One of the first places that most potential women business owners look for grant funding is the internet. A quick use of any of the major search engines will spill over about 10,000 websites that offer to search and find grants specifically for women available, for a nominal fee of course. However, as a potential business owner, the idea of spending scarce resources unnecessarily doesn’t sit well.

So the question becomes, is there a way to find out what grants are available, without spending your hard earned money? Of course there is, but you will have to spend a bit of time and effort tracking down the information. The following few paragraphs will detail some of the commonly overlooked resources for finding the financial assistance you need.

The Public Library

Surprised? Your local public library is a great source of information concerning women business grants and other financing opportunities. In fact, many libraries have complete sections dedicated to small business grants, for both women and minorities. Simply stop by the reference desk at your local library and ask to see their business resources section.

The Local Chamber of Commerce

Another great resource for finding funding for your new business venture is the local chamber of commerce. In most cases, your local town or city wants to encourage the development of local industries, including women entrepreneurs. Because of this desire, many cities offer specific women business grants designed specifically for start up costs, costs of property maintenance, and even the cost of everyday business expenses. While there might be a nominal application fee, the information is free. All you’ve got to do is ask.

Specific Business Organizations

Perhaps your potential business is one that has been well established in the national community. If that is the case, there is a good chance that funding is available from various professional or business organizations specific to your line of work. Check with the financial officer of the professional organization. They should be able to direct you to a few women business grants that could get the ball rolling.

These are just a few of the various resources that are available to any man or woman wanted to make the leap and start their own business. By doing a little legwork, and taking a little more time in the research process, you’ll be able to find the women business grants you need to start your dream business.

Gary Pearson is an accomplished niche website developer and author.

To learn more about business grants visit Your Home Business Site for current articles and discussions.

Lets take a step back in time:

At the beginning when the coffee giant first started out in Seattle in 1971, Starbucks coffee was just three friends with a passion for fresh gourmet coffee, Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl and Gordon Bowker, they opened a small shop and began selling fresh-roasted, gourmet coffee beans and brewing and roasting accessories.

In 1980 Zev Siegl wanted out to explore his opportunities elsewhere. By that time Starbucks coffee was the biggest roaster in Washington with six different stores. In 1981 the little coffee giant managed to get the attention of Howard Schultz, a plastics salesman that noticed the huge supply of plastic drip coffee thermoses they were buying from Hammarplast.

Starbucks Coffee 1982, history was marked forever when Baldwin hired the highly energetic Schultz as the new marketing developer. It was not long after that he was sent on a business trip to an international housewares show in Milan, Italy 1983. Schultz was amazed and amused with the vibrant coffee culture of Italy. In another town nearby Verona, Schultz had his first caffe’ latte’ and, as he noticed people at the cafe talking and laughing exiguously while sipping on their coffees in the luxurious surroundings, ideas starting flowing.

In what he describes as an epiphany, the idea hit him, “I could start a community gathering place like the great coffee house of Italy in the United States?” he thought to himself. This idea would place Starbucks coffee history into the annuls of business journals for many years to come.

Latter on, while back in the united states, Schultz’s idea did not go over well with Baldwin and didn’t think it would be a good idea to wager over into the restaurant business aswell distracting him from his original goal of selling whole coffee beans. However, he did let him try out a small espresso bar in the corner of one of the coffee stores. It was an immediate success and Schultz branched out on his own and opened Il Giornale, a coffee house named after Italy’s largest newspaper, ‘The Daily’.

1987 Starbucks coffee was up for sale and Schultz managed to raise $3.8 million by convincing investors of his vision, one hundred and twenty-five outlets in the next five years. Schultz modified the Starbucks bare-breasted mermaid logo into a more socially acceptable figure, changed the name of Il Giornale to Starbucks and converted the six existing Starbucks coffee roasting shops into a more elegant, suitable coffee houses. Starbucks coffee history was just starting to take form.

Shultz reached his goal and more by 125 stores in 5 years, 1992 there were 165 cafes up and running. Today there are more then 8,000 stores in 30 different countries and annual revenues over $7.5 billion.

