WASHINGTON
- The U.S. Small Business Administration has introduced two new free online finance
courses to help small business owners with the basic principles of finance and
borrowing.
The new self-paced courses, Finance
Primer: Guide to SBA's Loan Guaranty Programs at http://app1.sba.gov/sbtn/registration/index.cfm?CourseId=29
and How to Prepare a Loan Package at http://app1.sba.gov/sbtn/registration/index.cfm?CourseId=28,
walk business owners through steps that answer questions about what debt financing
is, what loan programs are available, what small businesses should know about
borrowing money, how to prepare a loan package and how loan requests are reviewed
by lenders.
"It is important for the SBA
to provide information tools to help our nation's entrepreneurs who desire the
personal freedom and economic independence that can come with business ownership,"
said SBA Acting Administrator Jovita Carranza.
The
Finance Primer gives an overview of the SBA's loan guaranty programs to help small
businesses understand the variety of financial resources, including those from
the SBA.
The finance courses can help entrepreneurs
avoid some of the common mistakes made such as securing the wrong type of financing,
miscalculating the amount of financing required, and underestimating the cost
of borrowing money.
The Loan Package course
includes small business links to related information, and refers course participants
for direct support in preparing a loan request to appropriate resources that include
SBA's district offices, SBA resource partners and lenders.
Course
participants who complete the 30-minute online training programs can earn a certificate
of completion from the SBA, with their name, date and course title.
The
new finance courses have been added to a menu of more than 26 online tutorials
offered by the SBA. On a typical day, 800 to 2,000 customers register for free
online courses offered by the SBA through its virtual training campus at the Small
Business Training Network (SBTN) (www.sba.gov/training).
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Reprint
of this article does not constitute an endorsement by the National Business Association;
the article is for informational purposes for our members and viewers of our Web
site.
