Hello all. I have a real problem here... I have finally found a buisness I will be good at, I can be home with, and I will make really good money. BUT.... How do I find someone to loan $5000 to get me started?? I spent 3 hours searching on net, to no avail. I appreciate you help and look forward to your ideas. Thanks , Kristean

PS>>.. we still havent found a place to live, which is ok, Ill be in the county jail if I have to stay here much longer... why you ask?? Cause im gonna murder my hubby ..... LOL... I AM JUST KIDDING..

-- Kristean Thompson (pigalena_babe@yahoo.com), March 16, 2002

Answers

Have you tried the SBA? They have loans for women initiated businesses....

-- Sue (sulandherb@aol.com), March 16, 2002.

OK just a thought do you really want to start any buisness when your life is up in the air where you are living ? I have plenty of land just no house for you sorry .

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@hotmail.com), March 16, 2002.

Sue, Yes i talked to the sba, but they would require a large down payment.

Patty, AWWWW how sweet, I wish i could move to ny. Glad to know you have lots to share. Makes me smile to hear of all of you who are doing what I want to do. Encouraging to me.

-- Kristean Thompson (pigalena_babe@yahoo.com), March 16, 2002.

If you're going to borrow the cash anyway, why not apply for one or two of those low/no interest rate credit cards that are always in the mail. Sure, the rate is promotional, but if you can make enough money to pay it off within the promotional time (usually 6-12 months) you get a great deal. Some of them are for transferred balances only, so read the fine print. Get one with no annual fee and it's even better.

Not a big fan of cards, but debt is debt as far as I'm concerned, and at least you're not going to lose your house or anything if it all goes south and you have to default. And you can't beat a card for records keeping simplicity come tax time - it's all there on your statements.

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), March 16, 2002.

If there's a will, there's a way. 5k really isn't that much if you put your mind to it. You could work a part-time job, 3-4 hours a day or night, not even a full week and in less than a year you'd have that much. S houldn't be hard when you have a partner at home. Gotta start somewhere. Running the biz itself will likely be more work than scraping up the start-up money.

-- Dave (multiplierx9@hotmail.com), March 16, 2002.

Kristean,

The SBA is set up for exactly that sort of thing. There are many other organizations that lend money for partiular start-ups. Some Credit Unions make small start up loans. There is always the local bank.

Whoever loans you money will want a detail business plan. Even if you did not borrow the money, you should still have a detailed business plan. If you do not have one, there will be many things that will cause you to stray from your objective which will lead to ultimate failure of the business.

-- ken (you@surfbest.net), March 16, 2002.

or, you could start smaller, within your means. If it's a sure thing and as profitable as you think, you should be able to start with much less. It'll just take longer.

-- Dave (multiplierx9@hotmail.com), March 16, 2002.

Can we ask what kind of business?

-- Dave in Ohio (dr43147@yahoo.com), March 16, 2002.

Kristean, are you still going into the food vending business? How's that working out for you? Best wishes.

-- cowgirlone in OK (cowgirlone47@hotmail.com), March 16, 2002.

Yes, I will be happy to let you all in on the fun. After thinking about the food vending thing, we decided against it for a couple of reasons. SOOOOOO after I thought about my options, and my current home requirments, I am working on opening a catering buisness. It will be an interim chef catering service. which is too say ( in lay mens terms ) a chef who comes and cooks your party food at your home or party location. I have almost no overhead, and will not be required by my state to purchase permits. Only a buisness license. The 5k in start up pays my membership in a rest. association, my insurance, some startup equipment, and phone line ect... I am blessed to already have most of the office equipment I need. AND with my extensive background in the Chef industry, I have been offered the membership at a reduced rate. Also the 5k includes advertising in a local yellow pages ( actually two, as one is free with the purchase of the other.). I would like to find someone who would be willing to loan me the money, ( individual ), with a cut of the profit for a pre-set term plus their money back. That would be a blessing. Thanks for all your answers so far.

-- Kristean Thompson (pigalena_babe@yahoo.com), March 16, 2002.

Kristean-

Consider avoiding yellow page ads. When I had my lawn service I used them. I didn't find as much work that way as through "penny saver" type papers and small town papers. Have you read "The Guerrilla Marketing Handbook" or "The Guerrilla Financing Handbook"? Try to see if you can get your hands on them through interlibrary loan!! They were a couple books reccomended to me by the SBA.

