Question:
I am a 56 year old male with a disability. What I would like to do with my corporation is buy homes outright. Fix them up to excellent condition and of course sell them at or below market. What department or government branch would be a good fit with what I want to do?

Answer:

Dear M.,

It is great you are trying to start out on your own to be a successful entrepreneur. Studies show that most of the millionaires in this country got that way by having their own business.   I know it must be real confusing to figure out just where to go first when you get one of my big books.  I hope this service will solve some of that problem.  Let’s get started.

A Good Place To Start For Free Business Services

Another great opportunity within the government is the wonderful free services that are available to run any business. You can get free assistance on anything from choosing the right computer, help with developing a business plan to free legal advice.  Here is a starting place:

*Wisconsin Small Business Development Center
Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) could be the best deal the government has to offer to entrepreneurs and inventors, and a lot of people don't even know about them! Where else in the world can you have access to a $150 an hour consultant for free? There are over 700 of these offices all over the country and they offer free (or very low-cost) consulting services on most aspects of business including:

-how to write a business plan
-how to get financing
-how to protect your invention
-how to sell your idea
-how to license your product
-how to comply with the laws
-how to write a contract
-how to sell overseas
-how to get government contracts
-how to help you buy the right equipment

To find a center near you contact: University of Wisconsin, 432 North Lake Street, Room 423, Madison, WI 53706, 608-263-7794, 800-940-SBDC, Fax: 608-263-7830, www.wisconsinsbdc.org

Your State Rehabilitation Office
You should know that most states have programs for people with disabilities to start a business.  You probably already contacted them about your problem and were turned away, and that is probably why you called us.  Well if you did not contact them yet, do it now.  And if you already did and got a “no” answer, don’t ever take just one “no” for an answer from a government office.  The government is just too big a place for any one person to know everything there is about a program.  Start calling as many elected officials as possible.  That means your U.S. Congressman, your U.S. Senators and your state representatives.  You can find their contact information at www.congress.org.  Every elected official has people on their staff that are there to help you find out “How the Government Can Help You.”  Here is the contact information for your state:  Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, 2917 International Lane, Suite 300, P.O. Box 7852, Madison, WI 53707-7852; 800-442-3477, 608-243-5600, TTY: 608-243-5601, Fax: 608-243-5680 or 608-243-5681, http://www.dwd.state.wi.us/dvr.

$14,000 To Learn To Operate A Business
If you are out of work, you may be able to get money to live on as well as money to pay for entrepreneur training in order to run your own business.  These programs are run with federal money and state money.  Each state has different rules and the main idea is that they have money for you to train to get a better job along with money to live on while you are training. And your new job can be starting your own business.  These programs are run through your state One-Stop Career Center located in your state capital, but will have additional offices all over your state.  You can find your local office by calling 411 and asking for the state capital operator in your state capital.  Ask for your local “One-Stop Career Center.”  Or go to http://www.servicelocator.org/

Money For Real Estate
In any city in the U.S. there are likely to be over 200 subsidized programs from government offices or non-profit organizations.  There are federal and state programs you can apply to Wisconsin and national non-profit programs that may be useful.  For federal programs look at the Catalogue of Domestic Assistance at www.cfda.gov  You can search by keyword.  The Catalogue is a listing of the federal government’s money programs.  In addition look at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban development’s website at www.hud.gov and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s site at www.rurdev.usda.gov/wi  For your state you can search at http://commerce.wi.gov/housing/  You should also look into any local city and county programs that might be available in your area.  You can do this by contacting the office of the mayor, city manager, county executive or any other big cheese’s office and just tell them you are looking for a listing of all their housing programs.  You can also find them by contacting www.govengine.com.

More Money Programs For Business

$200,000 From The State Of Wisconsin

Every state has a number of money programs for people to start or expand a business in their state.  Governors compete with other governors to see who can create the most jobs, and that’s why they offer money for people who create jobs in their state.  You don’t even have to be a resident of the state.  You can live in one state and put your business in a state that offers you more money.  States also offer special money for entrepreneurs to put their business in certain areas of the state or in certain parts of a city. There are also other money programs to build buildings or renovate old buildings.  Some of this money comes from federal sources which is given to the states and distributed to entrepreneurs in the state.  Other money is generated from local taxes.  And some states use the winnings from their lottery money to give to entrepreneurs to create or expand businesses.

