So you have the most brilliant business idea and you are ready to make that idea into a lucrative entity. One thing every new business needs is capital, whether it be for staffing, equipment or advertising that start up is crucial. finding the right financial assistance is an important part to seek advice from the right places. One such place is Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC)

At JBDC the outstanding team at the Business Advisory Services Unit is qualified to take you to take you there with unparalleled long-term hand-holding assistance.

MSMEs make up approximately 90% of the business sector which means that the sector’s success is vital towards economic growth. We aim to improve your competitiveness & increase economic impact by providing relevant, cost effective advisory services, capacity building, training and business monitoring support which exceeds expectations. As the premier government organization mandated to develop the MSME sector, one of our primary goals is to ensure MSME clients generate economic impact by (i) establishing and formalizing businesses, (ii) creating and retaining jobs, (iii) increasing sales and (iv) increasing access to capital.

Our flagship Business Monitoring Programme (BMP) is designed to assess, diagnose, prescribe and support the implementation of appropriate interventions for businesses in need of hand-holding assistance. The BMP has proven effective in achieving significant up-scaling among entrepreneurs engaged in the programme.

All entrepreneurs have to overcome hurdles when it comes to finding capital for their new business. When customers are few, earnings are scarce and business assets are immaterial, it takes energy and creativity to locate the necessary funds. And these challenges are heightened for entrepreneurs in their 20s, who are often involved with their first formal business venture or just out of school with limited work experience.

In previous columns, I’ve advised entrepreneurs how to get bank loans guaranteed by the SBA, how to make a “kitchen table pitch” to relatives and friends, and how to approach angel investors. Much of this advice applies equally well to young entrepreneurs; however, there are typically a few extra hurdles that make these sources of financing more difficult to attain for the younger generation of business owners. Some of this difficulty is simply perception, but some of it is a reality.

When it comes to bank loans, you’re required to have a good credit history, submit a personal financial statement, and sometimes make an equity investment in your business–all of which may not be easy for most young entrepreneurs to accomplish. For example, a few stains on your credit report from late payments in college could hurt your loan application. And since most twenty-somethings don’t own a home or have much equity built up, relying on home equity lines of credit is also not an option.

So the fall-back position for many young entrepreneurs is to get bank financing in the form of credit card debt. As I’ve written in previous columns, this is a dangerous path to go down if your business is in its start-up stage and your earnings are unpredictable. Instead, I would recommend getting a debit card rather than a credit card for the first few months of business start-up until you’re confident that you can forecast earnings and until you develop the habit of making your payments on time. I’d also caution young entrepreneurs from using more than $5,000 per month on their debit or credit card. Anything over that will put you in a different risk category with most credit card companies and, if you end up in delinquency, could really impact your ability to get future financing.

Financing from relatives and friends is also a bit more difficult to obtain for twenty-somethings rather than thirty- or forty-somethings with more extensive networks. Typically, I hear young entrepreneurs tell me that their “family and friend” circle consists of their parents and a handful of close friends–all of whom are either too poor or too uninterested in funding their business venture.

One well-regarded organization that teaches younger entrepreneurs about small-business financing is the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship. Their website has some good books on the topic of youth and entrepreneurship, many of which are written by their founder, Steve Mariotti, who is a guru in this field. The Entrepreneurs’ Organization, formerly the Young Entrepreneurs Organization, is a great networking resource with more than 6,000 members and 120-plus chapters worldwide. Finally, I’d also recommend spending some time on the SCORE website to get financing advice from more experienced entrepreneurs who’ve lived through the ups and downs of life as a young entrepreneur.