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For more great coffee tips and clips, coffee talk and chat visit Starbucks Coffee . Don’t forget to see our coffee articles found from around the world from other coffee lovers like you Starbucks Coffee .

* Poor market research, weak business plan

* An unfocused, “shotgun,” approach to which venture capital sources to approach

* Does not have enough seed capital dedicated to the capital raising effort

* Does not allow ample time for raising the capital

* Seeks too much capital, or sets too large a minimum initial investment for the project or company.

* Does not have enough of their own capital committed to the project.

* Does not have a clear picture on the use of proceeds.

* Does not have a rate of return projected on the investment

* Does not guarantee an exit strategy for the investor

* Does not have a solid management team put together

Even when early funding is secured, the entrepreneur can make strategic errors that make follow-on investment less likely

* Does not raise sufficient capital early enough in the game.

* Engages in spending capital before adequate capital is secured.

Denied traditional routes to venture funding, many entrepreneurs will turn to techniques that are often called “guerilla” financing:

Business Opportunity ads. Place advertising in a local newspaper or a national publication featuring such ads. State the amount of money requested, the type of business involved, and the kind of return being projected.

Investment “party.” Give a party to explain to friends your business plan, the profit potential, and how much you need. Give them each a copy of your prospectus and ask that they pledge a thousand dollars as a non-participating partner in your business. Check with the current tax regulations.

Occupational investment groups. The next time you talk with your doctor or dentist, give them a prospectus and explain your plan. They may invest or perhaps make an appointment for you to talk with the manager of their investment group.

Non-Profit assistance groups. Many areas have Small Business Investment Companies, and Business Development Commissions whose goal is to assist in the establishment and growth of new businesses. Many offer money or facilities to help a new business get started.

Money brokers. These circulate your prospectus to various known lenders or investors. They generally require an up-front or retainer fee, then take a percentage of the gross amount that’s finally procured for your needs. There are no guarantees of success.

Strategic partners. Consider the feasibility of merging with a company that’s already organized, and with facilities that are compatible or related to your needs.

The person with determination to succeed, will make use of every possible approach.

John B. Vinturella, Ph.D. has almost 40 years experience as a management and strategic consultant, entrepreneur, author, and college professor. For 20 of those years, Dr. Vinturella was owner/president of a distribution company that he founded. He is a principal in business opportunity sites jbv.com and muddledconcept.com, and maintains business and political blogs.

Let us check on some of the growing list of Women’s business Grants. The lists go on and on so we will be able to just touch briefly on some of the offerings. They offer varied options of grants and other help to create, maintain, and run the best business that you can. Help is there so check out some of these offerings and you will be surprised what is available.

Grant applications and be hard to understand, so you need to use some of the groups below to give you suggestions and help with all of the forms. A correct form and meeting qualifications will get you that grant you so much need.

• Small Business Administration – The SBA comes up every day with more options for women who have enough obstacles in starting and running a business.
• Count-Me-In – This is a new fundraising group that has woman collect money to give to other women. Experience is looked at instead of credit report to give grants. The CEO of this organization is the one that started bring your daughter to work day.
• Federal Money Retriever – This program offers software that contains a large database of Federal Government grant programs available to women.
• The Women’s Funding Network – They have a program that promotes the development and growth of women.
• NBC Supplier diversity program Website – This is not so much as funding organization but a specialty organization to help both women and minority owned businesses.
• American Association of University Women – this foundation was founded and is one of the largest private sources of funding for graduate women in the world. They also support scholars around the globe, teachers, and activists in local communities. Also funding exists for women at critical stages of their careers.
• Te ADA project for Women (TAP) -Includes information on conferences, discussion groups, grants, fellowships for women.
• Grants for Women that look at state by state options.
• The Asia Foundation – Government and Law
• The Astraea National Lesbian Action foundation – Source of financial support for business that are lesbian run or lesbian focused.
• Avon Productions Foundation – Supports organizations for women and girls
• Business and professional Women Foundation – Supports women with help for extra schooling.
• The Liz Claiborne Foundation -Grants for nonprofit groups run by women or for women.

