Where can I get loans for my small business?Funding for small businesses is often done through loans and equity. Equity is that part of the capital or money required for the business that you put up from your own pockets and the rest you take from outsiders in the form of loans. There are various sources like banks, venture capitalists, insurance companies, private individuals and organizations like US Small Business Administration that provides you loans for your small business.What are the banks going to ask me?Getting loans is not always easy and there are a host of questions to which you must provide answers before being considered by a bank or any other financial institution for a loan.10 questions that the banks will ask before lending you money:1.Can the business that you are considering to enter into generate enough money to pay off the interest on the loan?2.If the business fails then do you have the capacity to pay off the interest yourself?3.What is the history of the business? The lending institutions will be interested in how the business has evolved over the years and how well it has been performing in the past. The past is considered to be a good indicator of the future and chances are that if your business has done well in the past you will find it easier to obtain the loan.4.What is the background and history of the managers and how committed are they to the business? The one criteria that makes or breaks a business is whether the management is committed and capable enough to steer the business in the right direction.5.Are the sales growing? It is important for any business to grow its sales and especially a small business where the base is smaller and the lenders are certainly going to pay attention to the growth rate of the past few years and the future outlook.6.How profitable is the business? While you may think that the lenders are only interested in getting their repayments their success is dependent upon your success and to that extent the profitability of your business is crucial.7.What is the competition like? Lenders would not like to loan out to a small business which has bigger and more intense competitors with deeper pockets.8.Is the industry itself growing? If you are operating in a profitable and growing industry then the chances of your getting a loan also increase that much.9.Is the cash flow smooth? Cash flow is to business what blood is to the body and you should have a smooth cash flow to pay all your bills on time, pay your employees and keep the ball rolling.10.The banks will also look at your past credit history and how you have performed with the loans that you may have taken in the past.What are the things for which I will get the loan?There are many aspects to a business even a small one and you get different types of loans tailored to suit each kind of need. For instance you get loans for working capital, buying capital equipment, expansion programs, installing new machinery and computerization etc. You get loans for almost any type of needs that arise provided you have a good case for it.What is the amount and rate of interest of the loan?Different institutions have different ways of evaluating the amount that they will pay you. Indeed in cases of venture capitalists entire 100% is also funded for your small business. If possible it is always better to have as much equity as possible in your business for two reasons. One is when the prospective lenders themselves see that you are putting your money in the business their confidence in you increases and secondly your interest outgo also reduces making your profitability that much more as your interest expense is lowered. The interest rate hovers but if you take the loan from the US Small Business Administration it will range somewhere between 8 and 13%.There are various means and ways of getting loans for your small business and you must persevere at getting the right loans that suits your needs and gives you the best interest rates and repayment terms.

We all know that Google is a powerful marketing tool and a phenomenal search engine. Any marketer worth his salt will tell you that the goal for their online marketing division is to dominate Google. What does that really mean, though? Are we just trying to show up when someone types in a relative keyword phrase for our business? We all know that search engine optimization is hot, and that Google is the place where everyone wants to be. Unfortunately, though, a lot of marketers don’t realize that there are many other programs that Google has, which have very different functions, to assist them with their online marketing efforts. Here is a list of all of the available Google tools, at the current moment in time, which you can use to jumpstart your online marketing campaigns.Google AdWords – Anyone who knows anything about phrases like CPC (Cost Per Click), PPC (Pay Per Click), CPM (Cost Per Impression), Banner Ads, etc. should know a little bit about AdWords. There are two main networks within the AdWords program: Content/Display and Search. The Content/Display network allows you to post banner ads/graphics on partnering websites that are relative to your content. The Search network allows you to write/display a variety of ads and link them to relevant keywords. When someone types in these keywords, your ads display. It is an extremely powerful program that definitely has a bit of a learning curve, however, once you’ve mastered it, you can do amazing things!Google Docs – Think of Google Docs as an internet-based Microsoft Office. You have all the same types of documents (i.e. Word Document, Spreadsheet Documents, etc.), but the beauty is that these documents can be shared with other people. It doesn’t stop there… these documents are live creatures! You can literally watch live edits being made to the documents in real-time. This is extremely powerful for coordinating schedules or brainstorm sessions.Google’s Keyword Tool – There are two versions of this tool. One if for users with an AdWords account and one is a free version. Both versions are equally powerful, and allow you to search for keywords that are typed in by other users to get to sites like yours. You can easily compile a list of relevant keywords, their search volumes, how much advertisers are paying per click, and much more data. This can help with both your paid (i.e. PPC) or your free (i.e. SEO) efforts.Google Alerts – This is another great tool to stay up-to-date with news in relation to keyword phrases. Many people set up alerts for their own company name, their competitors’ names, and their industry terms to see when people are using these keywords in their content.Google News – A great place to stay up to date with industry-related news. You can see what topics are being thrown around and it’s a powerful tool to help you generate content for your own marketing efforts.Google Reader – Google reader is an amazing time-saving tool. You can use it to filter through all the content you don’t want to read about, and show only content that you’ve asked to be shown. Subscribe to blogs, websites, etc. and type in the keywords or phrases you’d like to stay up-to-date with. Whenever these sites release information regarding that keyword or phrase, you’ll have that content presented to you in an orderly fashion.Google Places – An extremely powerful marketing tool that enables people searching Google, to see all types of content related to your business. It will automatically show your location within Google Maps, and it appears towards the top of the page with search results automatically. Google Places uses location information from your computer to display local business results. Browsers can see your hours of operations, photos, your website, reviews, the types of credit cards you take, and much more! Many people use Google Places to appear at the top of the page for search results, especially small, local businesses. If you haven’t claimed your Google Places page yet, you should do so immediately.