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The National Institute of Business Grants (NIBG) Addresses 5 Common Misconceptions About Business Grants

The National Institute of Business Grants (NIBG) Addresses 5 Common Misconceptions About Business Grants

Columbus, OH (PRWEB) November 26, 2008

Business grants have been accessible to business owners in the United States for decades. Annually, hundreds of millions of dollars in grant money are disbursed to individuals to help them start or expand an existing business.

Despite this, every year several myths and misconceptions resurface discouraging entrepreneurs from taking advantage of such opportunities.

Here are the top 5 misconceptions and why they should be completely ignored:

1) Business Grants Aren’t Real:

Of course, they’re real. This can easily be verified by going to http://www.Grants.gov – a government sponsored web site that reveals all the federally funded grant opportunities available. Even more, one can check with their local (state, county and city) officials to find out about their grant opportunities. Business grants are very real.

2) Business Grants Are Only Given To People With Business Degrees:

This couldn’t be further from the truth. Very few grant opportunities require that a person have a business degree. In fact, many of them don’t even require that you have business experience.

3) Business Grants Aren’t Given To Minorities:

Wrong again. There are tons of grants that are designed for minority-owned businesses. Even more, women are considered minorities too – and there are plenty of grants for women.

4) Business Grants Are Too Hard To Get:

Obtaining a business grant does require some work, and definitely some patience. It can involve a lengthy application, some tedious modifications to a business plan, and even some face-to-face meetings. However, many agree that its nothing close to rocket science.

5) Funding For Business Grants Has Been Drastically Reduced:

Reduced, yes. Drastically, no. What funding doesn’t get reduced in a bad economy? Despite this, there are still tons of opportunities available. So stop making excuses, and go get them.

The National Institute of Business Grants (http://www.Business-Grants.com) provides free tips, advice, and frequently asked questions pertaining to business grants.

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Tags: About, Addresses, Business, Common, Grants, Institute, Misconceptions, National, NIBG

Scholarship For Mothers Program And The Common Requirements

Time and cost are the most common reasons why mothers refuse to go back to school. Most mothers spend a lot of time caring for their children and earning money to provide for their needs. The cost of college education is soaring higher and higher every year, which makes it even more impossible to finish a degree. It’s a good thing that there is a scholarship for the mother program that you can count on.

Mothers today are facing different kinds of situations. Some are divorced while are others are widowed. Some women who have handicapped or injured partners also stands as the bread winner and cannot find time for themselves (most especially education). There are eligibility requirements that you should know if you want to qualify for the grants.

To qualify for the scholarship grants, you should be a local resident of the US, and just in case you are a foreigner, you should have resided in the US for about 3 years. Abandoned women with the custody of the child may also qualify as well as those who husbands are serving many years in prison. Basically, the primary basis is a financial need so if you are earning a low income, you can qualify.

Some grants are specifically aimed for single mothers and so mothers who are still living with their husbands who are capable of supporting the family may not qualify for the scholarship grants. Mothers who are receiving pension plans may not qualify, and if they don’t have custody of the child/children. If you are thinking about applying for the scholarship grants, you need to ensure that you’re qualified.

You can apply for corporate scholarships, work-study scholarship grants, and scholarships subsidized by the state. So you see, you have several choices, and you can easily qualify if you meet the eligibility requirements. Secure an application form now so that you can feel it out with the required info.

The scholarship for the mother program is the solution to your problems. You can have a better future with your kids if you’re able to finish a college degree. Learn how to manage your time so that you can focus on your education as well.

Tags: Common, Mothers, Program, Requirements, Scholarship

In Historic Speech, Senator Obama Addresses Common Sense Restrictions on Assault Weapons

Washington, DC (Vocus) August 29, 2008

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence praised Senator Barack Obama for highlighting the need for common sense gun laws in his speech accepting the Democratic nomination, specifically addressing easy access to assault weapons:

“I was fortunate to be in Mile-High Stadium last night to watch and listen to Sen. Obama’s historic speech as he accepted the Democratic nomination for President of the United States,” said Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

“It was very significant that Sen. Obama directly addressed the gun violence issue in our country. He decided to strike a balance between rights and responsibilities, and showed how we can have common sense gun laws in America to protect our families and communities,” Helmke said.

As Senator Obama said, “The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than they are for those plagued by gang violence in Cleveland, but don’t tell me we can’t uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47′s out of the hands of criminals.”

Brady President Paul Helmke continued, “Since the Supreme Court issued its opinion on the meaning of the Second Amendment, the debate over gun laws in America has moved to the middle ground. Now, common sense gun laws that save lives and protect police can be debated on their merits.

