BOGOR, INDONESIA th An international agriculture project has been instrumental in improving the income and quality of life for many Indonesian women involved in agriculture-based business enterprises, said project participants and beneficiaries.
An international agriculture project has been instrumental in improving the income and quality of life for many Indonesian women involved in agriculture-based business enterprises, said project participants and beneficiaries.
The Southeast Asian Food and Agriculture Science and Technology project, also known as SEAFAST, has been assisting Indonesians with small- and medium-size food-based business enterprises since 2005, said Steven Gregory of Texas A&M’s Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture.
“Through our part of this project, we are helping smaller food-based businesses throughout Indonesia improve food safety, increase their income and enhance their business process and productivity,” said Gregory, who is chief of party for the project. “The majority of those we serve through our program are women, including members of women’s business cooperatives.”
The program is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and implemented through the Institut Pertanian Bogor and the Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture of the Texas A&M System.
While the project’s SEAFAST Center focuses mainly on food science research and technology, working with larger agriculture-based businesses and organizations, Gregory and his staff work at a grass-roots level with smaller operations.
“We primarily help small and medium-size business enterprises throughout Indonesia by providing free on-site education and training that applies to their business, along with offering low-interest micro-credit loans,” Gregory said.
Of the more than 100 enterprises currently receiving loans through the project, more than 80 percent of the recipients have been women, said Khres Senduk, who manages the project’s MicroCredit Plus program.
“Women are very responsible borrowers and almost always pay their loans back on time or even ahead of time,” Senduk said. “They don’t like to have any debt.”
The loans are typically used to purchase new or better equipment, he said.
The program also provides training and educational outreach on topics such as food safety and processing, product development, packaging and marketing. Of the more than 700 people receiving training to date, more than 70 percent have been women, according to SEAFAST data.
“Women are very interested in the training and in getting groups together to learn more about food safety and processing,” said Arief Tasrig Nur Gomo, a project trainer and food scientist. “They’re good students and are eager to find ways to improve their businesses.”
“The benefits after the training are obvious,” said Dr. Moon Cahyani of the Deputy Ministry of the Women’s Empowering and Children’s Welfare office. “In the new SMEs, the impact can be seen in the change of attitude, mindset and point of view regarding how to process food and beverages.”
Moon said SEAFAST has been very helpful to women-owned small and medium-size enterprises in Indonesia. “Some of these women are widows and the only source of income for their families,” she said. “Others are trying to provide additional income so their family can have a better life.”
Sudarti Subagiya, who runs her own food-based business in Yogyakarta and serves as head of the Amanah Women’s Cooperative, is one of the project beneficiaries. Sudarti and her 14 employees produce homemade snack foods, including traditional crackers, banana chips and other foods made from local edible plants.
In December 2006, Sudarti and the cooperative received a one-year micro-credit loan from SEAFAST, using the money to buy new cooking tools and new food processing and packaging equipment. The program provided Sudarti and members of her cooperative with free training.
“The packaging of our products became better, and we were able to increase the shelf life of our products by three times,” she said. “The loan helped us equip our plant and make our work easier.”
Sudarti noted that she, her staff and other members of her cooperative also learned much about food safety, hygiene and food-processing efficiency thanks to the technical assistance and training they received.
In large part due to project efforts, the Amanah Womens’s Cooperative was able to grow from 14 members to more than 40 in less than two years, Gregory added.
“We’re proud that the SEAFAST program has been able to assist Ibu ( Mrs. ) Sudarti and many other women like her in Indonesia,” he said. “Women are motivated and responsible entrepreneurs, and we hope to help more of them as we continue this worthwhile project.”
Source:http://media-newswire.com/release_1068384.html
Monday, June 30, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
Small Business Cash Advance
It is natural that small entrepreneurs face financial crises at many occasions and it is very important that they should come out from the financial problem as early as possible. If not so they will face with many severe problems threatening the very existence of their business. In this situation, the small business cash advance helps them to sort out the financial crisis within a very short time interval. Mostly the entrepreneurs require only the advance for a very short period; they would able to payback the amount within very small time gap. It can be an hour or 24 hours or may be two to three days. Or in some situations they require a long term cash loan to progress with their business. Now the question to be raised is very simple, who will provide the small business cash advance?
There can be various reasons for the small businessmen to avail the cash advances. The reasons can be purchase of some new equipment, starting a new business opportunity, payment of dues or the unexpected delay in funds from the general resources. In these types of situations it is necessary for the business partners to arrange reliable and low interest cash advances. It is necessary that your business should meet some criteria to avail a cash advance. This cash advance mostly works as a payday loan. Many entrepreneurs approach the payday loans when they fail to arrange funds from any other regular loan sources. Small business cash advance has already proved to be a handy tool in emergency?
Cash advances do not require any proof for employment or salary and the cash advance do not require any guarantee or collateral security as such. If your business accepts Master or Visa card, you are eligible to avail the cash advance. It works in a different way than usual loans. It is a cash advance which will be paid back with interest when you process the Visa or Master cards while sale. The sale amount will directly go to the lender. Lender require the receipt of your merchant account before releasing the advance, so that he can legally claim his amount as and when bank cards are processed.
