Small Business Grants - Free or Low Cost Consulting for Your Small Business
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Even those business owners who have no local SCORE volunteers close by or those that simply work inconvenient hours do not have to worry; SCORE has been offering an online counseling service since 1997. With over 1.6 million hits and well over 3,000 counseling cases within the first three months of the program being online, it is safe to consider it a success. When the online service began it had just over 140 counselors available online, today there are almost 1,500 available counselors.

The best thing is that all existing and potential small business owners are eligible for this service. The only requirements are that your business must be owned independently, cannot be dominant in its particular field, and has to conform to SBA size standards.

One of the most amazing aspects about this is the fact that it remains so affordable. In these tough economic times, every bit of advice will help. To learn from an expert who can counsel you for no fee is an opportunity that a perceptive business owner simply cannot pass up. Those volunteers are reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses and do not accept compensation for counseling, this means that you never have to worry about hidden costs.

If you are a small business owner or would like information on what it might take to start a small business, you can always contact your local chapter, ask for more information about the program, and even set up an appointment. You can find out more by going to www.score.org.





Small Business Grants - Free or Low Cost Consulting for Your Small Business
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About The Author You can find more information on business grants for women and programs offered by both the federal and state governments at Top Government Grants. We also provide additional resources on wide variety of grants for small business and entrepreneurial topics on our home-based business site. Michael Saunders has an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Additional Resources

category - Small Business Grants

Historically Underutilized Business Zones - HUBZone Empowerment Contracting Program
The Small Business Administration has established the Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZone) Empowerment Contracting Program wherein they aim to provide federal contracting assistance to eligible small business corporations which are located in underutilized business zones so as to improve their employment opportunities, investments, and their area's economic development.

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Small Business Administration's Recovery Capital Loans
The Recovery Capital Loans Program provides financial assistance to small business with less than 500 employees to obtain a deferred payment loan from the agency, in order to meet existing debt payments, thereby giving the business the opportunity to refocus their business strategy.

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Department of Agriculture: Value Added Producer Grants
The Value-Added Producer Grants program is geared towards helping the Independent Producers of Agricultural Commodities, Agriculture Producer Groups, Farmer and Rancher Cooperatives, and Majority-Controlled Producer-Based Business Ventures in developing techniques that would create marketing opportunities and establish business plans involving viable marketing opportunities that involve the production of bio-based products from agricultural commodities.

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Small Business Administration Background
The Small Business Administration was established in 1953. Since that time the agency has dispensed millions of dollars in loans and loan guarantees, contracts, consulting assistance and other programs for small business across the United States.

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