“America wants sensible restrictions on the easy access to dangerous weapons, and Sen. Obama clearly recognized that last night,” Helmke said.

As the nation’s largest, non-partisan, grassroots organization leading the fight to prevent gun violence, the Brady Campaign, with its dedicated network of Million Mom March Chapters, works to enact and enforce sensible gun laws, regulations and public policies. The Brady Campaign is devoted to creating an America free from gun violence, where all Americans are safe at home, at school, at work, and in our communities.

Visit the Brady Campaign website at www.bradycampaign.org. For continuing insight and comment on the gun issue, read Paul Helmke’s blog at www.bradycampaign.org/blog/.

Contact:

Doug Pennington

202-898-0792

dpenn@bradymail.org

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More Obama Moms Press Releases

Tags: Addresses, Assault, Common, Historic, Obama, Restrictions, Senator, Sense, Speech, Weapons

Common Knowledge Scholarship Foundation Announces 2006-2007 Scholarship Lineup

Ft. Lauderdale, FL (PRWEB) August 25, 2006

It’s never too early for students and parents to begin thinking about how they are going to pay for college. Between rising tuition costs and living expenses, college is an expensive investment. Fortunately, students have another resource when it comes to searching for scholarship money.

The Common Knowledge Scholarship Foundation (CKSF) is unique in that it awards scholarships based on students’ current knowledge. CKSF offers online quizzes, with topics ranging anywhere from pop culture and movies, to chemistry and psychology. CKSF makes it easy for students to win scholarships, as there are no essays to write, no GPA requirements and no financial background check. Students can win scholarships from CKSF starting in high school, and continuing through graduate school.

CKSF has announced its 2006-2007 scholarship schedule, which is as follows:

     American Heroes Scholarship – Students answer questions based on important figures in the military. Contest runs in September.

    The National Nursing Scholarship – Open to high school and college students, students answer questions based on nursing school curriculum. Contest runs in October and March.

    Business School Scholarship – Students answer questions about topics covered in business school, such as management, finance and accounting. Contest runs in October and April.

    Future Teacher of America Scholarship – Students interested in the teaching profession answer questions about subjects such as math, language arts, history and social studies. Contest runs in October and April.

    Criminal Justice Scholarship – Students answer questions based on the U.S. Department of Justice’s Web site. Contest opens in November.

    The Family Common Knowledge Challenge – Students and parents participate in this “family” challenge that tests their knowledge of information that spans over six decades, from the 1950′s to 2005. Contest runs in January.

    FBI Common Knowledge Challenge – Students answer questions about the mission, goals, history and inner workings of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Contest opens in February.

    NASCAR Scholarship – Students answer questions based on information found on NASCAR’s Web site. Contest runs in February.

*For a full list of scholarships, visit the CKSF Web site at www.cksf.org.

The Common Knowledge Scholarship Foundation provides college scholarships through Internet-based quiz programs. CKSF is a not-for-profit organization administered at the Fischler School of Education and Human Services at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. For more information about this program and other CKSF scholarly programs, visit the web site at www.cksf.org.

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Tags: 20062007, Announces, Common, Foundation, Knowledge, Lineup, Scholarship

Avoiding Common Business Loan Mistakes

Surveys show that 94.7% of small business owners feel their only lending resources are local banks or personal credit cards. This common sense advice will help you avoid these common business loan mistakes, regardless of your personal credit history… and avoid pledging your personal property as collateral.

First of all, getting approved for a commercial loan is definitely easier than getting personal loans… regardless of your personal credit scores. Additionally, getting the right types of corporate credit is absolutely critical: if you want to protect your personal assets, minimize the risk of a personal lawsuit affecting your business, and to your ability to weather the economic changes that happen overnight.

All business owners must be much more proactive about developing relationships with the right types of lending institutions. You usually want to start your application process with out-of-state, national lenders… not your local or regional banking institutions. National lenders typically won’t require a personal guarantee or your social security number.

Follow this simple roadmap to obtain a small business startup loan, a business debt consolidation loan, a bad credit business loan, or a government business loan… although I strongly recommend that you find a commercial loan expert who can help you through the process of building a strong corporate credit rating.

Finding a competent business loan expert will give you a head start on your competition & also let you focus on running your day-to-day activities… instead of dealing with the hassles of establishing a strong business credit rating. An excellent business credit score can help your company’s image, overnight. And, finding a small business loan expert isn’t that difficult. You just need to know where to look.

Now… let’s get started… before you start applying for any business loans!

1. How is your business structured? Is it a sole proprietorship, C-corporation, S-Corporation, Limited-Liability Corporation (LLC), Partnership, or Trust?

2. How long has your business been recognized by your State & Local government?

3. Has your company ever had derogatory information reported against it to either of the two (2) most popular business credit reporting agencies, Dun & Bradstreet or Experian?

