Dear Shawn:

The very first step is to develop a well thought out business plan. No bank will give businesses start up funding without it. The business plan will give you several things such as; how much you will need to start, how much you will need to have in revenue to make money, who your competition is, who is your target market and much more. This will be your road map for your business and is one of the single most important aspects of starting a business. Fail to plan, plan to fail!

Next, you will need to put some of your own money down, usually about 10%. Even the SBA requires that you put something of your own into the business. Most people use savings or a home equity loan for this. Once you have these things you might want to try for a Small Business Administration loan. The SBA guarantees a good portion of the loan amount so that banks are more likely to give startups the loans needed. The SBA website at www.sba.gov  has more on this. The Power HomeBiz site is a great place to get startup advice. I send many of my clients there.