-- Katie S. (cashcrop90@yahoo.com), March 17, 2002.

Kristean, For a home based,service oriented business five grand is a pretty stiff start up. As your one post mentioned, most of the money will be for membership in an assoc. and yellow pages listings, Is this really necessary? Does belonging to the assoc. guarantee you a specific volume of business? Is membership recquired to do business? Don't get me wrong, we also belong to trade related organizations but membership has never added one penny to our gross. They do make you sound more professional but all it usually boils down to is a logo on your letterhead. The same goes for phone book listings, nice but costly. You won't need a seperate business line for some time, just use your home phone. Before going out on my own I built a couple of very successful businesses for other people and the bottom line is that no matter how you spend your money the vast majority of your work is going to come through word of mouth from satisfied clients. Get your business lic. and then concentrate on getting someone to take a chance on you. This may mean cutting a couple of people a deal. You have to show you can do as you say, so you may end up handling the first couple of jobs for cost (ie little or no profit).Be up front with people, let them know that your just starting out and that's why you are giving them a special price. If your good the work will speak for itself and your name will get around. Don't go for all the bells and whistles when setting your business up. One of the secrets to making it is to keep your overhead under control. Every penny of debt or expenditure on non essentials is going to be paid off the top. That's money not going into your pocket. Remember , there is no easy money!!!!! Business is hard work, long hours, tons of worry and aggrivation. It can also be the most exciting, fulfilling and enjoyable activity you'll ever do. Don't let anyone mislead you. Everyone knows a guy who has a friend who has a bussiness and only works 3-4 hours a day a couple days a week and rakes it in hand over fist. He also filled out a postcard and got a big fat government grant to get started. My question is if it's so easy why aren't they doing the same thing? Beware of the "help" you'll find available once you get a business started. For only $$$$$ they'll help you grow your business. For $$$$+ you get the exclusive gold blah blah blah. Keeping the money you earn can be as hard as earning it. As far as financing goes I'll repeat what I posted once before,..... family and friends. The SBA DOES NOT MAKE LOANS! BANKS DO. The SBA will give advice, help you understand regulations, set you up with training (which you will pay for) and assist with pointing you toward a possible lender but you better have all your ducks in a row first. Funds are hard to come by without a proven track record. Most of the venture capitol out there is going to expect an arm and a leg for a return. There are angel investors but they're rare and almost impossible to find. Don't give up after spending 3 hours on line looking for money. I've got a project right now I've been cooking for for almost four months. Like I said it's a lot of work. Start small and keep it simple, if you need money it's easier to take on a second job than pay off a loan. Don't ever forget,....the only time you start on top is when your digging a hole. Good luck.

-- JJ Grandits (JJG@aol.com), March 17, 2002.

Perhaps a couple of your family members or friends would help you with your start up cash. Do you really need this much. You idea is a great one too !! Just thought of one of our directors who has a women come into their home and cook 5 meals for the freezer for them to eat..all organic foods. They pay her $250 plus $100 in foods. Seems like she would do more than just 5 dinners but I might have that part wrong. With women out in the work force you might think on an idea like this with your catering business. I tried one time for a SBA loan also. I was a women...which was a plus..but after that it was all down hill since I wasn't an minority person. But...hey...I found a way anyways. Just did it little by little. Good Luck and let us know how you make out !!!!

-- Helena (windyacs@npacc.net), March 17, 2002.

Just starting up, association memberships are of little value. I wouldn't pay for yellow page ads just starting up either. Some businesses are very dependent on Yellow Page ads but this isn't one of them. Definitely don't short yourself on insurance. You're picking a hard to please clientele. Before I became self-employed several years ago I worked in the special events industry. We mostly dealt with weddings and high society parties. I've seen people spend 50k for a childs birthday party and 100k+ for weddings by the way(crazy). For several years I dealt with equipment installations. Large tents, dancefloors, stages, catering equipment, tables/chairs/linens, basically everything for the event but the food and entertainment. Some months I worked every single day and had 90+ hours per week. Later on I was Operations Manager for a large company in the same field. Most of our biz came from caterers or event coordinators. The end customer is usually unrealistic and expecting the perfect party and will totally come unglued if one little thing is wrong(even if only in their head) so keep that in mind. I lost count of how many brides mothers or party hostess I saw break down in tears and take it out on the caterers because of some perceived 'disaster'.

