Sometimes angel investors do things so right that it's impossible not to love them.  That is certainly the case when Catherine Rohr, former venture capitalist from New York and California ventured into the Texas prison system and set up an entrepreneurial program for hard core inmates.  Read the story.

Venture capital firms lending money?  You bet.  And it's not millions.  It's hundreds of thousands.  And it's targeted to smaller startup companies with potential.  Read about it here.

Remember demographics?  Those figures presented the overall picture of a market area, with age, income, family size, education level, etc.

Well, now we have psychographics.  Also called "niche marketing".  This is the art of pinpointing just the few that your product needs.  Psychographics examines how potential customers think and feel -- their lifestyles, travel habits, all the things that give you a closer look into their minds and buying habits.

And it is becoming quite a specialty in the business world.  Yvette Craddock, owner of a Tempe, Arizona, based marketing company called Click Marketing Solutions is doing very nicely in this niche, thank you.

"The traditional way of reaching customers was by television, radio and newspaper ads," says Ms. Craddock. "But now we send our clients' messages via the internet and, instead of broad messages, we refine them and aim at specific potential customers, niche marketing."

Ms. Craddock's success is based on two strong facts:  (1) She's very good at what she does, and (2) She is a black woman business owner with an all woman staff.  (She gets a lot of press on that one!)

The SBA has revamped its site.  Take a look at www.business.gov .  It's the cooperative effort of a dozen or so government agencies that deal with small business.  The wealth of information is staggering.  It's always a challenge finding the right information at the SBA site.

Note in particular that the site for finding out about business grants has changed.  Click here for the new page.  In fact, the re-directs from the old pages don't work at all as well as they might.  Once we get used to it, this will probably prove to be an improvement over the old site, but right now it is frustrating.

If you had anything bookmarked on the SBA site, check it when you have a moment -- the address has probably changed.

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If your company is ready for raising money in a public arena, the Kaufman Foundation has an excellent outline of the options available, including direct offering, London AIM, NASDAQ, reverse merger and Toronto TSXV.  One of these may work for you.  For instance, you need not be a British citizen to take advantage of the London AIM program.

South Texas Business Fund in San Antonio, Texas, is establishing a Women's Business Center in collaboration with the city of San Antonio's Economic Development Department, with funding from the U.S. Small Business Administration.  A five-year, $750,000 SBA grant will be used to open the Women's Business Center in the Development & Business Services Center.

The Rhode Island Business Plan Competition will award $125,000 in prizes to this year's winners. The deadline to apply is April 2, 2007. Winners will be announced May 1.

Acción New York, a nonprofit organization, lends money to immigrant entrepreneurs in the New York area.  Its clients are 95 percent minority, almost all immigrants and 40 percent women, all groups who face severe disadvantages toward gaining access to credit.  The organization charges annual interest of 10.99 percent to 17.99 percent, slightly higher than the roughly 10 to 14 percent that banks are generally charging these days, but a difference that the group needs to remain viable. The organization has a 96 percent repayment rate, and that since its founding in 1991, it has made 9,100 loans totaling $62 million.

NASA has started a venture capital fund called Red Planet Capital, which will invest taxpayer funds in promising but financially-strapped companies. It marks the first time the federal government has started a venture capital fund for civilian purposes and the third time overall (the two other previous venture capital efforts involved the CIA and Army).  The fund will receive $75 million over five years to invest in emerging technologies that could benefit NASA programs. 

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. announced a $1 million grant to the Business Consortium Fund (BCF). BCF was established by the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) to address the lack of traditional lending opportunities for minority businesses. This announcement comes after the company made an initial $1 million donation to the BCF last October. The additional funds will continue to assist the organization in financing NMSDC-certified minority businesses across America.

A dental office.  Medical office needs don't change a whole lot from year to year.  This one has a nice presentation, especially in the "Competition Analysis" section.  I also like that he doesn't put his "vision" statement right up front -- he gives his reader a bit of time to get acquainted.

SiteSell -- the web host that judges its success by your success.   Take a look at some SBI clients that have made it to the top 1% of all sites.  

Get a $100 Statement Credit with Business Gold Rewards from American Express   The best all-around business card on the market.  Many options -- sky miles, cash back, etc.  Choose the one that fits your business best.

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