google.com, pub-6663105814926378, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 Around the World JM: Seed Funds for the Smallest Start-ups


Seed Funds for the Smallest Start-ups

Seed Funds for the Smallest Start-ups


No safety inspector was about to give Kimberly Braley a permit to open Park Street Day Care. The building she had picked, a former church in Freeport, Maine, had train tracks running a few yards behind the back lawn.

Moreover, no local bank or credit union would lend her the small amount of money she needed to build a fence between the yard and the railroad and to buy a swing set. She was in a bind. That was two years ago, when her boss had abruptly closed the day-care center where Braley was working, leaving her to choose between self-employment and unemployment. Braley hoped to borrow start-up cash and relocate the day-care center. Loan officers at local banks and credit unionsmost of whom, she says, knew her, her clientele, and her potential to make money—told her, sorry, come back in two years with a "track record." The saddest part, says Braley, would have been to split up her group of pre-schoolers.



"Consistency is of the utmost importance," in child care, she says. Then she recalled having heard someone talk about Coastal Enterprises Inc., a nonprofit organization in the nearby town of Wiscasset. Coastal Enterprises is one of a growing number of nonprofit community groups nationwide that support local small-business start-ups with modest loans. Within three weeks of calling Coastal Enterprises, Braley had borrowed $1,500 at 12 percent interest, built a fence, obtained an operating permit, bought a swing set, and kept her diminutive charges together. "It was a small amount of money, but it made a substantial difference" in getting the day-care center going, she says.

Scores of local self-employment support programs like Coastal Enterprises have sprung up across the country. Unlike a lot of business-support centers, these programs don't simply help loan applicants with their paperwork. They make loans—small loans, or "microloans,' ranging from a few hundred to several thousand dollars.

Strings are attached, but they are to help. Most entrepreneurs borrowing from these "microenterprise" funds, as they are called, must be active in the funds'support groups for fellow entrepreneurs. or they must enter individual business burinmanagement training with microenterprise program counselors.

Coastal Enterprises, founded in 1977 by its president, Ronald L. Phillips, is a lot like the 100 or so newer microenterprise groups formed in the U.S. in the past three years. With about $3 million in its small-business lending fund (which was set up formally in 1987 with foundation grants), Coastal Enterprises targets low-income women and families—the unemployed, welfare recipients, or others 1 who may be on the brink of poverty—in 1 Maine's coastal region, says Phillips.

But Coastal is different from some newer microbusiness funds in that it lends money directly to individuals only. Some programs, on the other hand, embrace a philosophy of "group lending," which is a peer-panel method of making loans to the groups' members.

Among successful group lenders are the Mountain Microenterprise Fund, in Asheville, N.C., and the Women's Self-Employment Project, in Chicago. Participants in such programs form circles of four to six business owners each. Members of each group decide who may borrow first from the general loan fund, based on who seems most prepared to Invest and repay the loan. Program administrators play only minimal roles in group-lending judgments. Ability to borrow then moves serially about the group, one member at a time, with no one else eligible until the previous loan is at least close to being repaid.

Default rates among lending-group programs are low, studies show. For instance, the nonprofit Coalition for Women's Economic Development, which lends to groups of low-income women in the Los Angeles area, has extended 81 loans amounting to $147,000, says coalition workshop leader Isabel Duran. All but 2 percent of the loans have been repaid in full.

Most microbusiness programs get their funding from private foundations, or, as in North Carolina, from a state legislature willing to experiment with new business-development ideas. And now that the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has seen how the private seed-capital community can help disadvantaged business owners, it has announced a $15 million pilot microloan program aimed at minorities, women, and poor would-be entrepreneurs. This fall, the SBA will begin a test of small loans through 35 selected nonprofit groups nationwide—Coastal Enterprises is one—departing somewhat from the conventional  bank-lending system that leaves out the many entrepreneurs who lack collateral.

Turning poor people or people living in poor areas into entrepreneurs can present several problems, however, and the foremost are policy barriers, according to advocates for microenterprise. They explain that although self-employment may be a popular way to ease people off welfare, the rules of welfare can stand in the way. For example, residents of federal public housing are restricted by government rules from starting home-based businesses or earning money in their homes.

