I have been self employed in several business's for over 30 years. This last yr and a half has taken a toll on our business,family, you name it. Trying to stay alive we have trashed our credit and are in foreclosure on our business property and home.
In Jan of 08 we had gotten with the local chapter of SCORE and also the local SBDC office, and after going through our books, the SCORE mentor thought we would hang on if we could get our properties refinanced.But, the credit lines tightened, our credit scores worsened and we are about done.
They say that small business is the backbone of America, but there is NO ONE that will helps us small guys regroup. What do people, business's, families like us do. Give up? Go on unemployement and food stamps. WE NEED HELP.
PS...our county is at over 14% unemployement..this is not just my problem. Its everywhere.

I have a small business which is struggling horribly because foot traffic has come to a screeching halt in the past six months. The State Board of Equalization is not willing to work with me to defer my payments to them, I am working myself to exhaustion and in spite of my 15 years in business, I don't know how much longer I can hold on. Nor do I know what else to do with the depleted job market. I need help. Badly!

My friend and I own a small trucking company and we are trying to get certified as a woman owned business, but to process the appl. the Greater Womens Bus. Council wants 500.00. They are non-profit, and I told them we haven't collected a salary in the six months we have been in business, is there a waiver or grant to cover this, but according to them they can't. We need this to do business with the SBA, Federal Government, ect. Can we do the paper work ourselves, where would we get it? Thanks.

I would like to start a small business, but hearing about how this economy is doing and how many cuts are being made, how do you market a small business or even start one in this type of economy? How is this government supoporting small businesses?

What are the realities of Biz Grants from any Government Entity, are they real, really available, How to get?

I love your show and watch it every sunday. I have small business which is doing great in these economic times. I own and operate a Web Interactive agency, specializing in Web Design, Content Management Systems and Development.

Based on what I learnt from the show, this is the right time to keep advertising, and take advantage of the opportunity so I have been doing Internet Ads in Google Adwords, banners etc.

What other marketing methods can I use to reach a bigger audience but keep my spending budget in control?

How do we get our product technology approved by the government for bidding purposes? The government buys our type of product but the RFPs specify an older technology.

Ms. Ramberg...The postings I see on this site week in and week out are troublesome.  I own a small business, but I am not caught up in the downward spiral that most small businesses are today.  When I began my company I intentionally invoked a "novell" business model (i.e light footprint and took advantage of technology) to avoid the "traditional" pitfalls that small businesses feel they have to take on (i.e. IT infrastructure, business office, heavy O/H, etc) to compete with large business.  Prior to beginning my organization, I researched a great deal of the SBA's assistance programs, certification programs, and outreach and education.  Over and over it came back to information that had no practical applicability.  What I found most tiresome was the lack of detail or resources to support the many questions that small business entrepreneurs just cannot find answers to.  I feel for my "small business" counterparts out there because the "traditional" model is reason why the economy has faltered wit no real safety net for the small businesses that make up the backbone of the economy.  The posting from Ms. Trujillo is a sad example of how information disseminated to small businesses is lacking in substance.   Ms. Gordon Mills has a great challenge on the table and I would like to know what sort of relief, if any, has been planned for the small business, as giants like AIG and others continue to get "bail out funds" which has no real impact on the larger majority of businesses that "truly" influence the American economy?

I bought a small business that has been in business for over 10 yrs. Then the economy went bust. I tried everything to get funding to float me through. Banks said no,SBA said no, then where can you turn? Do I just give up? Why doesn't the government bypass the banks and lend money to small business and help create jobs?

My question is why every bank in America wants to use your personal credit to stand for your business credit. My company does Government contracting and getting funding is like looking for water in the desert. I wanted to know what law protects small business from this type of lending. I'm sure the CEO of large companies don't use there personal credit to get a loan for there company.

I was also interested in Ms. Trujillo's comments and questions.  I manage a small plumbing shop for a local family.  Unfortunately they were not in good financial shape before the recession hit although we had started to institute some major changes to clear up our outstanding debt, now we are literally taking it one day at a time hoping against hope that we don't have to lay off any of our 5 employees, shut the doors and declare bankruptcy.  We have explored many avenues to try to find some help and I had considered contacting SCORE, but in light of Ms. Trujillio's comments think I'll save myself some time and effort.  We were able to get the SBA to reduce our payments for a short period of time, but as far as getting any other assistance, they have been useless.  We are not looking to get out of paying our debts (we've religiously made our SBA payments for the last 15 years or so, on time and only owe around $25,000 out of an original $200,000.00 to pay off the business) we need some help with debt consolidation so we can keep going until the economy improves - why can't SBA restructure our loan to give us some debt relief and operating capital?  They are giving a lot of lip service to the fact that it's the small businesses that are currently keeping what's left of the economy afloat, but the government sure isn't doing their part to make sure we survive.  If we do have to close our doors and go bankrupt not only will the government be out the $50,000.00 we pay each year in withholdings, but our employees will add to the already overburdened unemployment system and they won't be paying any taxes into the depleted gov't coffers as well.  Don't the economists advising Obama realize that if something isn't done to help the average Joe and soon it won't matter one bit if the banks get bailed out - no one will have any money to put into the banks anyhow.

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