After you’ve carefully reviewed all the possible expenses for your business start-up, you need to find the money. Most of us hope that are business can be self-sustaining – that we can make profits from our woodworking fees and use that money to buy the necessary materials and equipment.

The reality is that most of us will have to find another source of money, even if it’s in the short term. Sometimes we can accomplish the initial start of the business with personal finances. Other times, we may seek additional sources for the money, or even partial amounts of funding.

Small Business Association -- One of the options most people consider is the United States Small Business Administration (SBA). The SBA is a government organization designed to assist small business owners with the financing and resources to begin a successful business. Most people don’t realize that the SBA really has a variety of programs and loans available, depending on how much money is required, what kind of collateral is available, and interest payments. For more information about the loans through the SBA, check the website: www.sba.gov.

Many banks and credit unions are not interested in financing less than $100,000 for small businesses. For the crafter or artisan, most start-up business costs are around $5,000 to $20,000. The SBA is a good intermediary between financial institutions and the small business owner because they guarantee the repayment of the loan.

The SBA not only offers funding, they are also a wonderful source of information about starting a business. They have special interest topics, such as an Online Women’s Business Center that provides great resources to women business owners. They also offer a variety of programs (SCORE) that Networking:

allows business owners to work with retired business people in a mentor relationship.

Community Funds – Some communities have small business funds established as part of a non-profit organization. These organizations make funds available on a loan basis to small businesses. Generally, this type of organization will only lend small amounts of money (under $1000) and require you to become a member of the organization. You will work with mentors to develop business and marketing plans and work out a repayment schedule for the loan.

If private savings, investment from family members or loans are not an option, you may be looking for other avenues. There is a lot of advertising from individuals selling books about the variety of resources available. In reality, some of these resources have been exaggerated or really don’t apply. Many books suggest that there is financing, via grants or government programs for almost everyone.

Grants -- Unfortunately, there really aren’t a lot of government grants available to individuals that want to establish a for profit business. Most government grants are available to individuals or organizations that are starting a business that will benefit the community or local economy. There are a few grants available for individuals starting their own business. One excellent resource for searching them out is http://www.businessownersideacafe.com. Business Owners Idea Café will list current grants as well as a variety of resources for small business owners.

Most of the grants are available as part of competitions. Some of these competitions are based on well thought out business plans. It’s certainly worth checking into grant competitions, but bear in mind that for every one of these grants there are literally tens of thousands of individuals applying.

Venture Capital Groups – If you are doing any internet research, you may have heard of people that are willing to fund future businesses. Venture capital groups are organizations or companies that are interested in funding a business, but generally only multi-million dollar businesses. On the other hand, there are some investors that specialize with working with small start up businesses; these groups or individuals are thought of as “angel” investors. Angel investors are looking for high returns on their investment. They will require frequent business reports and sales reports. They will likely have large interest rates or expect high percentage of profits.

Once you’ve found a way to finance your business, you need to contemplate how you will get money from customers. Before you can get money, you need to think about how you will bill customers.

---