Matthew Finn is an accomplished niche website developer and author.

To learn more about womens business grants, please visit Booming Home Business for current articles and discussions

Coffee specialty shops are often a franchise business owned by major corporations. However, many of these fine specialty coffee shops are privately owned and ran by smaller groups of people. The benefits of both the corporation and the small business are completely different. I know I enjoy the small business coffee specialty shop mush more than the larger franchise. Customer service, quality, and down-home comfort all while enjoying that awesome cup of gourmet Java. Larger franchises have the advantage of having conformity of coffee tastes from one location to the other, even from one country to the other. Whatever your choice, coffee specialty shops offer all coffee drinkers a truly different coffee experience.

As with all specialty coffee, specially grown gourmet coffee beans are used to create a uniquely flavored coffee bean. Only the finest of gourmet coffee beans are used in the process of creating the most exceptional specialty coffees. The components of the soil creates the coffee bean used by specialty coffee shops around the world. Of course, coffee shops also sell the roasted coffee bean by the pound to loyal customers. Exposing the gourmet coffee beans to the public allow coffee drinkers to build loyalty and ultimately to buy only that specific gourmet coffee bean.

Many specialty coffees are infused with additional flavors to better please the coffee drinker. These additional coffee flavorings add a whole new element to gourmet coffee beans. Not only do these flavorings add a new taste, but these flavored coffee beans also add a whole new robust aroma. The two qualities together make an idealistic opportunity for coffee retailers to present their loyal customers with new and often improved qualities of coffee beans. Coffee retailers are always ready to find new ways to provide high quality to loyal customers as well as new coffee drinkers.

Gourmet specialty coffee shops reach out to their customers. Offering gourmet specialty coffees that carry the coffee shop’s company label gets potential coffee drinkers to trust that coffee shop. Building trust is important in the coffee industry. When dealing with customers willing to spend $18 billion annually on coffee and coffee products, the coffee retailers are more than willing to customize coffee and coffee products for their customers.

Tana has been an avid coffee and tea drinker her whole life. She has tried more than 100 different varieties of coffee and tea. At her site, Tana reveals to you her delicious secret blends of coffee and tea that she has experienced through her years. To learn more about premium gourmet coffee visit http://www.thelittleteahouse.com

Recently I was told of a woman who had started her twenty-first business. In each case the business was related to cooking. The good news was this woman was a capable businesswoman and an excellent cook.

The problem for this woman was that she got tired of running a business very easily. She would get a business established and grow weary of the day-to-day grind and would set a date to close the doors. Her husband was a carpenter and had systematically refurbished twenty separate properties for his wife’s business ventures.

This woman recently started a coffee shop with a variety of baked goods for sale. The business hadn’t been open 3 months when a separate coffee shop opened in the same retail complex. When she discovered the new business she threw her hands up in despair and asked the owner of the second shop if she could come to work for her.

You see, there is an invisible wall that is sometimes difficult to overcome. That wall is moving beyond the difficult work of day-to-day business where you are needed in the monitoring of all aspects of the business. Some, like the lady in our story, simply get tired and go home to regroup their strength for a later attempt. Others will find ways to derive income that does not rely on their own efforts. These are the entrepreneurs that more easily move forward.

Passive Income

If you are a store that specializes in a product you have created, the sale of items that are available from other suppliers can provide income that is your simply because you supplied shelf space.

The sale of insurance provides a means of deriving an income based on commissions that require little attention from you.

The use of affiliate programs can allow others to sell your products and provide you with an income on something you were not actively involved in selling.

The development of passive income is important to entrepreneurs because if you attempt to develop revenue exclusively on your own then your revenue stream goes dry the minute you need time off.

Someone once said, “Work smarter, not harder.” That’s especially true as you continue to develop your business. Seek ways to allow others to help you sell and market your goods and services. This likely means there will be salespeople working at selling your business even when you’ve left the building for a much needed day off.

Scott Lindsay is a web developer and entrepreneur. He is the founder of HighPowerSites and many other web projects.

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