Why should anyone be interested in helping you for free?The government benefits if it gives small business start up loans and that is why it helps.o Statistics show that small businesses number more than the big businesses.o Small businesses employ more than 50 percent of the work force.o Small businesses contribute to more than 50 percent of the nation’s GDP-Gross Domestic Product.o Small businesses are the principal source of new jobs.Starting a small business or expanding your small business is not easy. Expert guidance and help is given to you for free by SBA. The US Small Business Administration was established in 1953 and has business offices in every state. SBA works with thousands of lending, educational and training institutions nationwide. It does not provide grants but offers counseling. Government small business loans are offered to many entrepreneurs. Look up the web sites of the state economic development agencies to know if it is available in your state.SBA is only a guarantor of loans offered by banks and other private financial institutions. The lending institutions that agree to terms of the SBA provide loans to small businesses through SBA. In case of inability of repayment of loan within the stipulated time; the SBA pays the lender the agreed upon guarantee amount, and the borrower has to pay the SBA the entire amount.Can the SBA help you?Small business is one that is independently owned and operated and is not dominant in its field of operation. SBA has regulations to determine whether your business qualifies as a small business. You could look up the SBA website or federal government regulations to find out if your small business startup loan or small business loan for expansion qualifies. Your business has qualified then the next question that any lender would ask you, is: Do you have a business plan?Most lenders would require a detailed description of the business you are going to start up or expand. Look up the SBA site http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/index.html for planning options and counseling. The many things that SBA helps you iso Writing a business plano Getting the loano Marketingo Licenses and Lawso Patents and copyrightso Selling to government and abroado Hiring employeeso Buying the right equipment.Notable among it various programs are Small business loans for minorities, Small business loans for Women, Small business loans for veterans and young entrepreneurs. The various small business loan programs offered by SBA are.Basic 7(a) Loan GuarantyThis is the primary business loan program. It is offered to those who do not qualify for loans through the normal lending channels. The terms offered by SBA are more flexible. Valid loans are those where the proceeds of the loan are used for sound business purposes. The maturity is 10 to 25 years depending upon working capital and fixed assets. http://www.sba.gov/financing/sbaloan/7a.htmLoan PrequalificationLow income borrowers, disabled business owners, exporters, rural and specialized industries are the target for this program. Bad credit small business loans do not fall in this category. The applicant has a credit merit then it is easier to secure the loan. http://www.sba.gov/financing/sbaloan/prequalification.htmCertified Development Company (CDC), a 504 Loan ProgramThis is a variant of the Basic 7(a) loan to obtain real estate or equipment for expansion or modernization. http://www.sba.gov/financing/sbaloan/cdc504.htmMicro Loan, a 7(m) Loan ProgramThis is available in selected locations in most states. The SBA stand as guarantor to organizations that provided the loans, technical assistance and management for small scale financing. Not-for-profit child-care centers can also avail these loans for working capital or purchase of inventory or supplies. http://www.sba.gov/financing/sbaloan/microloans.htmDisaster RecoveryHome owners, Property owners in disaster areas qualify for this loan program. Term of the loan is 30 year and the rate of interest is below 8 percent for those who can obtain credit elsewhere and below 4 percent for those who cannot obtain credit elsewhere. http://www.sba.gov/disaster_recov/loaninfo/property.html
How To Discover Your PERFECT Home Based Business – The Sixth Of Seven Keys – It Is Competitive
This is the sixth in a series of seven articles that tell you how to sift through all the home business opportunities you hear about every day, and find the PERFECT home based business for you.What makes an opportunity P.E.R.F.E.C.T.? In the first five articles in this series, we learned that the “P” in PERFECT stands for “Profitable”, the first “E” in PERFECT means “Easy”, the “R” stands for “Real”, the “F” means “Fits With Your Desired Lifestyle”, and the second “E” stands for “E-friendly”.Key Number Six-
The “C” in PERFECT stands for “Competitive”. Can your home based business be competitive? Can you win your share of the business, or even be a market leader?In your PERFECT home based business, you will offer products that are better, different, provide more value, or are offered in a different way, allowing you to compete effectively and get your share of the profits. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that “cheaper” means being competitive. Sometimes trying to be the cheapest product is a losing proposition for you, and also for everybody else trying to compete with you.”Competitive” means:• You have a unique selling proposition (a unique or better product or service, or one that is offered in a unique or different way). This gives you a way to answer your prospect’s question “Why should I buy your product, and why should I buy it from you instead of your competitor?”.While it’s great to have a better product, sometimes just having a better product is not enough to be competitive. According to another marketing expert Mark Joyner, you need to find a way to make an “irresistible offer” to your prospects, one that makes them feel like a fool if they don’t take you up on your offer. Then, you’ll really be “competitive”.If you create your own products based on your knowledge, experience, and personality, this will contribute to your unique selling proposition. Nobody else can offer your unique perspective on the subject matter you create your products around.• Your product and market enable you to be a big fish in a small pond.If possible, you want to be able to control the market in a smaller niche, not just get your small share of a larger market where you are one of many “same old same old” suppliers. Still, there’s nothing wrong with getting a small share of a very large market, if you can do it with your own irresistible offer. It’s just harder to be competitive in a large market.• Having a high publicity potential (news worthy, new, novel, popular fad or trend).This is certainly not the most important factor, but it really helps if your PERFECT home based business or product does have a high potential for publicity. You can get thousands of dollars in free publicity if you can get press coverage and internet coverage by writing “news worthy” news releases and articles.• Rapid, wide distribution can be accomplished.The first to market with a new product often wins the highest profits and gets the highest market share. Whether your product is “new” or not, you need to get the word out about it quickly to the broadest audience to be competitive and remain competitive. Sometimes the best protection you can have for your product, even better than patents or copyrights, is to make sure the whole market knows about it first and fast.We’re almost there. The PERFECT Home Based Business must be COMPETITIVE. And, it must be PROFITABLE, EASY, and REAL. It must FIT WITH YOUR DESIRED LIFESTYLE, and must be E-FRIENDLY.