In addition, the 13.6 million recipients of Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC) entitlements—to which Medicaid assistance also is tied—may not accrue more than $1,000 in personal wealth; business income is included in that total.

Joyce Klein, a microenterprise specialist at the Corporation for Enterprise Development, a Washington policy group, says more government leeway could be given to welfare-dependent people trying to become self-sufficient business owners. "You lose your benefits the second you get a loan or open a business," says Klein. "We think it would be good to see more flexibility [as to] when someone is technically employed."

The federal government, for a few test projects, has allowed its welfare rules to be waived for self-employment initiatives, and the results have been promising. On certain Tuesday evenings on the deck outside Rick Steingress's Candlertown Chairworks Inc., in Candler, N.C., a group of six entrepreneurs meets to swap advice. This is the Candler Group, one of 22 lending circles formed by the Mountain Microenterprise Fund. Steingress, the group leader, says the meeting is "sometimes rowdy."

The Candler Group's focus lately has been on Vicki Weiss and her husband, Howard, who have just borrowed about $1,000 from the Mountain fund for their business at 16 percent. The couple creates T-shirts bearing designs from Howard's heritage of Seneca Native Americans. Vicki manages the enterprise. The group wants to know how the Weisses' shirts are selling. Other members inquire: Any new accounts? Do you have a sales representative yet? Can you sell at wholesale prices?



"They've shed light in areas where if we hadn't joined the group, we'd have learned the hard way," says Vicki Weiss. "They really make you aware of what your business is about." Christopher Just, a former Peace Corps volunteer who is director of the $100,000 Mountain fund, says group members listen to one another's loan proposals, then grill them for details. "The group might ask to see letters of intent" from a member's customers, he explains. "A lot of times people are borrowing to buy equipment. The group will say, 'Show us a quote,' or, T know where you can get it cheaper.'"

Each lending circle, apart from the general Mountain fund, also starts a group savings account. Dues begin at $2 per meeting. Recently, the Candler group used a few hundred dollars of its savings to help one member, potter Cat Jarosz, buy highgrade clay in preparation for an upcoming pottery show. Jarosz would pay the loan back afterward.

These may sound like small sums all around. But as Kimberly Braley proved with Park Street Day Care, most start-ups don't need huge amounts of money. In fact, according to many entrepreneurs, having too much cash at the start can be a curse for a small business.

Today, Braley recalls the "extremely frustrating" ordeal of trying to borrow what seemed like a paltry sum of money from a bank, and then remembers how "thrilled" she was to get the seed loan from Coastal Enterprises. "I really feel like I owe a lot to Coastal Enterprises" for making the seed loan possible, she says. "Without them, I might have lost my clients."

annuities meaning ultimate assurance property settlement
wealthy and successful man rich choose buy home homeowner know insurance
ask mortgage lenders car accident settlement mortgage application
prepare investing stock shopping without debt factors affecting home loan
credit cards with no debt plan for business loans step buying insurance
choosing life insurance cheap car insurance debt with credit card
type of insurance how to request a claim deposit banks or insurance
need life insurance insure assets and liabilities contract buying a home
happy if in debt pay car installments most car insurance terms
urgent money request loan save money in stocks howto have a home
plan before retirement plan repayment carefully plunging to the depths
cut health care costs handling employee departure put on retailer shelves
low cost promotion guide to office colleagues get TQM traning
unconscious credit cards home to pay off debt want money to invest
credit card addiction manage credit card debt insurance agreement
loans for education lead to poverty what is private fund
overlook insurance also saving on debt do before retiring