Many states offer programs from more than one agency. So it may take some time to find all the programs in a given state.  A good place to start is your State Government Office of Economic Development located in your state capital.  Contact your state at: The Department of Commerce (COMMERCE), 201 W. Washington Avenue, Madison, WI 53707, 608-266-1018, Business Helpline: 800-HELP-BUSiness, Fax Request Hotline: 608-264-6154, Export Helpline:  800-XPORT-Wisconsin, www.commerce.state.wi.us

$200,000 From Washington To Open Or Expand A Business

You can actually get up to $1,000,000 in grants and/or loans to open or expand a business from the U.S. Federal Government alone.  There are over 100 different money programs available from offices ranging from the U.S. Small Business Administration to the U.S. Department of Agriculture to the U.S. Department of Commerce.  For the best source in identifying all federal only government money programs available, look at a government published book called The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance published by the U.S. Government Printing Office (www.gpo.gov) or look at it for free on the web at www.cfda.gov.  Another good starting place to find anything in the federal government is a free service called the Federal Information Center at 1-800-FED-INFO or www.pueblo.gsa.gov/call.

The Wisconsin Small Business Administration Office delivers a variety of programs and services, such as start-up and operational assistance through small business training and counseling, financial assistance for start-ups, operational and disaster help, business opportunities, such as government contracting, subcontracting, procurement, and much more. For information on how the Small Business Administration programs may be of help to you, contact:  Small Business Administration (SBA), 310 West Wisconsin Ave., #400, Milwaukee, WI 53203, 414-297-3941, www.sba.gov/wi

$10,000 To Put A New Sign On Your Business
Most local governments have money programs to help businesses in their area.  Be sure to check your city, your county or your local development agency.  The money for these programs can originate from the federal government, state government or local taxes.  These programs can be for buildings, equipment, working capital, hiring employees or for local beautification projects like painting the front of your store and putting up a new sign.  If you are opening up a business, you can shop around at different cities and counties to see who may have the most money for you. If you don’t know who to contact, call the information operator at 411 and ask for the mayor of the city or the head of the county government.  The top office is always the best place to start. You can also go to www.govengine.com and click on your state. You will see a list of all the counties and cities in your state along with the relevant web sites.

The Government Buys More From Women Entrepreneurs Than Anyone

Question: Do you know what is better than a $100,000 government grant? 
Answer: A $100,000 government contract. Because with a grant you are most likely to get it once and with a contract you can keep getting it over and over again. 
Question:  Do you know who buys more of anything than anyone else in the world? 
Answer: The government, including federal, state, local and county.

The government buys more than anyone else of any product or service you can think of.  My sister lives in Virginia and has a small framing business and has done about $1 million in government contracts.  You just have to find out who in the government buys your product and figure out the paperwork on how to get paid.

But don’t worry too much about the work required and the paperwork involved because there are offices that will help you do all this and they will do it FOR FREE.  Here is where you can turn for help:

1. 250 Procurement Technical Assistance Centers
   APTAC
   405 N 3rd St
   Orange, TX 77631
   409-886-0125
   www.aptac-us.org 
   
   
2. Local Small Business Development Centers
   1-800-827-5722 
   http://www.sba.gov/sbdc 
   
   
3. U.S Congressman or Senator’s Office
   your local library
   www.congress.org
   Capitol Hill Switchboard:  202-224-3121

But remember one thing:  selling to the government is like going elephant hunting.  When you bag one of these babies you have meat for a long time.

Get Free Legal Help, Free Financial Help, Free Marketing Help
Have you ever wished you could call a great lawyer for legal advice and have her do the work for free?  Have you ever dreamed about calling a great financial consultant for advice on a money matter and get your answer for free?  Have you every worried about how in the world you would pay for a PR agency to promote your store so everyone would know how great you are?  Have you ever wished you didn’t have to pay to hire a management consultant to show you the secrets of how to double your sales in one year?  You can get the answer to all these questions by knowing about the government’s best kept secret called the Small Business Development Centers.  There are over 1,000 of these offices around the country that will give you all these services and more for free or for very little cost.  You don’t even have to know how to spell entrepreneur and they will sit down with you and can help with any business problem you have. Don’t pay for something when you can get it FOR FREE. Find an office near you by contacting 800-8-ASK-SBA or http://www.sba.gov/sbdc/sbdcnear.html. 

$150,000 To Hire Certain Employees Or To Open an Employee Day Care Center

The government will give you:

• $8,500 if you hire someone who has a limited income
• $150,000 to open an on site day care center for employees 
• $3,000 if you hire someone from a certain zip code
• $44,000 for buying new computers
• $2,500 to hire a teacher during the summer

The money is in the form of tax credits on your federal and/or your state income taxes.  If you are paying any taxes then this is truly free money because it is taken right off your tax bill.  To find out about every tax credit at your state level contact your state Department of Revenue by calling 411 and asking for the state capital operator, or go to www.govengine.com and click on your state and start looking for the Department of Revenue.  For information on all federal tax credits, contact Internal Revenue Service, 202-622-5000 or 800-829-1040 (Business Tax Questions) or go to www.irs.ustreas.gov/formspubs/. You can also turn to the Wisconsin Development office for help: A good place to start is your State Government Office of Economic Development located in your state capital.  Contact your state at:  Department of Commerce (COMMERCE), 201 W. Washington Avenue, Madison, WI 53707, 608-266-1018, Business Helpline: 800-HELP-BUSiness, Fax Request Hotline: 608-264-6154, Export Helpline:  800-XPORT-Wisconsin, www.commerce.state.wi.us

