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Visual branding is the most effective way to create a powerful online presence. If you don’t believe me, check out this article on why visuals are important in marketing: When half of the human brain …
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A virtual business address is when you pay for a separate address for your company. But, for the most part, you don’t do business there.
Business credit is credit in the name of a business. Correctly built, it doesn’t have anything to do with its owner’s personal credit. With business credit, a business owner can get:
You can get approval for business credit accounts regardless of personal credit quality. When you build business credit the right way, there is no personal credit pull. Building business credit depends on payment history more than anything else.
Learn more here and get started with building business credit with your company’s EIN and not your SSN.
Fundability is the ability of a business to be funded. This means, in essence, a business’s chances of getting money. This is money from lenders and credit providers. Building fundability goes hand in hand – and starts – the process of business credit building.
Some fundability elements are impossible to control, like your time in business. But others can be controlled by the ownership. This includes your business address.
There are a few things you can do to help lenders see your business as one that is fundable. It all starts with how you set up your business. It has to be set up in a very specific way to build fundability. Each step is vital, and if you miss one, it could do more harm that you may think.
The goal is to make your business a separate, stand alone, fundable entity apart from the owner, and to remove any doubts that it might not be. First, your business has to have separate contact information. This includes a business phone number, address, and email address.
Your business won’t be a separate legal entity from you unless you incorporate. Corporations need to have addresses, and it’s best for your corporation’s address to be in the same state where it’s incorporated. This is better for fundability.
Your business address is one of the first elements of fundability you should be setting up. Why? Because a lot of the subsequent paperwork you’ll need to fill out will call for your business address. This paperwork is everything from your EIN application to applying for business licenses.
You want all of your business’s paperwork to be right. So if you don’t have a separate address from the very start, you’re only going to have to change it later. And that means everywhere!
Just like a business phone number, your address will go on marketing materials, loan applications, and more. A residential address for a retail establishment can potentially get it flagged as un-established. The same is true if you use a UPS box or PO box. You need a brick and mortar address.
It has to be a place where mail can be delivered. Lenders, credit providers and more will check out your business on Google Street View. If they spot it’s a residential address, then a retail business could be inviting denials. And there’s no good reason to do so!
Learn more here and get started with building business credit with your company’s EIN and not your SSN.
A virtual office is a great solution. It’s far less expensive than renting office space. Here are three virtual office providers we love:
According to Wikipedia: “A virtual office is part of the flexible workspace industry that provides businesses with any combination of services, space and/or technology, without those businesses bearing the capital expenses of owning or leasing a traditional office.”
You can often get a great city address. There can be workspaces if you need to use them. And you might get access to conference rooms. Some plans include receptionists. A small business does not have to look small.
Regus offers:
Options from Regus include furnished offices with high-speed internet. These can be co-working spaces or window offices or interior. Call for pricing on office suites. Co-working spaces cost the least.
They have a presence around the world. Their more popular non-US locations are in several European countries. Costs vary.
Alliance offers:
They have a presence around the world. Their more popular non-US locations are in Mexico, the UAE, the UK, and the Netherlands. Costs for Alliance will run from $125 to $500.
Learn more here and get started with building business credit with your company’s EIN and not your SSN.
Davinci offers:
They have a presence around the world. Their more popular non-US locations are in Mexico, countries in Europe, South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, and Brazil. Costs for Davinci addresses will vary.
You may need to improvise. Consider talking with local business owners. Find out what they do. Perhaps there are shared spaces. Or your fellow local business owners may even be interested in going in with you on a shared space. Will never, ever hurt to ask.
It might be fruitful to talk to local computer user groups too. Or you can consider going out of state if you are near a border. For example, Alexandria, Virginia and Baltimore, Maryland are less than 50 miles from each other. So in some cases you may have more options, just by looking past the border.
When addresses do not match, business credit providers and lenders will interpret that to be fraud. Unfortunately, this is regardless of your personal ethics or intentions.
Think about phone numbers, addresses, and even your business email address. Has your business address changed, or have you opened a new location?
You have to make certain any new addresses are listed on all documents. This includes:
This is the case whether your business address is virtual or not.
A separate business address is ultimately more professional. It’s also more fundable, giving lenders and credit providers a more positive feeling that your business will be able to pay its debts. In turn, that means it’s more likely that you’ll get loans and credit.
The post Virtual Business Address appeared first on Credit Suite.