UPDATE NEW TOPIC

Beginner's Cryptocurrencies Track Cryptocurrencies Make Money i.e. Get Cryptocurrencies Initial Coin Offering Asset Invest Cryptocurrencies Drawbacks Cryptocurrencies Future Cryptocurrency Cryptocurrency FAQ Ways to Lower Car Insurance 100 Tips to Save Money Every Day 189 Life Hacks to Save Money 25 Tips to Save on Groceries How to Save on Food The 10 Rules and Tips to Save on Shopping Saving on Shopping 2021 35 Ways to Teach You How to Save Money 10 Tips to Save Your First €100,000 7 Handy Saving Tips to Make It Easier to Save How to Save on Shopping 10 Tips not to be missed 8 Easy Ways to Save Money How to Save on Food: 26 Tips to Follow 35 Tips to Save Money and Optimize Your Budget How to Save on Shopping: Tips to Avoid Unnecessary Expenses How to Reach Your Savings Goals 17 Tips to Help You Save Money Fast Best Tips to Save Money 2021 15 Things You Should Never Buy at Gas Stations Annuities Meaning Finding Travel Insurance For Cancer Diagnosis How Does the Stock Market Work Top 10 Ways to Make Money Online 10 Legit Ways to Make Money and Passive Income Online 10 Ways To Cut Your Health Care Costs The Ultimate Assurance of Buy-sell Agreements 5 Tips to Prepare for Your Property Settlement 8 Habits of Wealthy and Successful People Why Millennials Choose to Buy Home 7 Tips Every Homeowner Need to Know About Insurance 8 Tip on Homeownner Insurance 10 Question You Should Ask Mortgage Lenders How Much is My Car Accident Settlement Worth 200 Business Movement News 150 Financial Tip You Should Know Essential List of Mortgage Application Document Prepare Yourself Before Investing in Stock Shopping is the Right Way Without Debt Factors Affecting Home Loan Rates Using Credit Cards With No Debt Plan for Business Loans Step Before Buying Insurance Choosing Life Insurance How to Get Cheap Car Insurance If in Debt With a Credit Card Type of Insurance How to Request a Claim Deposit With Banks or Take Out Insurance Why Do We Need Life Insurance Insure Assets and Liabilities How is It Different Contract for Buying a House Happy if in Debt Can Not Pay the Car Installments 16 Most Important Car Insurance Terms Want to Use Urgent Money Where Should I Request a Loan Save Money in Stocks How to Have a Home Plan Before Retirement Plan for Repayment Carefully 50 Financial Movement You Should Know How You Can Hit the Heights While Plunging to the Depths 10 Ways to Cut Your Health Care Costs Tips for Handling an Employee's Departure How to Get Your Product Onto Retailers' Shelves A List of Pointers for Low-cost Promotion A Field Guide to Office Colleagues How to Get Your Tqm Training on Track 4 Excuses to Use Unconscious Credit Cards Be Careful Terms of Insurance Agreement Changing a Home to Pay Off Debt Want Money to Invest Credit Card Addiction Symptoms How to Manage Credit Card Debt if Lose Job What is Private Fund Loans for Education 10 Things That Lead to Poverty Do Not Overlook Insurance There Are Also Saving on Debt 10 Things You Need to Do Before Retiring Seed Funds for the Smallest Start-ups Health Insurance Managed Care Can Cost More States Go for Bold Changes Outside Directors: How They Help You Helping Your Children Plan for a Distant Future The Tax Advantages of a Home Office Job Skills Have Declined Firms Say American Get More for Their Money Boost Your Problem-solving Power Finding the Essence of Good Sales People Suggestions on Selling Your Service Firm Warming to the Idea of Customer Feedback It's Timely to Consider Still Another Inequality More Tax Cuts Coming Vice Presiddency Becoming More Attractive Goal Turn Anger Into an Asset Making the Most of Trade Shows Ideas for Making the Most of Time on the Road The Benefits of Smart Inventory Management Policies That Protect a Company's Good Name Market-neutral Funds May Offer Solace if Stocks Tank Bargains in Business Insurance Bills Would Affect the Hiring of Skilled Foreign Workers The Ups and Downs of a Postal Rate Proposal Locking on to Teamwork Nurturing Part Timers to Be Entrepreneurs Holding Things Together When Selling A Location Knowing When Cut The Cord A New Selling Approach Makes Fashion Sense Too Much Team Harmony Can Signal Trouble Oiling The Wheels Of Consumer Satisfaction Networking 101: Seeing And Being Seen Nuts About Snack Food A Jet-Powered Takeoff Grooming For Success Switching to Self Insurance Promoting A World Ethical Standard Help Wanted Desperately How to Get a Yes From Your Banker Lawmakers Have Their Work Cut Out For Them Making The Climb Onto Store Shelves Hammering Home