Business Grants

[Nathan]

I was wondering if any one knows anything about getting grants for opening a business. I really want to try to open up a Tires Plus franchise and am looking in every direction for coming up with capital. So the moral of the story is... Does anyone have any experience in this?

Thanks,
Nathan

[altbier]

I can give the following advice:
1. Get everything in writing (by a lawyer you is looking out for your best interest)
2. If you go with venture capital, be prepared to give them a chunk of the profits for a long time, and if you don't hit those numbers, be prepared for them to oust you.
3. Make sure you have a good exit strategy.
4. Do not sign personally. never ever ever ever ever! Business is business, but keep your family and house out of it.
5. Some people are lucky enough to get family to invest, this may be the best way to go.
6. It is a pain in the ass, but make a good business plan and stick to it.
7. SBA is a nice way to get a loan. they back the bank if you fail. it will take a long time to go through though.

[Nathan]

Thanks George I will keep that in mind.

My goal is really to try to get as much money as possible from loans from family and friends. On the bright side (also a problem) is that I have no dependents and am young enough that I don't have alot to lose if it goes south.

I am fairly confident on how this will work out if I can get it off the ground. I have been around cars since I was a kid and basically live and breath them. I have wanted to open a garage for a long time but a real problem with opening one is the trust issues of people taking thier cars to a little no-name garage. A tires plus solves that problem. A nice reputable company that really stresses what I really like to push towards, relationships with people. Plus they don't do engine diagnositics and stuff like that so you don't have really complicated jobs figuring out strange things. Drivetrains, brakes, tires and maintence are very simple jobs to do.

[altbier]

What sort of numbers are you looking at?

[Nathan]

I shoot everything for high end so I want to have about 150 in cash. Tires Plus recommends between 100-150k so I want 150. Then get a loan for the rest. I essentially need 500-600k.