Where can i get a small business start up loan if unemployed and in some debt?

ch1984

Hi

I want to set up a small online business and i was at the enterprise board and its all very positive but because its a form of retail they cant fund it. So, i'm wondering if anyone could tell me or advise me of where or how i could get a small business loan of 3k or less?

Thanks

Chantelle

ronano

maybe this crowd might help

http://www.first-step.ie

If you are unemployed you may be able to avail of the back to work enterprise scheme

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/social_welfare_payments_and_work/back_to_work_enterprise_allowance.html

and there is this site i found useless

http://www.funding4dublincity.ie/

All of this may be of no use to you but hopefully some of it is decent

good luck

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan

Unfortunately your stuck with looking toward family, friends and credit cards. Getting micro loans at the moment is very hard.

rainbowdash

What are peoples experiences of first-step?

Importantly what rates of interest do they charge?

Edit: And what kind of loan term do they apply?

drunkmonkey

They charge around 9%, i'd be inclined to say for such a small amount use a credit card then when the 3k is used up switch it to a an interest free credit card.

I don't see 3k going to far online unless your experienced in online and can do a lot of the work yourself.

R P McMurphy

Possibly look at the enterprise board

ch1984

drunkmonkey wrote: »

They charge around 9%, i'd be inclined to say for such a small amount use a credit card then when the 3k is used up switch it to a an interest free credit card.

I don't see 3k going to far online unless your experienced in online and can do a lot of the work yourself.

Hi

I don't have a credit card but i have a new visa debit but lacking the cash of course.. the 3k is plenty for what i'd be doing, it would get me the equipment and supplies, i'd have an online shop within a website like ebay but its only for handmade goods.

ch1984

R P McMurphy wrote: »

Possibly look at the enterprise board

I was out with the enterprise board yesterday and because what i would like to do is a form of retail, its not something they fund. They are great for advice and courses etc but thats the extent of what they could help with.

Tangled

Are you getting unemployment benefit / assistance at the moment? If so the Back to Work enterprise scheme is what you want. As well as being able to keep your dole while you start your business you may be able to get small grants of about €1,000 to start you off. I would then put a really detailed business plan together and go into your bank for the other €2k. Prove in your business plan how the business will be a success and you'll be able to repay them in no time. Use the services of the EB for help with the business plan - ask if they have any mentors in financial planning you could get the benefit of.

Good luck!

Pope John 11

ch1984 wrote: »

I was out with the enterprise board yesterday and because what i would like to do is a form of retail, its not something they fund. They are great for advice and courses etc but thats the extent of what they could help with.

Just wondering, did you set up an appointment with the enterprise board or what, before you called in to them?

dbran

Hi

If you are unemployed then you can apply to go on the Short Term Enterprise Allowance which will enable you to continue to claim your benefits for 12 months while you start up your business. You need to apply to your local employment partnership who administer the scheme. (Most SW workers don't seem to know anything about it).

They also used to fund up to €1000 towards various expenses of startups such as insurance, equipment on a case by case basis. I dont know if they still do this however.

Hope this helps

Regards

dbran

ch1984 wrote: »

Hi

I want to set up a small online business and i was at the enterprise board and its all very positive but because its a form of retail they cant fund it. So, i'm wondering if anyone could tell me or advise me of where or how i could get a small business loan of 3k or less?

Thanks

Chantelle

ghouldaddy

As far as I know the back to work enterprise scheme no longer give the 1000 towards start up costs. Have you tried saving in a credit union for a month or two then getting a small loan?

ch1984

Pope John 11 wrote: »

Just wondering, did you set up an appointment with the enterprise board or what, before you called in to them?

Hi

Yeah, i called and got an appointment a few days after. They are great for advice etc.. and they're a good support right the way through

ch1984

dbran wrote: »

Hi

If you are unemployed then you can apply to go on the Short Term Enterprise Allowance which will enable you to continue to claim your benefits for 12 months while you start up your business. You need to apply to your local employment partnership who administer the scheme. (Most SW workers don't seem to know anything about it).

They also used to fund up to €1000 towards various expenses of startups such as insurance, equipment on a case by case basis. I dont know if they still do this however.

Hope this helps

Regards

dbran

Hi

I kew the enterprise gave funding, never heard of the short term enterprise allowance though or whether its the same thing.. when i spoke to them about it they were positive and enthusiastic about the idea but because of the type of business it wasnt an area they help fund.

I'll look into that however, thank you

Chantelle

ch1984

ghouldaddy wrote: »

As far as I know the back to work enterprise scheme no longer give the 1000 towards start up costs. Have you tried saving in a credit union for a month or two then getting a small loan?

Hi

Yeah i was thinking about the credit union alright.. was going to call them today

dbran

ch1984 wrote: »

Hi

I kew the enterprise gave funding, never heard of the short term enterprise allowance though or whether its the same thing.. when i spoke to them about it they were positive and enthusiastic about the idea but because of the type of business it wasnt an area they help fund.

I'll look into that however, thank you

Chantelle

No its not the same thing. It is administered by the employment partnerships and has nothing to do with the enterprise boards.

As another poster mentioned, you simply meet with your local employment partnership and submit a simple business plan with them. They help you through it and register you with the revenue for income tax. Then once it is approved you simply transfer from the Jobseakers allowance to Short term Enterprise allowance.

dbran

Trojan

ch1984 wrote: »

the 3k is plenty for what i'd be doing, it would get me the equipment and supplies, i'd have an online shop within a website like ebay but its only for handmade goods.

You can get a hosted shop solution from:

Shopify (I recommend),
1ShoppingCart (I don't recommend),
Amazon Stores (hard to get into but definitely recommend)
Yahoo Stores (I don't recommend)

You could even test the waters with Ebay (murky waters, with sharks circling)

E.g. Shopify has a free trial for 30 days, is $30 a month after for basic package and you can use your own domain.

Best of luck with it.

MOH

dbran wrote: »

Hi


They also used to fund up to €1000 towards various expenses of startups such as insurance, equipment on a case by case basis. I dont know if they still do this however.

Hope this helps

Regards

dbran

They were definitely giving it last year, though I had a load of hassle over it.

I had approval in principle for start up expenses, tried to find out the exact procedure for applying for it but the only person who could tell me was on holiday for three weeks - was offered an appointment for a month later. Eventually got the details, submitted the required quotations and details of the supplier I was using, and was told everything was fine and the supplier would be sent details of how to invoice them.

A few weeks later, work was done, asked supplier to invoice the department and found out they'd never received anything. Contacted department, eventually discovered that the funding had run out for the year but they'd been told not to tell anyone.

At this stage it was nearly Christmas so everything was shutting down, was told the forms would be sent to supplier after Christmas and more funding would be available in new year. Chased it up with the department mid January and was told the payment had been approved, but could take 6 weeks to process, which it did.

I ended up losing three months just on this, probably more, which probably will end up costing me a fair chunk of what I got from the grant. And I was lucky to have a very understanding supplier who was willing to wait for the payment, thought I was still extremely embarrassed about the whole thing.

It's certainly a decent amount of money and can be very helpful for a small startup business, and I may have just been unlucky, but just want to warn people that there can be quite a rigmarole involved in actually getting the payment through.

IpreDictDeatH

ghouldaddy wrote: »

As far as I know the back to work enterprise scheme no longer give the 1000 towards start up costs. Have you tried saving in a credit union for a month or two then getting a small loan?

Is it possible to use a non-business credit union loan in a business? I was thinking of going to them myself, but was unsure if there had to be a paper trail for tax or VAT or whatever.