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One thing is for certain: this is a difficult time to get the financing to start up an enterprise. With the recent economic calamity, credit is no longer as widely available as it once was. However, there are still a number of avenues that are worth exploring. You may want to consider P2P lending, or there might be a government loan available to start business.
The first thing you are going to want to be sure to do is have a good credit profile. Building business credit is absolutely essential to any kind of loan program that you are going to encounter. In order to separate your business credit from your personal credit, you have to decide how you are going to incorporate, register with the IRS for an Employer Identification Number (EIN), fill out all the forms and figures that are required by state and federal regulations, set up a telephone line and bank account in the business’ name, and get a file with one of the credit reporting agencies. This may be a bit complicated, but in the long run it will allow you to separate your personal credit from your business credit, which will keep you from being adversely affected if your business goes under. You will also want to start applying for credit cards so that you can start building business credit. A few merchant credit lines wouldn’t hurt either.
Now it time to consider where you want to go for a loan. You probably know already that big banks are going to be a dead end, and will tie you up in regulations before anyone even gets to hear your pitch. That being the case, you may want to consider small banks and credit unions (which are typically more compliant with new entrepreneurs) or, better yet see if there is a government loan available to start business. You should consider applying for an SBA (Small Business Administration) loan. The SBA is a branch of the chamber of commerce that helps minorities, women, veterans and others get financing needed to start a business. They are, luckily, very stable and reliable.
If you are not interested in seeing if there is a government loan available to start business, you may want to consider P2P lending. P2P has become a very successful system thanks to the information age. You can use sites such as virginmoney.com, prosper.com and lendingclub.com to see what capital is out there to help you start up your business.
