$30,000 For Your Small Business…..
……… .The Small Business Loan Fund (SBLF) provides eligible Asset Loans from $25,000 to a maximum of $150,000 and Working Capital Loans to a maximum of $30,000 if you want to start a business in Rhode Island. See the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation www.riedc.com.

Web Site Identifies Grave Site Of Vets….
…… . You can find the grave site of any vet who is buried at a national cemetery by putting in their first and last name at www.cem.va.gov.

Venture Capital Funds for New England Entrepreneurs….
…… anyone interested in starting his own business or expanding an existing one may do well to look into venture capital. Venture capitalists are willing to invest in a new or growing business venture for a percentage of the equity. The Venture Capital Fund of New England is one source for those with high tech related business ideas…. www.vcfne.com.

Home Repair Grants and Homes At Below Market Cost….
…… the Arlington Housing Corporation in suburban Washington, DC buys homes, which are in poor condition and renovates the home to sell to qualified first time home buyers at below market cost. Low interest loans and grants are available for home remodeling as well as assistance with down payment money. See ahc@ahcinc.org.

$10,000 To Finish Your Degree…
…… Talbot’s, a leading women’s clothing store, gives scholarships of $10,000 to five outstanding women who are determined to finish their college degree. Fifty additional candidates receive $1,000. The Talbot’s Women’s Scholarship Fund is open to women who are enrolled in a four-year or two-year college, university, or vocational school and have at least two remaining semesters to complete their degree. The applicant must have earned their high school diploma or GED before 1994. Only the first 1,000 applicant’s entries are considered. For more information, go to the Talbot’s Scholarship Fund website at www.talbots.com/about/scholar/scholar.asp. The new application will be available in the fall of 2004.

$5,000 for Mature Women…..
The Women’s Opportunity Award’s intent is to assist mature women who need additional skills, training and education to upgrade their employment status in order to enter or return to the job market. First-place winners receive $5,000 and second-place are awarded $3,000. Applicant should be the head of her household with financial responsibility for her dependents, indicate that specific training is necessary to enter or re-enter the job market, demonstrate financial need and be entering vocational or technical training, or be completing an undergraduate degree. Applications are received between July 1, 2004 and December 15, 2004. For more information contact Women’s Opportunity Award Soroptimist International of the Americas, www.soroptimist.org/.

Business Jargon vs. Common Sense…..
… . A few weeks ago I gave a speech to the students of the entrepreneuring and marketing class to Harvard Business School. I told them about my MBA 30 years ago and how it took two failing businesses for me to unlearn all that I was taught at MBA school. Now I try to use common sense instead of MBA jargon that can just get you into trouble by not admitting the truth to yourself. For example:

Branding vs. Having Fun:
People look at me on TV in my question mark suits and tell me I’m a genius for creating a wonderful brand in wearing my suits. The truth is that all my life I’ve been trying to have fun. All my life I’ve wished I had the courage to make a special statement with my life. And it took me into my 50’s to have the guts to wear these suits. Now I wish I did it 30 years ago.

Strategic Alliances vs. No Money:
Big business always looks for what they call strategic alliances to joint market a project, like the city of New York promoting the play The Phantom of the Opera. They both win when people from out of town come to see it. In growing my business I had no idea what the work actually meant until after I did it. My motive was the fact that I had no money to promote my product. So I found out I could get TV stations or web sites to promote my ad if no one else purchased the ad space. I would share the sales revenue with them. I made millions this way and had to use this idea only because I was broke.

Low Cost Materials vs. Plagiarism:
With 7 years of business school I always know that in order to make a profit you have to sell something for more than what it costs you in time, labor and materials to make. So my business school professors would be very proud of me to know that my cost of materials is the lowest that anyone can get… IT”S FREE. Why? Because what I sell is government information and there is no copyright on government information. So I made a very successful business copying information I get for free from the government and selling it for as much as I can get. I’m a plagiarist. There are no laws against plagiarizing, just for violating copyrights. So I’m a plagiarist.

I Screwed Up…….
…… in last week’s newsletter I mentioned that the Home Buyers Association offers help to single moms looking for a home. It seems I was a bit misleading and used the wrong name. It’s called the Home Buyers Assistance Foundation and it does offer similar programs. See www.hbaf.org. They have an unflattering note about our mistake on their web site. I’m sorry about the problem to all who were affected.