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photo credit: Exothermic
If you are determined to make a go of building your own business, then you will be faced with a major challenge because of the lack of an established business track record. Most brand new businesses require some capital in order to get started, but without past business financial information it can be difficult to secure a loan for that purpose.
Banks and other types of lending institutions rely on receiving a variety of fiscal information from small business borrowers in order to make a decision about loaning money to them. If you are just starting out and your business is brand new, then you will not have cash flows or dividends information, or financial statements for your business that you can supply to the lenders. Without that detailed history of business operations and financial reports it is difficult to secure a loan.
photo credit: Torley
There are various business finance plans open to a new start-up, but they all fall into 2 major categories, namely, owner financing and borrowed business finance. Each of these 2 major categories has an upside and a downside that every entrepreneur seeking business finance should be aware of. The key to success in business finance would then be finding ways to exploit the advantages of one’s chosen financing option, while also mitigating against its downside.
The first major business finance category is owner financing. Owner financing refers to money that the entrepreneur and other promoters of the business contribute to start it. In most cases, owner financing comes from the entrepreneur’s savings.
photo credit: Photo Mojo
Women nowadays are turning in to entrepreneurs – both big time and small time – with a vengeance to prove their detractors wrong and becoming successful as well, thus silencing their critics. But to kick start any business, even if it is small, or to give a financial boost to an existing small business concern, a woman will require money – either loans from the banks or grants.
I would recommend a woman entrepreneur to ditch the predilection for loans which you have to repay with high rates of interest within a fixed schedule and to opt for small business government grants which eliminate the necessity of recurring monthly expenses of high rates of interest or repayment of the principal amount.
photo credit: Wonderlane
When you think about ethically sound, green business ideas, you immediately think of ways to reduce green house gases as part of your business model. Making money is one thing. But when you consider that your effort will go into making more and producing more of whatever you choose as your home business in an effort to of course make a reasonable income, you begin to think, whatever it is you are selling and producing must be environmentally sound.
One of the most wonderful green home business products that can be sold online is information in the form of a digital download.
photo credit: Jeramy & the Octoberlings
There was a movie before where fledging companies in common office parks and deep-pocketed shareholders group research labs in Silicon Valley hunting for world-changing technologies and the promise of untold earnings. A few extremely buzzed stock offerings explode in to the market long ago when the immense Wall Street hype machine starts to crank into mechanism. The sector was said as the Next Big Thing in the business magazines. Far away, there was a spoilsport talk about a bubble eventually going out of order.
This time with the green tint, the shades of the dot-com bubble and bust cycle are seen again in Wall Street.
photo credit: fogcat5
In this changing world investments can seem a risky business. Some currencies are a bit unstable at the moment, and with a decrease in natural resources and the call to go green it is natural to worry. How secure are investments in new technologies? Is it still safe to invest in less green ventures? If tempted to go the green route, which green route should you take?
At this point I guess it is safe to say that nothing is certain. However, some avenues seem more secure than others. Bio fuels may have a short-term appeal, but in the long run may prove to be unsustainable.
photo credit: Mikey G Ottawa
About Green Fundraising
Fundraising Coordinators have been looking for something new for years that their groups can take and sell to raise money. Everyone, it seems, already has enough wrapping paper and frozen cookie dough and chocolate bars and they want something different, something they might actually use.
Enter green fundraising. Green fundraisers work exceptionally well as they are capitalizing on people’s newfound desire to save the planet.
photo credit: The Blue Shoe Project
There is a new workforce brewing as we move into the green business movement with many challenges between employees and employers.
The National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) set out to gauge earlier this year, in 2008 “how leading companies approach internal employee education and engagement.” As part of a larger study on corporate environmental and sustainability education it surveyed more than 1,300 people.
Now the numbers may be skewed because the respondents came from a largely environmentally minded audience.
photo credit: Wonderlane
Social and environmental issues play a greater role in consumer and B2B choices than ever before. The “Green” movement was on the fringes of mainstream culture just a few years ago. Today, global warming, eco-sensitivity, fair trade and sustainability are issues that can have a tremendous impact on businesses of all sizes. A relatively new marketing model — the triple bottom line — offers businesses of all sizes an opportunity to create sustainable businesses that benefit people, the plan and corporate profits.
While the traditional marketing model’s success is typically judged by increased revenue, there is a new approach adopted by companies who want to become sustainable businesses. The triple bottom line – economic, social and environmental – creates a framework for marketers to use their knowledge of customer attitudes about sustainability and environmental issues to inform and influence a company’s external communications and executive-level decision-making.
photo credit: lmeurs
In recent months, it seems that the trend of “going green” – living in an environmentally friendly way – has caught on with mainstream America. Clorox has started advertising green cleaning supplies. Paper towels and toilet paper made of recycled paper are cropping up on store shelves. Car companies are advertising hybrid vehicles, and celebrities boast about their extravagant eco-friendly lifestyles.
As a practical retailer, joining the green trend may seem too expensive or too difficult. You care about the environment, but you don’t have the time to install solar panels, grow grass on your roof, or conserve water with fancy plumbing. However, “going green” can be as simple as changing the store bags you use.