Performance Incentives Have You Seen Your Banker For Your Annual Checkup Protect Your Company's Proprietary Information Adding Some Byte To Retirement Plans From The Ground Up Pluses And Pitfalls In Voice Mail Lawmakers Have Their Work Cut Out For Them Making The Climb Onto Store Shelves Market Bulls Battle A Case Of Nerves Check The Fine Print In Picking A 401 (k) Plan 5 Pitfalls Make Your Work Inefficient Wrong Stock Investing What is a non life insurance 5 things to do if you want to succeed 5 steps Emphasize the use of credit cards correctly Unemployment can be saved by doing 5 steps Obstacles that prevent from saving Want to be rich do these 3 things New to the stock market Change the attitude of saving with 3 steps Home loan Not difficult anymore Start investing is not difficult Come check the finance health Live 3 items for solving the poor 5 wrong financial views Risking destruction 4 things that should not be overlooked for Save money Wise financial planning techniques for the family 5 mistakes checklist when buying insurance 5 reduce the risk of doing business 3 risk levels that must be known before investing Advantages and disadvantages of Requesting a loan Saving The US Economy What price loyalty at Vodafone Alphabet soup and economic recovery Our growing nostalgia for commuting Financial alchemy Personal credit 4 principles of financial success Buying housing is not a big deal anymore Essential insurance How to teach your child to be wise With the use of money 6 Collection techniques That a salary man needs to do How to choose a credit card that best suits your needs Beware The Scammers out to empty your bank account Avoid The Traps Set By Estate Agents 10 Ways To Cut Your Health Care Costs What is the stock market Adjust the idea of adding value to your business How ready are you for down 10 techniques to use money 10 Ideas To Conquer Stocks 10 Year Retirement Plan Factors That Make Your Finances Worse Eliminate 5 Weaknesses to Create Success in SME Retirement Investment Plan Longevity Simpler 5 Secrets to Financial Freedom How to Invest Without Losing Do We Need Too Much Money 8 Alarms When Finances Are in Trouble How to Use Money Saving Techniques Credit Card Debts Not Difficult Anymore Long Term Savings Financial Matters Young People Should Know The 5 Phases of Money Flow Youth Fever for Cryptocurrencies Economy Versus Demagoguery Resistance to Organizational Change What is Production budget What are the Goods in Commission What are Returns on Purchases What are Pre Operating Expenses What is a Technical Organization 10 Types of Credit Securities 5 Main Types of Business Organization What Is a Business Advisor What is the Personification of Accounts What Is Expense policy 6 Stages of Administrative Organization Social Responsibility of Institutions What Is Business Environment Forms of Organization of Economic Entities Top 9 Functions of a Salesperson 7 Duties of an Accounting Clerk 7 Most Outstanding Comptroller Functions What Is Bookkeeping What Are Taxes Payable Armand Feigenbaum Biography What Is Zero Base Budgeting What Is Chart of Accounts What Is Sensitivity Analysis What Is Purchasing Department Origin of Business Management What Is Administrative Organization What is Cost Accounting What Is Organizational Structure What Is Nominal Salary What Is Centralization In Administration What Is Payable Documents What Is Indirect Labor What Is Going Business What Is Commercial Paper What Is Delivery In Business What Is Equivalent Units What Is Income Centers What Is Indirect Materials What Is Purchase Requisition What Is Internal Accounting Control What Is Administrative Management What Is Political Environment of a Company What Is Purchasing Budget What Is Consignment Merchandise What Is Organization Expenses What Is Unpaid Balance What Is Logistics Operator What Is Flexible Budgeting What Is Government Accounting What Is Financial Leasing Companies Mergers and Acquisitions of Companies What Is Acquisition Financing What Is Acquisition Accounting What Is Operating Leverage What Is Top management What Is Operational Audit What Is Cost Systems Who is Vittorio Mincato Initial Public Offering Backed by Venture Capital Who is Vittorio Mincato What Does On Account Mean The Cryptocurrency Tether Whether Cryptocurrencies Will Fall to Zero Primitive Time of the Administration 6 Tips for Choosing Health Insurance What Is a Structured Settlement Annuity Benefits Behind an Annuity or Structured Settlement

Search This Blog

Popular Posts

Blog Archive