Winston-Salem Business Magazine - October 2007 - (Page 44) Ready, Set GROW your business What do Nike, Outback Steakhouse, FEDEX and Staples have in common? They were once small businesses that received help from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Are you in business? Looking CaSandra Smith to start one? This is the first in a series of articles where, you’ll learn how the Small Business Administration can help you get your business off the ground. Any entrepreneur will tell you it’s not easy; there are long hours and loads of responsibility. Even so, there are over 22 million small businesses in the U.S. and 44,000 businesses in the Charlotte area. If you’re willing to put in the effort, business ownership can be both financially and personally rewarding. Information is an important tool to a business owner. I am a firm believer in using the right tools to accomplish a task; however, let me come clean. I once used the back of my shoe to put a nail in the wall. I could have gone to a neighbor’s and borrowed a hammer… well you know the rest. Working with minorities and women-owned businesses every day, I’ve heard stories like this all the time. Instead of a hammer (SBA loan), they are using a shoe (credit card) to keep their business going. SBA’s assistance is by no means limited to finance. We have a network of free business consultants that can help you with those tough decisions and work on that business plan. Did you know the Federal government is the largest buyer of goods and services? I’ll share with you the Government contracting tools that helped small businesses to get their fair share of $69 billion in SBA’s Federal Government Contracts. In future articles, you’ll learn more about these programs and how to access them. You’ll hear about people who have taken advantage of SBA’s programs, like Dr. Paula Newsome, the owner of Advantage Vision Center in Charlotte. Dr. Newsome is the first African-American woman optometrist to open a practice in North Carolina and the first one to become a fellow in the American Academy of Optometry. “I’ve been self-employed for several years in this market. I found it difficult to get financing. Thanks to SBA, I got two loans,” she said. She worked with The Business Expansion Funding Corporation to finance a two-story office through SBA’s 504 loan program. This program helps finance hard assets like land, buildings and equipment. SBA’s North Carolina District Office in Charlotte is right at your fingertips; only a call or a click away. Take your first step on the road to success. Contact the SBA at (800) 827-5722 and request a free Resource Guide. This guide covers all of our programs and services as well as valuable information on starting and expanding your Continued on page 47 44 OCTOBER 2007 http://www.enaja.com http://www.enaja.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.