How to Find Great Live Auctions for Resale Items
Hi, my name is Walt. I’m an auctioneer with 25 years of experience in the auction business and licensed in the state of MA. I own Quick Auction Service, a company that specializes in building and running custom auctions, I’m also the webmaster of my own site and have been on eBay for 8 years. Besides eBay, the types of auctions I run most frequently are antiques and on-site estate auctions, although I’ve run everything from business overstock auctions to charity & special event auctions.
I enjoy sharing my knowledge and stories of the auction business. My goal for article is to help folks get the absolute most out of their auction experience.
Whether your fresh out of the package or a seasoned dealer I think I can offer something in this article to help you with your auciton adventures.
There may be as many reasons to attend auctions as there are types of auctions to attend. Maybe you want to attend an auction to buy items for re-sale on eBay, or some other market. Maybe you want to furnish your home with wonderful antiques, or you want to furnish your home as inexpensively without sacrificing quality.Some folks are just looking for a fun night out. With a little perseverance all these things are possible.
There are antiques and estate auctions, auto auctions, overstock auctions, absolute and no reserve auctions, real estate auctions, specialty auctions where only one genre of items are sold, tailgate auctions, live auctions, online auctions, sealed bid auctions, silent auctions, charity and fund raising auctions and many more.
Can you really buy for pennies on the dollar at an auction? You bet! Many times I’ve seen folks buy and re-sell at the same auction on the same night for a good profit, although be advised, this should only be done after the auction is over.
There are a lot of ways to find an auction, but here are some tips on how to find and attend the best ones.
Visit the genre of shops in the area that apply to the type of auction you want to attend. IE: If your looking for a good antique auction to attend, stop in the local antiques shops and ask for what there are for good auctions in the area. Sounds obvious right? But listen to what they don’t say as well as what they do say. Oftentimes when a dealer speaks poorly about an auction he or she attends, it may be likely that they are trying to keep a good thing secret. Think for a moment, why would a dealer keep attending a lousy auction?
Newspaper ads: I personally like to find ads in the classified ad section rather than flashy display ads. Flashy ads are usually indicative of an auction that will be high priced, may have reserves, (a set price on an item), and usually an enormous crowd. While any auction can be profitable to attend, it is usually best to steer clear of the glitzy ones, at least for the beginner.
Here’s the minimum you want to find out before you go. If there is a phone number in the ad, call and ask for the terms of the sale. What forms of payment do they accept? Is it an absolute auction? An absolute auction is one that has no minimum or reserve bids on items. These are the best auctions to attend! Is there a buyers premium? A buyers premium is like a tax that everyone who makes purchases at that auction must pay above the winning bid price. Most auctions these days do charge a buyers premium, 10% is not unreasonable but I feel much more than that is greedy, and the auctioneer that charges over 10% is counting on most bidders not doing the extra math as the bids quicken in pace.
A fair auction will have ample time to inspect the merchandise, usually at least 2 or 3 hours. Find out when inspection starts and make sure to attend! Never attend an auction if you can’t make the inspection, not unless your prepared to gamble. Most auctioneers sell at a rate of about 100 items per hour, which is why they sell “as is”. They simply don’t have the time to give a detailed description of all the items. Since almost all items at auction are sold AS IS, there are sure to be some damaged, refinished, fake and incomplete items at any given auction. Beware of any auctions that offer very little or no inspection time.
Good auctions will usually have 150 to 400 lots. A lot may be one item or a group of items. The exception to this are specialty auctions, auto auctions, real estate auctions etc.
When you attend your first sale, take note of the 1/2 dozen or so dealers that buy the most often. See if you can find out about other area auctions they attend.
When you do find an excellent auction, attend it as often as possible. By frequenting good sales, you help increase the bottom line of that business. It’s difficult for many auctioneers to keep the quality of merchandise consistent, so good attendance certainly helps. And when an auctioneer gets to know you as a buyer, he/she will go out of the way to accommodate you, to keep you coming back.