Financial Resources for Business Ownership

This webinar (51 minutes) provides information to current and potential business owners about Nebraska microenterprise statewide resources. Included is discussion on financing a small /micro business, along with saving and building credit for business ownership. Guest speakers were Jeff Christensen of NED, Inc., and Jeff Reynolds of REAP, along with Rose Jaspersen, Executive Director and Glennis McClure, Program Manager of NEF.

To access the webinar, click on the provided link: https://canhelp.webex.com/canhelp/lsr.php?AT=pb&SP=MC&rID=58206977&rKey=3fe5e5feb3f41ade

Website to Search for Angel Investors

Angelsoft.net is a new online startup tool to help business owners find venture capital firms and angel investors worldwide, including in and around Nebraska.

Launched in 2009, Investor Search allows users to search by location, investment size, industry, milestone, valuation, and more. You can also search by keyword, and sort results based on closest location, most active, response time, investments, and applications. The tool includes profiles of over 1,000 venture capital firms and angel investor groups.

Angelsoft.net has an online business planning tool that helps the business owner put together a business plan specifically designed for the investors. You will be asked 11 questions that every investor wants answered. Along the way the website provides you with tips on how to best complete each question. When you are finished, you will have a document that you print, share as a PDF, or use to apply to the 1,026 groups that accept the Angelsoft application.

SBA Loans

The SBA offers numerous loan programs to assist small businesses. SBA is primarily a guarantor of loans made by private and other institutions, they do not directly loan to businesses. Contact the Nebraska SBA office for a list of Nebraska approved SBA lenders.

7(a) loans are the most basic and most used type loan of SBA’s business loan programs and are only available on a guaranty basis. The loans are provided by lenders who choose to structure their own loans by SBA’s requirements and who apply and receive a guaranty from SBA on a portion of this loan. The SBA does not fully guaranty 7(a) loans.

November Deadline Quickly Nearing for Value-Added Producer Grants

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced the availability of $18 million for the Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) program. The deadline to apply is November 30, 2009. To view more information on this grant click on the pdf file below.

November-Deadline-for-Value-Added-Program

Contact: the article’s author, Traci Bruckner, Assistant Policy Program Director for the Center for Rural Affairs at 402.687.2103 x 1016 or tracib@cfra.org. You can also check out a fact sheet on the program at http://www.cfra.org/resources/vapg/fact_sheet. This article is from the Center for Rural Affairs’ October 2009 monthly newsletter.

How to Find Funds in a Credit Crunch

By Joanne Cleaver | Oct 1, 2008 Inc. Magazine

Banks are cutting back, but capital is still available for worthy companies that know where to look.”We have one of those mortgages that’s all over the news right now,” says Dave Tiller.That mortgage is an option adjustable rate mortgage, which allows borrowers to pay less than the interest that’s accumulating on the loan — so the amount of the loan grows over time. Back in 2005, when Tiller refinanced his house, such loans were the latest thing. Tiller figured that paying $1,100 a month on the mortgage and deferring $1,400 a month in interest would maximize the amount of cash he had to invest in Studeo Legal, the Peoria, Arizona, legal-document management and consulting firm he was launching.

Then came the credit crunch. His five-bedroom home, appraised at $390,000 when he refinanced, is now worth just $320,000 — $10,000 less than he owes. Meanwhile, his monthly payment has ballooned to $3,000, which is $1,000 more than it would have been if he had been paying interest all along. That means he has less to invest in his business, and, thanks to the credit crunch, virtually no other options for finding capital.

SBA Basic Loan Information

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent agency of the federal government. Its purpose is to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns, to preserve free competitive enterprise and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of our nation. There are numerous loan programs offered through the SBA that businesses can access through SBA preferred and certified lenders.