Small local businesses are essential for the growth of any economy and they are supported by most world governments. In U.S. these small businesses are supported by the Small Business Administration (SBA). You can rely on SBA help for small businesses without having second thoughts about their credibility.
If you think you have an idea that could sell, you can go for it. But an idea is just not sufficient until you have thoroughly researched it. Starting a new business is not easy; the risk of failure is too high to be taken vaguely. While the risk is inevitable, planning and research is the key to keep this risk at minimum level.
Before you think of starting a business, you will need to study the industry you want to start with and determine the potential growth of your idea. You will then be required to make a well-researched, comprehensive business plan and get it approved by all those investing in your business.
You will definitely need a lot of help starting a small business. As a small business owner, information about each and every step of planning your business will be essential. But you need to think where to get this help from while keeping in your budget. The answer today is a number of online services providing voluntary services to entrepreneurs, helping them in planning a small business. One of such organization is SBA.
The Small Business Administration (SBA)
SBA, or the Small Business Administration, is a government owned organization created in 1953 that provides help starting small businesses and making it grow. Its mission is stated as “to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns, to preserve free competitive enterprise and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of our nation”.
The website of SBA has considerable amount of resources available for entrepreneurs. It provides small business owners advice about securing financing, writing a business plan, business management, and marketing. It also provides information about law changes and tax structure. The site also offers a number of free articles, classes, and videos for assistance.
Moreover, SBA has at least one office in each U.S. state. The organization arranges a number of local networking events for promotion of small businesses. The agency is also affiliated with different counseling partners, including Small Business Development Centers, Women’s Business Centers, and SCORE, a volunteer mentor organization of retired and experienced business leaders. Together, these counseling services provide services to over 1 million budding entrepreneurs and small business owners annually.
What Services Does the SBA Offers?
The company provides three basic services for business start-up; Capital, Contracts and Counseling. Let us take a review of each of these functions:
1.Capital
The SBA provides a detailed account of Government grants offered to small businesses and helps you in finding a grant that compliment your business needs. Except the Disaster Loans which help the businesses to recover from damages caused by unexpected disasters, SBA does not offer any loan itself; rather it acts as a guarantor for loans you can get from financers.
Getting an SBA backed loan is easier than looking for financing on your own. However, to make sure the business owners don’t default on their liability, only a part of loan is guaranteed by SBA. It also helps you in getting as many loan advantages as possible when getting a lender for your small business.
Through its Surety Bond Guarantee (SBG) Program, SBA also helps small businesses to get contracts by offering a certain percentage of surety for surety bonds; a three-party instrument between a contractor, a project owner and a surety. SBA also offers access to private investment funds through their Venture Capital Program.
2.Contracts
SBA has a detailed section of information about how to make your business eligible for small business contracts. Different types of contracts are assigned for different small business categories where SBA can provide you assistance to get the best contracts for you.
SBA provides you in getting contract with the government, which helps you in growing your business portfolio. It also provides help with completing your documentation needs for contracting purposes.
3.Counseling
The largest part of SBA services comprises of free counseling services for small business owner and entrepreneurs. SBA provides online business training as well as local counseling. These trainings include areas such as start-up advice, management advices, financing advice, contracting guidelines and other featured trainings.
SBA assist business owners in all aspects helping them create their business plan, their financial budgets and their marketing plans. It also provides a detailed account of information regarding the laws and regulations of running a business.
SBA also helps you in devising a profitable exit plan for your business in case you decide to leave your business or retire. You can get advice about issues like liquidating assets and transferring ownership. It also provides you with guidelines in case you decide to file for bankruptcy.
One of the most beneficial services that SBA offers is associating you with a mentor. SBA is affiliated with several organizations like SCORE, which provides free counselors and mentors. These people are experienced entrepreneurs who devote their time to your business planning and provide help in running a small business efficiently.
Summary
In a nutshell, SBA is just the right place any small business owner needs to visit if they require any kind of guidance, counseling or mentoring for their small businesses. SBA can help you form, maintain and grow a business through its several lending and contracting programs. SBA also provides you with ample opportunities of networking with other small business owners by arranging local networking events.
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