starting a business

pclancy

Im looking into opening a computer shop and ways of sourcing finance. Does anyone have advice on raising capital, getting loans, grants and government aid? I understand you should have a lot of your own money first before you'll get anything from anyone but I aint got a whole lot!! should I forget about it till i'm loaded in later life? I want to do this now before someone else opens up where I plan to. Im looking at two different towns in the midlands where there are no similar business. This is something Ive wanted to do my whole life so I would make a serious go of it and have plenty of experiance in the field.

Any advice or pointers greatly appreciated!

Graham

Start with your local enterprise boards, as far as I know each county has one (list below):

They will be able to point you in the right direction regarding grant assistance, although to the best of my knowledge there won't be much support for the setup of a retail operation.

You're bank will be only too happy to help if you have collateral (e.g. your house), otherwise be prepared for an uphill struggle raising finance via this route.

The first thing anyone is going to ask for is your business plan, this should cover your personal details, details of your proposed business, startup costs, cash flow forecasts etc etc. Banks usually give away a book/kit to assist you in writing it.

Best of Luck, give me a shout if there's anything else I can help you with.

---

County and City Enterprise Boards

Carlow
www.carlow-ceb.com

Cavan
homepage.eircom.net/-ceb

Clare
www.clare-ceb.ie

Donegal
www.donegalceb.ie

Dublin City
www.dceb.ie

Fingal
www.fingal.ie

Fingal Development Board


www.fdb.ie

Kerry
www.kerryceb.ie

Kildare
www.kildareceb.ie

Laois
www.dpsnet.com/lceb

Longford
www.longenterprise.ie

Louth
www.lceb.org

Meath
www.meath.com

Monaghan
www.mceb.ie

Offaly
www.offaly.ie
www.midnet.ie/oceb

Roscommon
www.roscommon.ie

Sligo
www.sligo.ie

South Cork

South Dublin
www.sdubceb@itw.ie

West Cork
www.wceb.ie

Westmeath
www.westmeath-enterprise.ie

Wexford
www.wexfordweb.com

Wicklow
www.wicklow.ie

pclancy

basically I have very little of my own money and I rent a house. The only asset I own is my car. Could I get personal loans to help or do I have no chance without my own collateral?

Thanks for the advice!

Victor

You shouldn't get into a position where you have high overheads now - it's the wrong way to go about things. Certainly not until you have an actual trading record and can accurately gauge the level of demand in the town.

You could try working from home at the start, thats how many small businesses start. It would mean not having to pay rent for a shop (the landlord might insist on a lease of a year or longer).

Alternatively is there anyone who would give you shop / office type space at a modest rent? Is there an office supplies shop in town?

There are other threads here on setting up business names, companies and tax affairs.