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This comprehensive and accessible guide for small business owners shows you how to get your share of the billions of dollars in loans arranged or guaranteed by the SBA each year. In easy, step-by-step fashion, it helps you prepare a successful loan request for a new or established company and offers guidance on developing a business plan for your new business. |
Starting a Small Business in USAHow Best to Go About Your Small Business StartYou should begin your campaign for starting a small business by developing some specific ideas. Select a business that is a good fit with your background and situation, investigate competing businesses and develop some clear ideas on how you will run the business. Approach the small business support agency - SBA - for help only after these advance preliminaries. Why All these Advance PreliminariesWhy all this advance preparation? Shouldn't SBA tell you what business to start? And then how to start it? Let us look at the issues here. There are several reasons why you should do the preliminaries. Above all, it shows that you have an essential trait needed to succeed in business - planning things in advance. Planning things in advance and then organizing to implement the plans is an essential skill for running a business. Other issues are also involved. It is you who know best what you like and what you do not like. If you select a business that involves doing things you like, you would find it easy to work hard at it. Working hard on your startup is an essential requirement for success. Then there is the issue of competition. People often select a run-of-the-mill, intensely competitive, business to start, thus making it extremely difficult to achieve success. You should not select the first business that you like. Instead, look at the competition in each of the businesses you select and continue till you find one that is less competitive. If you do this, SBA is likely to be far more impressed. Finally, decide exactly how you will run the business. Who will be your customers and how will you market your business to them? What is the process involved from locating suppliers through production to final delivery to customers? How will you arrange the needed facilities to attend to all these processes? What will be the cost involved and where will you find the money? How Do You Go About These Preliminaries?It is quite possible that you do not know exactly how to go about these preliminaries. It is here that this website seeks to help you. Read the different articles under the section How to Start a Small Business. The various articles under that section will help you answer questions like:
You can also get a book or go to the SBA website (using the link in the next section) to get more detailed information. Don't skip these preparations. The pains you take at this stage can determine whether your proposal is accepted by SBA or not. What Help Can You Expect From SBA?SBA is not just for startups. Instead, it helps small businesses at all stages. As they say at their website, they help you START, GROW and SUCCEED, through various programs and services. SBA also furthers the cause of small business in general through its advocacy. The following list should provide you an idea of SBA's range of services:
The above is only an illustrative list. To find the specific help that you need, go to the Small Business Administration - SBA website and read the details about different programs and services. Using the online resources available as above, you should be able to crystallize your business ideas. You can than approach the nearest SBA office (that you can find at the SBA website) and seek more help. Government Small Business LoansUnsecured Small Business LoansSmall Business LicensesUS Government Business RegulationsUS Government Small Business GrantsWomen's Small Business GrantMinority Small Business GrantSmall Business Size Standards |
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