Looking for grants for women starting a business? Money is always going to be an issue. What if you could get what is essentially free money? That’s what grants are – for the most part.
But how do you find the best options for you? How do you know if you need to be looking for grants or business loans for women? We recommend that you explore every option. This is because it will probably take a combination of funding options to fully fund your business.
Plus, there are business loans. But they are often not just for women. But there are other funding choices out there. Loans, crowdfunding, and even angel investors are all viable options. More on those later.
The government and private organizations want to GIVE you money! They’re highly competitive and rarely enough to fund a business on their own. Still, grants are a great way to supplement other business funding. And they are still worth the effort to apply. There really isn’t anything to lose except time – it’s free money. Here are a few you can start with.
The Amber Grant awards one prize of $10,000 per month to a woman-owned business. One of the recipients also gets an additional $25,000 grant at the end of the year. Applicants only need to tell their story and turn it in with a $15 application fee. See ambergrantsforwomen.com/get-an-amber-grant/apply-now.
Cartier has a lot of grants for women starting a business or keeping a company going. The Cartier Women’s Initiative Award has a regional category award and a science and technology award. And the regional award is $100,000 for first place. With $30,000 for second and third place.
The award goes to three women from each of seven international regions. This award is a grant to 21 female business owners from around the world each year. But women business owners who are just getting started may qualify. Look over the complete application for more information. See cartierwomensinitiative.com/about-us.
Find out why so many companies use our proven methods to get business loans.
The Cartier Science and Technology Pioneer award is new as of 2021. Now three more women impact entrepreneurs at the forefront of scientific and technological innovation can get a new thematic award.
Open to women entrepreneurs from any country and sector. This award will highlight disruptive solutions built around unique, protected, or hard-to-reproduce technological or scientific advances. The laureate will get a $100,000 grant. Each of the two remaining finalists will get a $30,000 grant.
Cartier also offers a fellowship program. The fellowship is an educational program geared towards the 24 fellows selected each year. This fellowship program aims to equip the fellows with the necessary skills to grow their business.
It isn’t exactly a grant. But while it’s not a monetary award, the mentoring and networking opportunities could be worthwhile to apply for. Hence, see cartierwomensinitiative.com/fellowship-programme.
The mission of this group is to offer grants that help Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Native Americans. These are not just grants for women starting a business. They are meant for any gender, so you would be competing against Native Hawaiian, Alaskan, and Native American men. They help in the application process in addition to funds.
First Nations also helps point individuals to appropriate grants offered by other organizations, including the US government. This includes help with writing grant proposals. Therefore, see firstnations.org/grantmaking.
Also known as NBMBAA, the Scale-Up Pitch Challenge has cash prizes of $1,000 to $50,000. The association states its purpose is to help newer businesses with an African American ownership. This is a pitch competition for startup businesses. See nbmbaa.org/scale-up-pitch-challenge.
The NABDI Grant is funded by the US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs. It is not just for women. It provides funding to business owners of Native American or Alaskan Native descent. In 2019, the program provided more than $727,000 to 21 indigenous tribes. It was to support economic feasibility studies for specific economic development projects or business startups.
For 2020, NABDI planned to award 20-25 grants. There is no minimum or maximum amount of funding that can be requested. But most awards run from $25,000 to $75,000. They only fund projects for one year at a time, which is when they expect projects to be completed. To apply for a NABDI grant for your proposed economic development feasibility study, go to bia.gov/service/grants/tedc/apply-nabdi-grant.
Find out why so many companies use our proven methods to get business loans.
There is more available via the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Businesses owned by Native Americans can get financing from the federal government through the Indian Affairs branch. These are not just for women. An individual can fill out an application for up to $500,000. But business entities and tribal enterprises may apply for more.
Potential borrowers can apply with any lending institution, they just have to use the application for Indian Affairs. Additional requirements are in place if the funds are used for construction, renovation, or refinancing. In general, a list of collateral, a credit report, and an analysis of business operations are required. See bia.gov/as-ia/ieed/loan-guaranty-insurance-and-interest-subsidy-program.
The Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) is operated by the US Department of Commerce. It is dedicated to helping minority-owned businesses access the resources they need to grow and succeed. The MBDA is not just for women. But not: grant competitions are regularly changing.
Visit the MBDA’s website for information on all current opportunities. Currently, the MBDA helps its members apply for grants via Grants.gov. This involves help with how to apply for government grants. See mbda.gov/grants.