4. Are your commercial permits, licenses and registrations current?

5. Does your business have a physical address, or are you trying to use a U.S. Post Office Box instead?

6. Is your business telephone number recognized by directory assistance?

7. Are your incoming telephone calls professionally answered in your business name?

8. Have you established a business checking account?

9. Have you registered & asked for an Employer Identification Number (also known as an EIN) from the IRS?

If your answer to the first question was a sole proprietorship, partnership or trust; I urge you to re-establish your company as a corporation or LLC. I’m not going to provide you with legal advice, but many CPAs and attorneys highly recommend
LLCs (Limited Liability Corporations) as a way of protecting your personal assets & estate… in the event of any lawsuits being filed against your company.

As a sole proprietor, your personal assets are at direct risk of seizure or forfeiture when faced with most types of legal action. Additionally, if you are applying for business loans in a corporation’s name… most lending institutions will not require you to provide any personal guarantee!

A corporation can still face difficulties applying for business credit, if it has been in business less than two (2) years or had previous credit problems reported against it. Here are some ways to fix these problems.

- Purchasing a “shelf corporation” or “aged corporation” that’s been in good standing with your State government (for longer than 2 years) can drastically improve your chances for small business loan approval.

- You can attempt to repair your business credit rating by writing dispute letters to Experian or Dun & Bradstreet, which isn’t always possible.

- Some corporate credit experts will help you find, select & purchase an established “shelf” or “aged” corporation, some of which already have strong credit ratings established… saving you alot of hassles!

I cannot stress this enough… you MUST have a physical address (not a PO Box) if you want to establish a solid business credit rating. The same thing is said for telephone numbers & the way incoming phone calls are handled. Would you lend
money to a company that does not appear to have a physical address or documented telephone number?

And, don’t forget to always keep your commercial permits, licenses & registrations current… and always keep copies of these documents in case a potential lender asks for this information.

Business checking accounts are a must. Again, this proves stability to your potential lenders. Here are a couple of tips for you, in case you’ve had any checking accounts closed by a financial institution. Pay off the outstanding balance (if any) that’s being reported by the bank, or open a checking account at a bank or credit union that doesn’t use the ChexSystems credit reporting system. Most credit unions don’t use ChexSystems, and you can always find a list of banking institutions in your area that don’t use ChexSystems… by simply doing a search on Google, Yahoo or MSN.

Small business credit ratings are tracked using your business name, business address and employer identification number (EIN). You can apply for & receive an EIN at the IRS’s website (irs.gov). You can also call the IRS, but be prepared for long waits.

Then you’ll want to obtain a D-U-N-S number from Dun & Bradstreet, the largest business credit reporting agency. You can apply for this without any fees at Dun & Bradstreet’s website (dnb.com), and you’ll usually receive this number within
thirty (30) days. Do not apply for this number until you’ve prepared your self thoroughly, because any information you give to them… goes into your credit file… permanently.

After you’ve obtained your D-U-N-S number, you’re probably ready to start establishing some vendor credit. Vendor credit is where many business owners start establishing business credit ratings. Simply go to staples.com, officemax.com or officedepot.com to get started. Then, you’ll also need to fax your business telephone bill & the credit application to them… on your business letterhead (which you can create using your favorite word processing software if you don’t have expensive stationery). They usually don’t require any personal guarantees (if you’ve followed the outline above), and you’ll usually receive a starting credit line of $750.

This is critical & I repeat… critical! Always pay your invoices before the grace periods begin… especially on unsecured credit cards or vendor credit lines. Dun & Bradstreet will lower your credit score for every day a creditor reports your bill as unpaid while you’re within your grace period. Whereas, personal credit scores are not lowered unless you are 30+ days past your due date.

Dun & Bradstreet reports what’s known as a Paydex score (your corporate credit score), and a score of 80 is very good… with 100 being the highest score you can achieve. Your Paydex score is issued once you’ve established a known
vendor/credit relationship with at least five (5) creditors.

There are shortcuts that will help you get much more than $750 alot faster. When using a business credit expert, most small business owners (even startups) can be approved for vendor credit lines of $25,000-$50,000 and open credit lines of
$50,000, $250,000, $500,000 or more… in as little as 45-60 days… by using their knowledge of the application process & “shelf” corporations.

Now, it’s your choice. Are you going to go against the grain & try to establish business credit on your own (which could prove costly to your business health, growth & survival)? Or, will you choose to utilize a corporate credit expert… allowing you to remain focused on your daily business needs?

