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Apply for Financing

Month: February 2023

Credit is a tricky and sometimes difficult thing to manage. Dense and often with little instruction; credit can feel pretty overwhelming, especially as you start your business.

There are a few small credit tricks that can help you though!

A little known trick is about opening credit cards for your business. Every card you open hits your credit score and affects your ability to apply for other cards. However, what most people don’t know is that credit checks for cards don’t hit instantly; they take a few days. Thanks to that window, applying for more than one credit card in a day is possible and all the applications will use the score when you applied.

This can help you to obtain the funds needed to really get your business off the ground. Just be sure that you can pay back the monthly minimums as they come in. 

A bonus to this is that credit cards can often include some bonuses or perks upon sign-up. While none of them are consistent, they can be bonus cashback or additional funds when making purchases. Used properly, they can all be leveraged to put you into a better position to make the needed purchases for your business.

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Funding your business can be hard. We all need money to get started, but if you are a veteran there are some breaks available to you!

If you are a veteran who is now looking to run their own business, you could be missing out on thousands in grants and funding. We can’t show you how to apply to each one here, but we can let you in on some tips for grants that you could qualify for that can jumpstart your business ventures!

A good thing to discuss is the different kinds of domains for websites. Fraud and Scams are always a worry. When searching for grants, you should be looking for “.gov” websites. URLs ending in .gov are not just bought anywhere, only government bodies can obtain them. You should always be looking out for this when searching for and applying for grants!

Try checking your state and local government websites. For example, here is the NYC veterans’s grant page. Most states will have something like this that can really serve to boost your business. 

While much more broad, https://www.grants.gov/ is a government funded website that has thousands of grants open to those who are eligible. A quick search of the term, “Veteran” reveals a large number of possible grants. 

The grants offered here are always changing and updating. Be sure to check every day to see what you can apply for based on your qualifications!

Beyond this, there are many organizations devoted to helping veterans obtain business grants. These require a bit more vetting but can be very helpful, a popular example is http://freegrantsforveterans.org 

Grants take time to research and apply for, but the results can prove invaluable to ensuring your business has a future.

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Setting Up your Facebook Business Account

Facebook is one of the most used social networking tools in the world. They allow you to set-up a business page with them so that you can give potential and current customers a place communicate with you and for you to offer them updates on your business

1.  The first step is to have a Facebook Profile. This is required.

2.  Once you have a Facebook Page set-up, you want to navigate to the “Create Page”

3.  From that Page you can begin to fill in information regarding your Business Page.
    a. Use the category dropdown to find the field that best fits your business. It will impact how easily people find your business
    b. Be sure to watch the “Real Time Preview” to see what the page will look like

4.  With the basics of the page created, you can start to expand the information available. 
    a. Add images, business information, and create a first post welcoming people to the page
    b. Be sure to invite friends and family to the page and ask them to share it as well. Word of mouth and recommendations are the lifeblood of a small business.

5.  Facebook offers some robust tools to help manage your page to maximize promotion and engagement with your community. Don’t miss out on looking at them and finding the ones that best assist you.

6.  Facebook allows businesses to set-up options for either a shop or services. Be sure to check out this guide, for setting that up!

7.  Once you are happy with your page, you can look to start paying for promotion with Facebook. Promoting your page can expand who sees your business by a massive amount.

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If you live in New York and started your business after 2018, you could be missing out on this NY exclusive grant!

https://nyseedgrant.mylendistry.com/

New York State is currently looking to assist small businesses with their financial burdens. All it takes is filling out some small documents and fulfilling some eligibility requirements.

The Application Guide and Eligibility Requirements here can guide you through the steps needed. 

The amount that NY is willing to give will range based on your profits. 

  1. Businesses with $5,000 and up to $49,999.99 in gross receipts: Award is $5,000/business.
  1. Businesses with $50,000 – $99,999.99 in gross receipts: Award is $10,000/business. 
  1. Businesses with $100,000 – $1,000,000 in gross receipts: Award is 10% of Gross receipts with a maximum grant amount of $25,000/business
Checking NY stock profit

All of this with only a few small eligibility requirements.

Small businesses, Micro-businesses and For-profit independent arts and cultural organizations, including independent arts contractors submitting an application for a grant award to the Program (collectively, “Eligible Applicants”) must:

  1. Be incorporated in New York State or licensed or registered to do business in New York State and must be resident in the State of New York;
  2. Be a currently viable Micro-business, Small business, or For-profit arts and cultural organization including independent arts contractors that started business on September 1, 2018 or later and has been operational for at least six months before an application is submitted;
  3. Have between five thousand dollars ($5,000) and one million dollars ($1,000,000) in gross receipts per annum as reflected on their most recent Federal Business Tax Return (line 1a, IRS Form 1120 or 1065; line 1 IRS Form 1040 Schedule C) or be able to demonstrate five thousand dollars ($5,000) in business expenses for businesses that have not yet filed a Federal Business Tax Return;
  4. Be in substantial compliance with applicable federal, state and local laws, regulations, codes and requirements;
  5. Not owe any federal, state or local taxes, or have an approved repayment, deferral plan, or agreement with appropriate federal, state, and local taxing authorities;
  6. Not qualify for business assistance grant programs under the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 or any other available federal COVID-19 economic recovery or business assistance grant programs, including loans forgiven under the federal Paycheck Protection Program, or are unable to obtain sufficient business assistance from such federal programs.*Eligible Applicants may have received or been awarded the following federal assistance:
    • Paycheck Protection Program loans totaling $250,000 or less.
    • Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) for COVID-19 of any size.
    • COVID-19 EIDL Advance Grant of any size.
    • COVID-19 EIDL Supplemental Targeted Advance Grant of any size.
    • SBA Shuttered Venue Operators Grant of any size.
    • Restaurant Revitalization Fund Grant of any size.
  7. Did not qualify for business assistance under the New York State COVID-19 Pandemic Small Business Recovery Grant Program.
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Ineligible Business

  1. All non-profits, churches and other religious institutions;
  2. Government-owned entities or elected official offices;
  3. Businesses primarily engaged in political or lobbying activities;
  4. Landlords and passive real estate businesses.

 

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