The MBDA oversees the Enterprising Women of Color (EWOC) Initiative. The initiative works to focus on the fast-expanding minority women entrepreneur population. This population is often a revenue generator for families, communities, and the nation. Minority women are the fastest growing population of entrepreneurs. While many women are making tremendous strides in the business world, they still face obstacles as entrepreneurs.
MBDA serves as an advocate for women’s economic empowerment. They support efforts to advance women’s equality and promote women economic advancement programming. The vision of EWOC is to ensure women worldwide to reach their economic potential. See mbda.gov.
Find out why so many companies use our proven methods to get business loans.
The Verizon Small Business Recovery Fund is new. It serves as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund offers $10,000 to successful applicants. The fund is specifically for providing grants to business owners of color, women-owned businesses, and other underrepresented entrepreneurs. See lisc.org/covid-19/small-business-assistance/small-business-relief-grants/verizon-small-business-recovery-fund.
If your business is in the arts, and you’re of South Asian descent, then check out this fund. The India Center Foundation runs the fund. It works to support US-based South Asian arts workers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The fund will disburse grants up to $2,000, depending on financial need to US-based arts workers of South Asian descent. This includes those in the performing arts, film, visual arts, and literature. You must have heritage from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Initial funding for the program is $20,000. But the India Center Foundation is soliciting donations to expand the grant program.
To be eligible, applicants must be of South Asian descent. Plus they must work in the arts and demonstrate loss of income due to COVID-19. Additionally, applicants must be at least 21 years old. They cannot be enrolled in a degree program. And they must be able to receive taxable income in the US. Grant funding could be put toward any artistic project. But the project must be developed, created, and presented within four to six weeks of receiving funding. See theindiacenter.us/artsfund.
The federal government’s Grants.gov is a running list of more than 1,000 available government grants, including minority business grants. The website compiles grants from over two dozen government agencies, like the SBA, the USDA, and the Department of Commerce. To find a grant that’s right for your business, use the Search Grants tool on the website. You can sort through the list of grants by keyword or opportunity number.
Once you find the grant you wish to apply for, click the hyperlinked opportunity number for more detail. There, you will find more info about the specific grant as well as any associated documentation you might need. To apply for a grant through Grants.gov, you must first register. Then, you can download an application package for the grant want to get. But be ready for a lengthy process. See grants.gov.
If you would rather not rely on grants so much to start and run your business, try crowdfunding. But not everyone with a campaign on a crowdfunding site is successful. More unique products and services tend to do better. Kickstarter and Indiegogo are two of the most popular crowdfunding platforms to use. Some platforms may have higher success rates for women than others.
Angel investors are informal investors. Essentially, you are selling a part of your business to them. They tend to not want a huge percentage of your business. Plus they won’t pass by more conventional businesses, like happens with crowdfunding and venture capital. Hence they can be another supplement or replacement for grants.
If grants aren’t an option, loans might work for you. If you’re an immigrant, try the Business Center for New Americans. They offer a pilot program for microloans up to $75,000. They work with immigrants, refugees, women, and other minority entrepreneurs. The goal is to help minority business owners who have not been able to get traditional financing. Terms are 3% interest, and your loan repayment term goes up to a year. So see accompanycapital.org.
There are several options for grants for women starting a business. Apply for whichever grants you feel you are most likely to get. Other options for funding include crowdfunding, angel investors, and loans. Credit Suite can help you get the funding you need.
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Toyotas have a reputation for being reliable but unexciting, and the Japanese automotive giant that makes them can come across the same way. Yet it is likely more forward-thinking than it gets credit for.
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ClassPass | Android Engineers | US (NYC, SF, Missoula, Houston, Remote)
We’re the world’s largest app for studio fitness and wellness and we’re looking for both junior and senior Android engineers to help grow our app. The app is mostly in Kotlin, makes heavy use of RxKotlin, and we also use Kotlin on the backend
Apply at https://boards.greenhouse.io/classpass/jobs/2535337
Learn more about us at https://classpass.com/about/careers
Straightaway | Principal Product Designer | US Remote
We’re using technology to create a whole new logistics category that will allow 1 hour delivery of anything, anywhere. We’re now backed by Mapbox and I’m building the team that can help us realize our vision.
This is an insane opportunity to shape the product and contribute to the vision of Straightaway as we disrupt the hottest market around: last-mile logistics.
https://boards.greenhouse.io/mapbox/jobs/2607461?gh_jid=2607…
Apply above or email me zach@getstraightaway.com
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