Among all the many funding options for small business owners, some types of government and private programs tend to get lost in the mix. One opportunity that is sorely needed in today’s market, and that some eligible entrepreneurs might not know about, is an option for America’s many veterans and military staffers. The Patriot Express Loan Program was created to serve these individuals as they attempt to re-integrate into the economy and build their own contributions to the American small business landscape.

What Is the Patriot Express Loan Program?
The Patriot Express Loan Program is offered through the U.S. Small Business Administration [...]

Credit cards have become the top source of financing for small business owners in the United States. In fact, the percentage of small businesses that now use credit cards has nearly tripled since 1993. At just 16 percent in 1993, the number has now risen to 44 percent. Thus, nearly half of America’s small business owners have turned to credit cards for their financing needs.
If you are one of the many small business owners who uses credit cards, you may have a pile of debt that you would like to shrink. Obviously, you’ll have to make payments to get that [...]

Regardless of if you have a large company listed in the Forbes Platinum 400 or a seasonal ice cream truck business, you will need financing to survive and prosper.
Whether you borrow $1000 from your parents to buy production components as Dell Computer founder Michael Dell did, or you need $1 million from a bank to expand your manufacturing firm, sooner or later you need to ask somebody else to loan you money now so you can make larger gains in the future.
Accepting the need for financing as a reality of the entrepreneurial life is a key step to setting up [...]

For most homeowners, a house is the largest investment that they’ll ever make. With this in mind, it can be a large source of financing for various ventures, including a small business. This can be done through either a home equity loan or a home equity line of credit (HELOC).
If you own a home and a business, borrowing against your home may seem like a viable option when money is tight. Hold your horses, though. This is a major decision that involves a bit of a gamble. Let’s see whether or not you should borrow against your home to finance [...]

Being in the black isn’t as easy as it seems.
 

Securing financing for your business is a process of compiling solid, factual material such as a great business plan, a reasonable budget and a projected look at when profits can be expected. Add to that one less tangible factor to complete a winning equation. That is a positive attitude.
Becoming an entrepreneur takes a great deal of courage and confidence. We have to believe in ourselves and in our own idea. Convincing others to invest in our dream is comprised of two main factors: 90 percent is your ability to present the facts that support your claim that your new business [...]

The good news is that the unemployment rate fell slightly this month, down to 8.1 percent from April’s 8.2 percent. The bad news is that this decline is likely because more people gave up looking for work. Additionally, the U.S. job growth slumped in April for a second straight month.
Since it is apparent that we are still in the midst of a bit of belt-tightening, I thought it might be a good time to discuss a financing option you may not have considered before: accounts receivable financing.
When other small business financing options like bank loans or angel investors is limited [...]

Chase and LivingSocial announced the launch of a new small business grant program. The program aims to demonstrate the company’s commitment to small business growth. Offering up to $3 million to small businesses across the nation, the program also has the support of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Up to 12 individual grants of $250,000 will help small businesses with capital and marketing resources needed to grow their business.
“Small businesses are invaluable to the growth of our economy, and the ‘Mission: Small Business’ grant program is designed to provide small businesses with the solutions they need to grow and thrive,” [...]

When new entrepreneurs ask experienced business consultants or other seasoned professionals about academic choices, one of their main questions is very often related to how an investment in further education will affect the bottom line of their existing business operations. Business leaders looking to go back to school have to weigh the pros and cons of any given program, where an MBA represents a training choice with a rather long time horizon – that’s time away from the business and money that can be spent toward assets, growth or expansion, or debt reduction. So it makes sense to ask: “will [...]

Even as the American economy continues to improve, we’ve seen many small business leaders steer clear of additional borrowing in 2011 and the beginning of this year. A growing number of entrepreneurs are embracing the lean business model, cutting down on extras instead of taking out sizable bank loans to run a business.

There’s a common intuitive understanding that owing a lot to a major, established lender such as BofA, Wells Fargo, or another big bank isn’t where a lot of small business owners want to be. Part of this might revolve around the ways that these lenders are pursuing foreclosures [...]