Where To Find The Best Customers For Your Business
Where is the best place to put up your recording studio?  Or which surrounding zip codes offer the best potential for increasing sales? Or where can you get a list of all the accountants in your area to tell them about my new product or service?  You don’t have to hire a high priced marketing consultant to get answers to questions like these.  You can tap into the government’s rich vain of free marketing data collected by the Bureau of Census and other government agencies.  This is where the multibillion dollar companies get their marketing data and it’s where the high priced consultants also get it and then resell it to clients at outrageous fees.  This is what I used to do when I was a consultant.  To get detailed information about data available for your state, contact your local Census State Data Center in your state capital by calling your state capital operator at 411 or going to http://www.census.gov/sdc/www/. You can also get lots of free and low-cost marketing help from your local Small Business Development Center. You can find them by contacting 800-8-ASK-SBA or http://www.sba.gov/sbdc/sbdcnear.html.  You can also turn to the Wisconsin Development office for help: A good place to start is your State Government Office of Economic Development located in your state capital.  Contact your state at: Wisconsin Department of Commerce, 201 West Washington Avenue, Madison, WI  53703, 608-266-1018, http://commerce.wi.gov/

Free Help Writing Business Plans Or Grant Applications
Don’t believe it when some professional tries to scare you into thinking how hard it is to write a business plan or fill out a money application.  This is the least of your problems, plus there is plenty of free help in filling them out when the time comes.  The first thing you must do in getting government money is get a copy of the application that you believe may give you the money you need. No one should ever investigate hiring a professional before they even know where to apply for the money. And once you get an application in hand and you need help, contact your local Small Business Development Center at 800-8-ASK-SBA or http://www.sba.gov/sbdc/sbdcnear.html.  They will help you for free or for next to nothing.  You can get help from the best grant writing experts in the country at a non-profit organization called The Foundation Center. Their materials are available for free in libraries all over the country.  You can find out where by contacting them at 212-620-4230 or www.fdncenter.org.  By the way, I’ve seen a lot of applications for government money and many of them were so sloppy and unintelligible that any teacher would have given them a flunking grade, but they still got their money.  And some applications are only one page long and you can get up to $150,000 for filling them out.  Worrying about filling out an application before you have one in hand, is like buying a prom dress before you are invited to the prom.  First things first.

$12 Million To Start A Real Big Business
No matter how much money you need there probably is a program for you. You can also collect large amounts of money by putting together money from a number of programs. The government also offers venture capital through the Small Business Administration’s Small Business Investment Companies (SBIC).  Over 75,000 entrepreneurs received money from this source to get their dreams off the ground, including the big guys like Compaq, Apple, Federal Express and Staples.  See how they can help you at Associate Administrator for Investment, U.S. SBA, 202-205-6510 or www.sba.gov/inv.  Many states also have venture capital programs or will help you locate private venture capitalists and state governments can also help you prepare the necessary paperwork.   A good place to look for this kind of help is your State Government Office of Economic Development located in your state capital.  You can call 411 and ask for the state capital operator in your state capital or go to www.govengine.com and click on your state and find the office that is listed under business and/or economic development.

Get A $5,000 Grant With Bad Credit
Maybe you don’t need a bunch of money to get your idea off the ground.  Maybe all you need is just a few thousand dollars to get your idea to go.  Well, there are hundreds of non-profit organizations that offer small grants and easy loans aimed at people who would never be able to get money from traditional sources. It is difficult to locate all of these groups around the country, but two good starting places are: 1) Association for Enterprise Opportunity at 703-841-7760 or www.microenterpriseworks.org/nearyou/ and 2) The Foundation Center at 212-620-4230 or www.fdncenter.org

Free Or Discounted Rent, Office Supplies, Management Services, etc.
The concept of “incubators” offers new entrepreneurs a place to start their business with free use of, or discounts on, everything you need to start and run a business.  Some of these “incubators” even help with getting money for your project. It’s a great support system for new ventures.  To find “incubators” near you, contact National Business Incubator Association at 740-593-4331 or www.nbia.org

$50,000 Grant To Train Your Employees
The more employees you have the more money you can get.  The government wants your employees to be the best trained in the world so America can compete in a world economy. You can get money to train your employees in almost any skill, including computers, customer service or even stress management.  Although it is a federal program, the money is distributed through local training boards in your state capital.  Check your State Government Office of Economic Development and tell them what you are trying to do. Contact your state at: Department of Commerce, 201 W. Washington Avenue, Madison, WI 53707, 608-266-1018, Business Helpline: 800-HELP-BUSiness, Fax Request Hotline: 608-264-6154, Export Helpline:  800-XPORT-Wisconsin, www.commerce.state.wi.us

More Sources For People With Disabilities

Here are more sources for money and help that are just for people with disabilities.  Thought you might find these useful:

Check out the website www.disabilityinfo.gov
DisabilityInfo.gov is the federal government’s gateway to disability-related information and resources. You can find information on employment, housing, health, income support, technology, transportation and independent living.