Most business owners make the mistake of trying to do this on their own… usually trying to find grants, investor “angel” money, or falling back onto the “personal credit card sword”. Don’t be a casualty like the rest. Learn more about how you can use the same tools that informed, educated millionaires have been using for decades.

Lee Kendrick has been featured by several national magazines as a credit expert, finance professional & public speaker.

Register for his newsletter at http://leekendrick.net/credit-expert/ & discover how you can be approved for $250,000 or more… in as little as 45-60 days… regardless of your personal credit.

Tags: Avoiding, Business, Common, Loan, Mistakes

Types of Common Fraudulent Transactions

In the previous article, I briefly discussed on how to detect potential frauds. Now, I describe two of the most common fraudulent transactions: “Bank Guarantees” and “Discounted Bank Instruments”.

A. Bank Guarantee Scheme

This is a very simple fraud. A businessman or investor requires access to capital for his own purposes. Let us say that the individual wants a line of credit of $50 million or more. That individual or business discovers that to obtain such a line of credit means paying significant fees, commissions and possibly providing huge quantities of security. That the other party will say that all you have got to do is pay a one off sum and you will have a guaranteed bank facility can make the offer seem hard to resist.

The individual will commonly be told that an AAA bank will provide a guarantee for, say, $50 million subject to a payment of $1 million as a fee. Obviously the businessman says he is not going to pay until he has seen the facility from the bank. Arrangements are therefore made for the $1 million dollar fee to be lodged in an escrow account, usually either with a solicitor in London or with a fiduciary in Switzerland . The solicitor or fiduciary has clear instructions that he is not to release the monies until such time as the facility letter is to hand.

In due course a facility letter from a major bank does arrive appropriately signed at the bottom guaranteeing the $50 million facility. The fiduciary releases the money. The investor then calls upon the bank to honour their facility. It is at that stage that the investor discovers that the two people who signed the facility either never existed or if they did exist had no authority to grant the facility and have left the bank, or there is some other fraud involved.

The investor quickly attempts to hold the fiduciary or solicitor to account, whose excuse for his role in the transaction is that he simply followed his client’s instruction in releasing the monies on delivery of the facility letter. The investor then attempts to trace the monies and discovers they have moved through various different bank accounts and have ended up either in Lithuania , The Virgin Islands, or another location where it becomes increasingly difficult to either trace the monies further or to recoup them.

B. Discounted Bank Instruments

Many senior lawyers, accountants and businessmen continue to believe that there exists a secret market in bank instruments. Fraudsters play upon this continuing belief by persuading individuals and companies that they should make investments in “prime bank guarantees”. The documentation relating to the investment talks about “prime banks”, “discount houses” and “cutting houses”. The documentation is produced so that at first sight it appears hugely complex and obviously beyond the understanding of anybody who is not actually involved in this very specialized market.

Typically individuals are asked to participate in a block of something like a $100 million investment. It is usually explained that individuals are excluded from this market and the only way they can possibly join is by contributing $100,000 or so to a pot that is being built up by the generous individual who is giving them the opportunity to participate in this secret market.

The lure into this investment is the phenomenal profits that will be generated, sometimes described as being in excess of 100% in one year.

It is worth repeating that there is no such market.

It is never explained to anybody how the profit is generated or why the banks feel that it is necessary to trade in this market.

Usually what happens is that the hugely complex documentation is delivered to the person who is going to make the investment, for typically between $1 million and $10 million. He is required to sign a certificate to say that his money is clean and then sends the money to nominated bank account. From there the monies pass into the hands of the investment manager or his nominee. Shortly after that, the excuses start.

Usually some other contributor has not paid on time his due contribution to the $100,000 block and therefore it has not been possible to “roll” the money at the first stage. After that, there is an incessant string of excuses ranging from “my wife is having a baby” to “the banks are on holiday” or “difference in time zones make it difficult to communicate with banks” to just straightforward silence. Sometimes the fraudsters are able to keep the investors at bay for years with excuses.

One has to ask why this fraud persists. The answer quite often is that individuals who make such investments have quite often parted with all of their spare cash and are no longer in a position to finance assistance from lawyers and accountants to recover the monies. Quite often the monies are so well hidden that it is difficult to recover them, even when still available. There is also the embarrassment factor of an otherwise sensible businessman or investor not wanting to admit that he has been the victim of financial fraud.

John Neocleous
NCI Law Group
info@ncilawgroup.com
T: +357-22-680670

http://www.ncilawgroup.com

John A. Neocleous is the founder and Managing Partner of NCI Law Group , Neocleous & Neocleous law firm and NCI Finance Group. John has over 14 years of professional experience in the areas of international tax, corporate and criminal law, both as an academic and also as a practitioner in over 50 countries worldwide.

Tags: Common, Fraudulent, Transactions, Types