From my experience, what you're offering is mostly done by referrals not through the yellow pages. I would save the money spent on advertising and put the effort into doing the footwork to get your name out there to people in the business. You don't need to join associations to get your foot in the door. Do that after your business has grown to a comfortable level. JJ makes an excellent point- beware of people who make it sound easy if you'd only pay them a fee.

You didn't say what's behind your extensive experience but it'd be a good idea to illustrate it best you can and put it down on paper so you can hand it to people along with your business card. They're going to want references, don't expect them to take your word for it. Alot of preparation goes into a 4 hour party and you don't get a second chance if there's a mistake. I'd go around to the local caterers and event coordinators and offer your services. Many times caterers have more business than they can handle in the busy months and might slide some business your way. That's very common in that business and most people doing what you want to do have worked for caterers for a while before they go off on their own. At the same time, you could do some targeted advertising that's alot cheaper than a Yellow Pages ad. Get your business cards out to as many people as you can, even to party supply and rental businesses. Offer to freelance for caterers. If you have the skills you'll definitely get work from them and at the same time build up your reputation to the point you can pull in enough biz of your own to make it viable.

-- Dave (multiplierx9@hotmail.com), March 17, 2002.

another word of advice. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. One of the best things a self-employed person can do just starting out is have multiple streams of income. I'm saying go for it but at the same time keep your eyes open to other opportunities, whether connected to this venture or something non-related. Remember you're in it for the money, not to have something to do with your time. Work to have a life, don't make work your life. When you see an opportunity, jump on it but don't let it consume you to the point where you become unrealistic. You could end up making that 5k quicker than you think. Back in Sept/Oct I took a $550 initial investment and reaped a $4900 profit in less than 8 weeks reselling some products that were in demand at the time. You could also fail if you let your guard down. I also once build up a business worth quite a bit of money, became complacent and let it become a disaster that nearly wiped me out(the rope and chair was looking like an attractive option ; ). Motivation is 90% of it. Don't expect to get lucky and have oppportunity come to you. Put yourself in it's path.

-- Dave (multiplierx9@hotmail.com), March 17, 2002.

Instead of spending all that money on yellow page adverts, you can go down to your local chamber of commerce, get a list of the businesses and industries, and write a personal letter to each. Enclose your business card and references as a chef. Industries spend a fortune on parties, events, and small gatherings such as when clients come to visit. Gotta feed those clients LOL! You can contact hospitality centers which rent rooms for large gatherings and offer your chef services to them. Best way is word of mouth though. all the ads in the world don't work as well as a satisfied customer! Another avenue is the Thrifty Nickel type papers for family re- unions, lots of families want to visit with each, not cook all day, so would appreciate a chef type person who could over see a large event. We had a family reunion for 300 people and to a person, each FEMALE who cooked said we would have gladly paid someone to do all the preparations! Just didn't know of anyone at the time. Lots of caterers will be overwhelmed during Christmas and the wedding season and may send business your way if they are acquainted with your work and know you to be reputable, etc. Many ways to get started for a lot less than $5K. Start small, work up!

-- Cindy (colawson@mindspring.com), March 17, 2002.

Don't borrow money to start a home based business. Before you start a business check the statistics and you'll see why no one will lend you money. A business like this would gain it's initial growth from word of mouth advertising. You would not need advertising, yellow pages or a seperate phone line. Chances are that if you work hard you will have more than you can handle by word of mouth and grass roots advertising. Use home computer made business cards and print up some fliers to start with. It would be better to do the first job possibly as a demonstration and get the client to help find you more clients. This way if you fail you only lose time.

-- Emil in TN (eprisco@usit.net), March 17, 2002.

People need to be able to find you, so a listing is good, but it doesn't need to be a big display ad. You may well have some time to think about this anyway - here at least deadlines for Yellow Pages ads only roll around once a year.

Also, you need to look professional and well presented - you can do most of that with quality paper, then print on it youself. However, I'd really carefully consider having business cards printed professionally - they can be a clean and simple design - not too expensive. Try to use the same typeface as you're going to use on your correspondence. Professional cards make a decent impression, amateur cards give a negative impression.

Of course, your big expense is likely to be public liability insurance - unless you can arrange to always be an employee, with your employer carrying the liability.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), March 17, 2002.