SCORE Small Business Mentors Open Hub to Help Rural Entrepreneurs

The organization that acts as mentors to America’s small businesses and a resource partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has launched a centralized resource hub especially for entrepreneurs in rural areas.

SCORE for Rural Entrepreneurs will provide rural small business owners with information, tools, and personalized support to help them start and grow their businesses. The new specialized resource hub is in part a response to a 33% decline in rural businesses over the last decade.

When it comes to small-business ownership, you really do have to spend money to make money—which is why small-business owners often apply for loans from traditional lenders to get their businesses off the ground. But along with a business license, most traditional lenders require proof of revenue before they’ll agree to a loan. So how are new business owners supposed to start making money without qualifying for a business loan?

Well, for better or worse, most first-time business owners have to use their own money to launch their companies. And unless you have thousands of dollars of ready cash, this means you’ll probably need to take out a personal loan or turn to crowdfunding, credit cards, or alternative lenders to acquire enough capital to start your business (and start making money).

But the amount of money you need to start a business isn’t always clear. In fact, when we polled 700 small-business owners, more than 50% said they underestimated how much they’d have to spend during their first year of business to make money. Learn more about how much money you need to start a business—and get more information on budgeting for your first year of business—in our survey data compiled below.

The initial financial challenges of starting a small business are substantial and often unpredictable. In fact, 38% of small-business owners report that they underestimated how much it would cost to start their business.

When hidden costs arise, many turn to outside funding—according to findings from our new survey of over 700 business owners, one in three entrepreneurs report that having access to personal loans and business credit cards is what helped them start their business.

Unfortunately for some businesses, credit can be a serious barrier to meeting the financial challenges of starting a business. A whopping 43% of business owners say their score isn’t high enough to qualify for traditional small-business lending.

Not having access to additional funds when problems arise can be fatal to small business hopes and dreams, especially when you consider that only 32% of business owners have an emergency fund in case their business doesn’t generate revenue.