There are many advantages for Cash advance. As already mentioned the greatest advantages are easy to get, takes very less processing time, no requirement of security other than merchant receipt and sales through Master or Visa card and most importantly it is just available with a mouse click. There is no worry of paying back manually as the advance is getting paid back automatically as and when sale happens.
Now a day, applying for small business cash advance is very simple. There are many lenders online. You can go to one of the site, they will request you to fill out some online, menu driven simple forms. They may ask personal details, business details and the details about your Master or Visa Card. Once if you finished the filling process, the sites will take sometime, may be few hours, to confirm the details what you provided. Once if they confirm satisfactorily, they will release immediately the cash advance.
In the present business arena, the cash advance has got its own place as a savior at the financial crises. Thanks internet online, the process is so simple and fast.
Source:http://ezinearticles.com/?Small-Business-Cash-Advance&id=1211905
There can be various reasons for the small businessmen to avail the cash advances. The reasons can be purchase of some new equipment, starting a new business opportunity, payment of dues or the unexpected delay in funds from the general resources. In these types of situations it is necessary for the business partners to arrange reliable and low interest cash advances. It is necessary that your business should meet some criteria to avail a cash advance. This cash advance mostly works as a payday loan. Many entrepreneurs approach the payday loans when they fail to arrange funds from any other regular loan sources. Small business cash advance has already proved to be a handy tool in emergency?
Cash advances do not require any proof for employment or salary and the cash advance do not require any guarantee or collateral security as such. If your business accepts Master or Visa card, you are eligible to avail the cash advance. It works in a different way than usual loans. It is a cash advance which will be paid back with interest when you process the Visa or Master cards while sale. The sale amount will directly go to the lender. Lender require the receipt of your merchant account before releasing the advance, so that he can legally claim his amount as and when bank cards are processed.
There are many advantages for Cash advance. As already mentioned the greatest advantages are easy to get, takes very less processing time, no requirement of security other than merchant receipt and sales through Master or Visa card and most importantly it is just available with a mouse click. There is no worry of paying back manually as the advance is getting paid back automatically as and when sale happens.
Now a day, applying for small business cash advance is very simple. There are many lenders online. You can go to one of the site, they will request you to fill out some online, menu driven simple forms. They may ask personal details, business details and the details about your Master or Visa Card. Once if you finished the filling process, the sites will take sometime, may be few hours, to confirm the details what you provided. Once if they confirm satisfactorily, they will release immediately the cash advance.
In the present business arena, the cash advance has got its own place as a savior at the financial crises. Thanks internet online, the process is so simple and fast.
Source:http://ezinearticles.com/?Small-Business-Cash-Advance&id=1211905
Monday, June 16, 2008
Number of Small Business Loans Increases
The number of small business loans under $1 million increased by 15 percent from June 2006 to June 2007, according to a report (pdf) released today.
A total of 8,633 institutions made 24.5 million loans valued at $685 billion. This compares to about 21 million loans valued at $634 billion the prior year.
The Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy also reported that loans with a value of $100,000 to $1 million increased by almost 32 percent.
The total dollar value of small business loans increased by about 8 percent, according to the study. Meanwhile, smaller loans under $100,000, which usually include business credit card loans, increased in total dollar value by 9.4 percent.
All of these figures show higher rates of growth than the period from 2005 to 2006.
The report, "Small Business and Micro Business Lending in the United States for Data Years 2006-2007," also covers savings banks and savings and loan institutions. It ranks lenders in each state and territory by their small business lending activities along with large national financial institutions. For a complete ranking of lenders, click here. Lenders are ranked on their overall small business lending, not by lending under SBA programs.
A complete ranking of banks in every state can be found here.
Separately, the SBA announced yesterday that its Patriot Express Pilot Loan initiative approved more than $150 million in loan guarantees to about 1,500 veterans and their spouses. The program was launched late last June.
Source:http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/06/number_of_small_business_loans.html
A total of 8,633 institutions made 24.5 million loans valued at $685 billion. This compares to about 21 million loans valued at $634 billion the prior year.
The Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy also reported that loans with a value of $100,000 to $1 million increased by almost 32 percent.
The total dollar value of small business loans increased by about 8 percent, according to the study. Meanwhile, smaller loans under $100,000, which usually include business credit card loans, increased in total dollar value by 9.4 percent.
All of these figures show higher rates of growth than the period from 2005 to 2006.
The report, "Small Business and Micro Business Lending in the United States for Data Years 2006-2007," also covers savings banks and savings and loan institutions. It ranks lenders in each state and territory by their small business lending activities along with large national financial institutions. For a complete ranking of lenders, click here. Lenders are ranked on their overall small business lending, not by lending under SBA programs.
A complete ranking of banks in every state can be found here.
Separately, the SBA announced yesterday that its Patriot Express Pilot Loan initiative approved more than $150 million in loan guarantees to about 1,500 veterans and their spouses. The program was launched late last June.
