Looking for Money?

Obtaining Capital
Running a small business has its ups and downs, sometimes on a daily basis. From the (sometimes) mundane tasks that are necessary to run a business, to the excitement of obtaining some sort of funding that will ensure you can continue running your business for another, week, month or year. But finding this funding is no easy task, in fact it is the most difficult I have found when trying to ensure that my company succeeds.

I have searched Google, investment networks, met with banks and so far have done about every other possible thing to try and obtain any sort of funding for AllForLocal. In some cases I have been successful, but in the vast minority. I have been able to find many funding sources, but cracking the code to these riddles has been the difficult part.

Since I hope that some reading this blog will be entrepreneurs like myself, I want to lend some resources that I have found useful for finding and obtaining funding. I also welcome any comments, and any further resources that some of you may have out there.

This may not be the right season for Business Plan Competitions, but in the Spring, this is the best way to find funding, because colleges all around the United States are offering their own types of funding at this point in time. Simply go to Google and type in "business plan competitions" and you will automatically have several resources at your disposal. Of course, this requires that you have a business plan already created. I will probably go into some detail about how to write a business plan and the resources for this at another point in time, for the sake of keeping my posts short, and not running out of material too quickly.

As for other points in the year, two organizations come to mind that are especially useful depending on your type of business. The first is a grant for social entrepreneurs, known as Echoing Green. This organization provides grants to its fellows who are trying to make a change socially. It also has a book called "Be Bold" that tells stories about some of its fellows.

The second resource is the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA). The catch for this is that you need to be affiliated with a college or university in order to get money, venture funding, or be part of their network. But they are associated with many great organizations for students who are looking to get funding for their ventures. A great one to look at!

One thing I have learned from all these types of resources is that there is a network associated with each one. A network that leads to other resources. Do not try and find government grants because they will always lead you in circles, and eventually disappoint you. Foundations, and social organizations are definitely the way to go. I admit these links may not help if you are not a social entrepreneur, or in the technology sector, but maybe they will lead you to where you need to go.

All you student entrepreneurs out there, let me know if you need specific help because I know where to look, even if you are not tech/socially oriented. I also have friends that have created products and have gone down the path of intellectual property.

This post may not be as dense as you may like, but I don't want to give away all my resources at once. There are many more to come and I hope what I have revealed so far has been useful to at least somebody. Please comment with questions, comments, resources or anything else that may further our cause of helping all those trying to run a successful small business. Thanks!Looking for Money?