by Miriam Buhr

Are you interested in finding money to fund your business? I came across The Amber Foundation Grants that WomensNet.Net started in 1998.

WomensNet.Net is a community of entrepreneurial women who seek to help other women who are attempting to start their small, home, or online business. This group of women felt it honorable to set up a grant to remember a 19-year-old young woman who died in 1981.

According to their site, “the purpose of the Amber Grants is to help other women achieve the dreams that Amber could not in her short time with us.”

The small $500 grants are awarded quarterly and require a $5 application processing fee along with the completion of an online application. The monies given are encouraged to be used for the upgrade of equipment, pay for a web site, etc. They consider that often these “small but essential expenses can make the difference between getting started or being forever stalled.

No repayment is required or expected, although it is hoped that you will pass on the kindness by mentoring & helping others along the way.

Although the grant program is run as a foundation to the extent that [they] accept applications and award grants, all grants come from private not government or solicited donations or funds.”

Take a look at this funding source and this resource and community of women. According to the WomenNet.net site, they boast that award-winning and nationally-renowned business author Marcia Layton-Turner has joined this group of entrepreneurs. So there is lots to explore on this site.

by Miriam Buhr

If you are an entrepreneur, you know that you can never have enough resources. The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) happens to be another resource that offers a myriad of benefits for women entrepreneurs. It is an application based and paid membership organization where certification may be granted if your organization meets their requirement.

This organization offers Women Business Enterprises (WBE), who have obtained their certification, a series of national training sessions, which include graduate level Executive Education programs, and resources to assist entrepreneurs better operate their businesses, to engage at a corporate level and better understand how to position their enterprise to compete in diverse settings.

According to their website, “The WBENC, founded in 1997, is the largest third-party certifier of businesses owned controlled, and operated by women in the United States. The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, a national 501(c)(3) non-profit, partners with 14 Regional Partner Organizations to provide its national standard of certification to women-owned businesses throughout the country. WBENC is also the nation’s leading advocate of women-owned businesses as suppliers to America’s corporations.”

The mission over at WBENC is dedicated to advancing the success of Corporate Members, certified women’s business enterprises, and government entities in partnership with its Regional Partner Organizations (RPOs). It also offers a range of training and tools to advance business and provide professional development.”

As always comment and share this information with other entrepreneurs, both women and men.

by Miriam Buhr

The Power of a Network of Women is evident in the Hispanic Business Women’s Alliance which was founded wiith the expressed purpose to HELP each other Be, Do, & Have more.

The alliance was borne out of a need observed in the industry. Observations pointed to the fact that few women had all the resources to make things happen in their businesses whether it was starting, maintaining or plain expanding a business.

By connecting with other women it was believed that the disparity could be reduced and success would likely be experienced by more women entrepreneurs.

“The Hispanic Business Women’s Alliance is an online community of Hispanic women entrepreneurs, professionals, consultants, executives, inventors, and investors located throughout North America, Latin America, and Spain [that] is interested in doing business and collaborating with each other.”

Their Mission is:

“To help Hispanic women entrepreneurs, professionals, consultants, executives, inventors, and investors–throughout North America, Latin America, the Caribbean and Spain–utilize our international portal to do business directly, communicate effectively, and collaborate with each other for their mutual benefit.”

In addition to their network the HBWA also has a US Directory of Latina Owned Businesses where you can register your business or organization, search other Latina owned business by city or state, or subscribe to their no cost Newsletter for Latina Business Owners.

Check out this community and see whether it is a resource that can help you soar in your business.

Be sure to comment, rate and especially share with all entrepreneurs.

by: Miriam Buhr

As business owners, the idea of knowing your target market is quite important for the ultimate survival of a business. If you know who they are then it is easier to meet their needs by way of your service or product. Using research is a great way to identify issues, characteristics, behavior, beliefs, and of course lots more about the people that you serve as customers or clients. If the main population that you serve is women then The Center for Women’s Business Research has research publications that you can acquire and use as a resource.

“For nearly 20 years, the Center for Women’s Business Research has produced cutting edge, research-based intelligence showcasing the achievements and documenting the challenges, characteristics, and trends of women business owners and their firms on topics such as: Access to Capital, Access to Markets, Financing and Risk-taking, Nontraditional Industries, Growth of Firms Owned by Women of Color, Leadership and Decision-Making Styles, and Trends in Women’s Entrepreneurship.”

