I am wanting to know how to get funding to start my own business.?

A friend of mine and I are trying to start an e-business designing and selling greeting cards. How do you start and what is needed as well as how do you pay for it.

Check with Small Business Administration. They will help you set up a business plan, how to apply and get turned down for a loan. You may even qualify for a grant.

Debbie, check out your local library for information. The libriarian's are there to help you. Ask questions. There are mentoring programs, offered by seasoned business owners that can offer you assistance. The government offers grants for women business owners. That wacky guy in the ??? suit has a book that gives you tons of info. I found a copy at my library...I think his name is Matthew Lesko...

there is a few way to get found for you own bussiness:
1-get a loan from your bank
2-get a loan from a money-lender
3-get a loan from the governmet
4-get advices from you local state governmet or chamber of commerce.

I'd go to a local library and they have several books about government grants and loans to start small businesses. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THOSE BOOKS THEY ADVERTISE. You can find those same books at a library and use them for free.

I would check with grants.gov to see if you and your partner qualify for a government grant to help you get started with your business. Government grants equate to free funding and don't need to be paid back. You may also want to check with your local banks or lendingtree.com to see the rates for applying for a small business loan.

Come up with a business plan that includes a website showcasing your products and pricing. Are you going to allow people to customize their orders and create unique cards where they pick a la carte from different designs, papers, fonts, ink colors, etc? Can they customize with photos? Will this strictly be a site where they pick from your pre-designed cards? Can they order in large quantities? Will you sell kits for the do-it-yourselfer?

You need to decide how you will accept payments . . . paypal allows small business owners the ability to accept credit card payments for a minimal fee that protects both the business's financial information as well as the customer's financial info.

I would start with the Small Businees Administration. They have resources to guide you along the path to owning your own business. Additionally, they offfer programs for women and minority businesses, along with traditional lending.

One of the more common ways is 'Angel Investors'. Angels are people who offer small amounts of money to get a business off the ground. In return they get a small percentage of the company. Often Angels can be friends, family or other close connections. The idea is find an Angel who can help, is highly interested and believes in what you are doing, challenges you on the viability of your business (to make sure you thought everything through) and often has connections or knowledge to beyond just money.

Without the outside investor, then your looking at bootstrapping it. Refinancing a mortgage is a common way to come up with a small amount of seed money at a decent interest rate.