Now that we have a new Cyberschmooz (and while the archives are under reconstruction), we'd like you to re-introduce yourselves to the CS community.

What's your name, and the name of your business?
What kind of business are you in?
What sorts of advice do you have for others in your field about financing issues?
What questions do you have of others that would help you with your financing needs?

Hi,
Francie Ward here, I'm CEO of Idea Cafe. What I do is help small business owners with the information, tools, resources and contacts they need to start and run successful and satisfying small companies on their own terms.

In case you haven't already explored Idea Cafe, I invite you to make your way through the whole site. (It has been recommended that you first get a comfortable pillow for your chair and a huge pot of coffee, or beverage of your choice -- preferably caffeinated! Plus, have your favorite snacks on hand -- you'll need the extra energy boost, because we've got lots to feed your mind, so your body will need to keep up!)

You can start at Idea Cafe's home page:
http://www.ideacafe.com
and explore deeper into topics you hunger for.

Since you've come here to our CyberSchmooz(sm) Financing Your Business forum, you may be interested in MONEY. Idea Cafe's got lots of info, tips, tools and pointers relating to money. Don't miss Idea Cafe's award-winning Financing Your Business section -- you can link there from the left bar on our home page. While you're there, you can instantly run financial "what-if" scenarios using Idea Cafe's Instant All-in-One Budget Calculator.

And if you want money you don't have to pay back, check out Idea Cafe's Small Business Grant Center. There we spill the beans on grants we've heard of that may provide real money to small business owners and future entrepreneurs. See if there's a grant currently available that fits your own situation. And be sure to check out our own Idea Cafe Small Business Grants. We offer several different grants throughout the year, and we usually have at least one grant open at any given time. You don't have to pay to apply, or get someone to write a grant app for you, or even write a complete business plan... so don't miss this opportunity if you could use an infusion of cash to get through a tough challenge or take your business to the next level.

Cheers,

Francie

Francie Ward
CEO Chief Entrepreneurial Officer
Idea CafeŽ Inc.
"The Fun Place for Serious Business"(sm)
http://www.ideacafe.com:-)

Well, My name is Ron...Wife is Wendy. We run R and W Tees from our home in Harleyville, SC. I work full time also as a propane truck driver, so needless to say for now the t-shirts (and soon security) business is part time.

For financing, we pretty much went to a high interest loan company (thanks to miserable credit from when we were younger and dumber) Got a couple thousand and went nuts. I guess it probably hasn't paid for itself yet, but the t-shirt business has always been a dream of my wife's and I'm gonna help her make it happen. Besides, I don't want to work for someone else for ever. I'm hoping to soon expand to hats, and maybe embroidery.

Ron

HI My name is Tracie and I own a womens apparel shop. I wanted to know if anyone heard of National Grants?? I need some working capital to move foward- and I wanted to know everyones thoughts on this company?