Most business entrepreneurs look to family and friends and venture capitalists when it comes to getting seed funding for their new venture. Most people neglect Government programs that are great source of seed funding.
The Small Business Administration is a federal government agency that guarantees bank loans to small business. The SBA has many different programs, including a micro-loan program, as well as some special programs for women and minorities. It is a great source of seed funding for small businesses.
While many financial analysts say that SBA loans are a source of seed funding that are greatly neglected by business owners, there are some analysts and business owners who feel that obtaining seed funding from SBA involved too much paper work. However, most business owners will agree that SBA funds are great source of seed funding for small business ventures.
The SBA was established in 1953, but its philosophy and mission began to take shape during the pressures of the Great Depression and World War II. It facilitates an environment necessary for small business ventures to succeed.
Nearly 20 million small businesses have received some source of seed funding from the SBA since the organizations inception in 1953. Over the last decade, the role of the SBA in promoting small businesses has grown several folds. In the past decade, the SBA has provided seed funding of almost 94.6 billion to more than 435,000 small businesses.
Last year, the SBA provided seed funding of more than $12.3 billion in loans to small businesses.? More than $40 billion in federal contracts were secured by small businesses with SBA's help.
SBA's programs now include financial and federal contract procurement assistance, management assistance, and specialized outreach to women, minorities and armed forces veterans.? The SBA is a great source of seed funding for small business.
SBA's promotion of small businesses through its seed funding programs is based on the belief that small businesses are where the innovations take place.
