing products. So, the Pittsburgh firm turned to the federal Small Business Innovation Research program. Its efforts were rewarded with a number of grants—including a $750,000 award in 2010 and one for $100,000 this year. The grants “can be a tremendous source of funding,” says Norman Sadeh, co-founder and chief executive at Wombat. “It’s a great opportunity.” But identifying and applying for grants requires jumping through some hoops. Here are some tips to help you decide if a grant is right for you and navigate the application process.
6 Places Where Black Businesses Can Find Capital
(Inc.) — It takes money to make money. That is the plain and simple truth in business. A shortfall of capital is one of the most commonly cited reasons why a company is unable to expand business and succeed. The prospect of getting financing for a start-up even in a growing economy is very difficult due to the fact that business owners lack operating experience and solid credit history. America’s credit crunch environment is making it tougher than ever for entrepreneurs to raise money to start or grow their businesses, particularly minority-owned firms. A study released by the Minority Business Development Agency found that minority-owned firms are less likely to receive loans than non-minority-owned firms, especially businesses with gross receipts less than $500,000. The tightening of lending standards on traditional loans means minority businesses have to become more vigilant about their funding sources.
Five Financing Trends for 2011
(Reuters) — 1. Crowdfunding –Kickstarter popularized the idea of crowdfunding, which is when a large group of people help fund a project or business through a cluster of small donations. Kickstarter began as a new way to help artists get projects off the ground. In return for funding, donors receive goods or services, or even just a well-crafted thank-you, in lieu of equity or interest payments. Now the same idea is spreading to business ventures. Diaspora, a tech company that wants to build a social network to rival Facebook got more than $200,000 in seed money from a Kickstarter campaign
How Can I Raise Money to Launch My Business?
(Entrepreneur) — Option 1: Seek Strategic Financial Investors. This can be an option worth exploring if you can find an investor (i.e. angel investor) or group of investors (i.e. venture capital fund) that are interested. In this instance, you will be giving up some equity but these financial investors are generally very helpful. They offer industry expertise and a strong network of contacts which will allow you to grow internally as well as having the opportunity to form strategic partnerships with larger companies. Keep in mind that it can be very difficult to obtain financing from these investors but if you succeed, it can be very helpful.
Revitalizing the American Dream
(Inc) — We need more start-ups. A lot more of them. New companies mean new ideas, new approaches, new products and services, and new jobs. What’s more, in the wake of the Wall Street meltdown and the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a wave of start-ups could spark a new sense of optimism about what businesses can actually accomplish — something else this country sorely needs.
Entrepreneurs: Don’t Tell An Investor That Your Startup Is “Like Company X, For Y”
(Business Insider) – It’s common for entrepreneurs to compare their new ideas to existing companies. There is good reason for this –the easiest way to describe a concept is often to reference commonplaces such as well-known companies that have similar characteristics. While presenting your company as the Google of X, the Facebook of Y or the Kayak of Z to investors can help VCs quickly get a sense for your business plan, it encourages investors to focus on why the comparison is not appropriate.
Spreading Your Ideas
(Success) – The ideavirus formula has eight coefficients. Each one represents not only a concept, but a variable you can tweak to make your idea more viral and create the elements you need to drive your idea into the community. No two industries rely on the eight fundamental principles in precisely the same way. But virtually every ideavirus I’ve ever seen uses some of these principles in an extraordinary way, and just about every one could be improved if it expanded further into the other areas.
Spreading Your Ideas
(Success) – The ideavirus formula has eight coefficients. Each one represents not only a concept, but a variable you can tweak to make your idea more viral and create the elements you need to drive your idea into the community. No two industries rely on the eight fundamental principles in precisely the same way. But virtually every ideavirus I’ve ever seen uses some of these principles in an extraordinary way, and just about every one could be improved if it expanded further into the other areas.