Source:http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/06/number_of_small_business_loans.html
Monday, June 9, 2008
Give your company a distinct name
Dear Karen: The name I want to use for a small publishing firm is being used by a firm not in the publishing sector. Can I use it?
Answer: Pick a name not already in use. It will differentiate your firm and save you from legal conflict.
That said, if the other firm is in a completely unrelated category, and it's not a famous trademark, you'd probably be fine using the name, said Doug Wolf, co-chairman of the trademark group at Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks, an intellectual property law firm based in Boston.
But problems can arise if there's even remote overlap.
"A retail store using a trademark might overlap with a clothing manufacturer using the same mark," Wolf said. "A publishing company and a widget-maker would be OK, but if a mark is being used by a publisher and a blog, that could create confusion."
Price hikes should be a last resort
Dear Karen: I feel as if we are caught between rising expenses from suppliers and clients who are reluctant to spend. How can we stay in business without raising prices?
Answer: Small companies are indeed getting squeezed between rising energy costs and wholesale prices, and consumers spending less, said Keith Girard, a consultant at AllBusiness.com.
"Small businesses are typically the first to feel the squeeze and the last to raise prices because the market is dictated by their larger competitors," he said.
Don't fall to the temptation of cutting your marketing budget, Girard said. Save money by discounting excess inventory, cutting your salary or taking deferred compensation, and negotiating with your suppliers for a price break or extended payment schedule. Cut your energy use to reduce overhead as well as help the environment. Garner free publicity by supporting local events or writing a column for your local newspaper or trade journal.
And if you must raise prices, soften the blow by improving customer service, adding free delivery or offering an extended service contract.
Avoid starting up on personal debt
Dear Karen: I have several credit cards with no outstanding balance. Can I use them to start my company?
Answer: You can but it should be your last option. A business credit card can be used strategically to augment cash flow mid-month, but you'll have trouble building your business if you're carrying large balances at interest rates of 18% to 20%.
"If you carry large balances on your personal credit cards, you'll be in debt paying interest for years. I've seen it way too often, and then the entrepreneur can't get a business loan because his personal credit is all screwed up," said David Gass, chief executive of Business Credit Services Inc. in Las Vegas.
Better to apply for a small-business loan or seek out investors to help fund your start-up.
"There are peer-to-peer lending networks online, such as Prosper.com and LendingCircle.com, that make smaller loans. There's an amazing amount of money being lent through these sites, and investors are getting interest rates comparable to banks," Gass said.
For start-up expenses such as computers, furniture and office supplies, use trade credit available from business-to-business suppliers.
"Negotiate through your business and then those debts won't show up on your personal credit record," Gass said.
Source:http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-inbox9-2008jun09,0,1509503.story
Answer: Pick a name not already in use. It will differentiate your firm and save you from legal conflict.
That said, if the other firm is in a completely unrelated category, and it's not a famous trademark, you'd probably be fine using the name, said Doug Wolf, co-chairman of the trademark group at Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks, an intellectual property law firm based in Boston.
But problems can arise if there's even remote overlap.
"A retail store using a trademark might overlap with a clothing manufacturer using the same mark," Wolf said. "A publishing company and a widget-maker would be OK, but if a mark is being used by a publisher and a blog, that could create confusion."
Price hikes should be a last resort
Dear Karen: I feel as if we are caught between rising expenses from suppliers and clients who are reluctant to spend. How can we stay in business without raising prices?
Answer: Small companies are indeed getting squeezed between rising energy costs and wholesale prices, and consumers spending less, said Keith Girard, a consultant at AllBusiness.com.
"Small businesses are typically the first to feel the squeeze and the last to raise prices because the market is dictated by their larger competitors," he said.
Don't fall to the temptation of cutting your marketing budget, Girard said. Save money by discounting excess inventory, cutting your salary or taking deferred compensation, and negotiating with your suppliers for a price break or extended payment schedule. Cut your energy use to reduce overhead as well as help the environment. Garner free publicity by supporting local events or writing a column for your local newspaper or trade journal.
And if you must raise prices, soften the blow by improving customer service, adding free delivery or offering an extended service contract.
Avoid starting up on personal debt
Dear Karen: I have several credit cards with no outstanding balance. Can I use them to start my company?
Answer: You can but it should be your last option. A business credit card can be used strategically to augment cash flow mid-month, but you'll have trouble building your business if you're carrying large balances at interest rates of 18% to 20%.
"If you carry large balances on your personal credit cards, you'll be in debt paying interest for years. I've seen it way too often, and then the entrepreneur can't get a business loan because his personal credit is all screwed up," said David Gass, chief executive of Business Credit Services Inc. in Las Vegas.
Better to apply for a small-business loan or seek out investors to help fund your start-up.
"There are peer-to-peer lending networks online, such as Prosper.com and LendingCircle.com, that make smaller loans. There's an amazing amount of money being lent through these sites, and investors are getting interest rates comparable to banks," Gass said.
For start-up expenses such as computers, furniture and office supplies, use trade credit available from business-to-business suppliers.
"Negotiate through your business and then those debts won't show up on your personal credit record," Gass said.
Source:http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-inbox9-2008jun09,0,1509503.story
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)