State Vocational Rehabilitation Offices
State Vocational Rehabilitation offices are the main entry point for services within your state. Services differ from state to state, but they can provide medical information, vocational training, adaptive equipment, business assistance, counseling, and more. To locate your state vocational office contact your state operator or check out the website www.govengine.com or a listing can be found at www.jan.wvu.edu/SBSES/.

Financial Aid For People With Disabilities
This is a free report written by the American Council on Education and provides a wealth of information on how to fund a college education. It takes you step-by-step through the financial aid process, explaining the types of aid available and what you will be expected to pay. What is great about this report is that it explains how to make sure that disability expenses are covered and what government agencies fit into the financial aid process. It details how disability benefits can be protected while in college and provides a list of scholarship information for those with disabilities. This report is available through the Education Resources Information Center (ERIS) at 800-LET-ERIC (538-3742) or online at www.eric.ed.gov.

Find All Federal Government Money Programs For Disabilities
They are described in a book called the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance. This book is available at your local public library or the U.S. Government Printing Office www.gpo.gov. You can also search the content of the book for free on the web at www.cfda.gov.

Free Job Training, Help And Money for the Disabled
We cannot emphasize enough the help that is available from your state. We have known people who have gotten $11,000 to start a business at home and $15,000 to finish a degree because they were suffering from low self-esteem. Terri Handshoe got her college education paid for, as well as had an interpreter and books covered during schooling. Sandy Smith got a $3,000 custom designed telephone system, which allowed her to work for a major hotel chain. You can receive:

• Medical examinations and treatment
• Vocational evaluation, training and placement
• Assistive devices
• Transportation
• Occupational equipment
• Rehabilitation engineering
• Student services
• Financial assistance
• Housing assistance
• Home retrofitting

Your state Vocational Rehabilitation offices want to keep you a productive member of society, and they will do what it takes to get you on your way. If you are denied any of these services, you have several places you can turn for help. The first stop is your state Client Assistance Program. They will help you learn your rights and handle the appeal to get you what you need. They can take your appeal process from the first stages, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary and it won’t cost you a penny.

What You Have To Do Now

Be sure to personally contact each of the sources presented above.   See if you can talk to someone about your specific problem.  The more you talk with people, the more you will get from the program.  People are human (sorry) and they will relate to you and want to help you if you let them.  This can become a people business.  The nicer you are to these people, the nicer they will be to you. That’s on average.  There are always nasty people in the world no matter how nice you are to them.  Keep remembering that these people have the power to help you and they get the same paycheck whether they help you or not.  So, give them a chance to help you.

Your objective is to get an application to fill out or to get another potential source from these people if they cannot help you directly. So if they can’t help you, before you hang up you ask, “Do you know of any other officers or programs that might help?”

DON’T hire a grant writer if you have problems filling out any application for money.  All you have to do is contact the office handing out the money.  It is their job to help you with any problems you have.  If, for some reason they are not helpful, contact the local office of your U.S. Congressman and/or U.S. Senator and ask them where you might turn to for help.  They should know non-profit organizations in you area that can help.

Wow.  You are probably tired just from reading all this, and you haven’t even started any of the real work yet.  That’s the problem with life nowadays.  It’s a lot bigger and complicated than it used to be.  When I grew up in the 50s there used to be just one place to turn to for help, and that one person seemed to know it all.  Now times have changed.  No one person knows everything anymore.  Life’s become so complex.  Even I, who has been studying money programs for over 25 years, and am likely to be the best one in the country at it, still don’t feel like I know it all.

You can’t trust a “no” answer anymore. No, just means that they don’t know anything.  It seems that success in this world goes to those who don’t take no for an answer and find a way to solve the problem no matter what the experts say.  The experts are wrong too many times to trust them completely.

It’s fun to continue to learn new sources of help and new skills for finding money. I always believe that the sources you identify this time and don’t use will be of value to you some time in the future, but you just don’t know it yet.

I hope our sources give you some help. Hang in there; it’s a big world and there are lots of sources waiting to help you, but they won’t come looking for you, you have to go looking for them.

Matthew Lesko
Entrepreneur and Best Selling Author
Information USA, Inc
www.lesko.com