For example below are current statistics from the Center for Women’s Business Research’s website about women business owners:
• 10.1 million firms are owned by women (50% or more), employing more than 13 million people, and generating $1.9 trillion in sales as of 2008.
• One in five firms with revenue of $1 million or more is woman-owned.
• 3% of all women-owned firms have revenues of $1 million or more compared with 6% of men-owned firms.

“The Center for Women’s Business Research is a 510(c)(3) nonprofit, tax-exempt organization established in 1989 to validate and accelerate the economic power of women’s entrepreneurship by conducting groundbreaking research, sharing myth-busting information, and creating new knowledge.”

When attempting to identify your target market, it helps to have resources that can reveal aspects of this population of people that will help you serve them in the best possible way. The available resources from this organization are by no means inexpensive. I would venture to say that you may be able to find this type of information in other places if you have the time and desire to search the internet for it.  One thing is certain and that is that the Center for Women’s Business Research has survived for about 20 years offering quality service and products by way of their rigorous research. They have definitely exposed the state of affairs of women-owned business all the while bringing focus and integrity to this sector of the population.

by Miriam Buhr

According to Ladies Who Launch, women are launching businesses at twice the rate of men, and the primary lifestyle reasons given are more freedom, flexibility, and creativity.

Does that sound like you?

This media company shares success stories of women entrepreneurs as part of their weekly newsletter.

They also provide online resources and tools.

The Ladies Who Launch mission is to make entrepreneurship accessible to any woman with a project, dream or aspiration to start her own business and be successful.

A great benefit of this online community is that it also makes available to women entrepreneurs many in-person local communities around the world with live workshops.

Go check out their resources and if you like become a member...
for now it’s free.

by Miriam Buhr

 There are a myriad of programs for the expressed purpose to help women entrepreneurs to start, grow, and expand their businesses. I am cognizant that a good portion of business owners personally finance their businesses. Yet there is another part of this sector that seeks financial support.

It is well established that business financing come in many forms. The information that follows targets US based government programs, which categorize government financing into two areas: grants and loans.

The current federal and state government agencies do not offer grants to women to help them start a business. Non-profits and private organizations normally endow business owners with grants.   Yet based on experience these grants are very rare and the focus has typically been on helping minority women and women in economically disadvantaged communities.

Although limited in numbers, loans are available specifically to help women start and expand their businesses.

The list below is certainly not exhaustive but it does provide programs specifically for women entrepreneurs:

• ACCION USA Small Business Loans 
• California: Women’s Economic Ventures Small Business Loan Fund
• Delaware: Delaware Access Program
• Illinois: Minority, Women, and Disabled Participation Loan Program
• Iowa: Target Small Business Assistance Program 
• Massachusetts BDC Capital Community Loans
• Mississippi: Capital Access Loan Program
• New Jersey: Urban Plus
• New Mexico: The Loan Fund
• New York: Micro Loans for Minority and Women Owned Businesses
• Wisconsin: Linked Deposit Loan Subsidy
• Wisconsin: Women’s Business Initiative Corporation Small Business Loans

Keep in mind that the above mentioned resources not only provide information about how and where to locate government funds, but some of the web sites listed also provide other business related information for different types of entrepreneurs: home based businesses, self-employed, non-profit organizations, disabled people, and minority owned and veteran owned businesses.

Ladies, it is wise to research so that you can make a sound business financial decision as well as determine what is available for your own personal use or referral purposes. If you live outside of the US, I encourage you to make note of these financial resources.  You have a good probability that you can locate similar and available programs in your particular country.

by Miriam Buhr

Currently most entrepreneurs are, by a wide margin, women.

U.S. statistics show that women outnumber men by 2 to 1 when it comes down to starting a new business.

As a result, I wanted to share and direct you to a myriad of resources that are at the disposal of our lady entrepreneurs.

Association of Women’s Business Centers http://awbc.biz/

Black Women Enterprises http://blackwomenenterprises.org

eWomen Network.com http://ewomennetwork.com

MANA, A National Latina Organization http://www.hermana.org

National Association for Female Executives http://www.nafe.com/

National Association of Women’s Business Owners http://www.nawbo.org/

National Foundation of Women Business Owners http://www.nfwbo.org/

National Women Business Owners Corporation http://www.nwbox.org

Office of Women Business Ownership at SBA http://www.sba.gov/aboutsba/sbaprograms/onlinewbc/index.html

Hope that helps and ladies…let’s all be in touch and assist one another.

Leave a comment below with your website if you’s like to share it.