Starting a business

aaronjunited

Could i get money to help me start a business on ebay selling fishing tackle.
I have done my research and i have wholesale companys lined up to supply me goods.
I just need a bit of money to help me get going. I live in n.ireland and i'm not too sure wether id get money for starting a business on ebay.

Any help would be appreciated.

Horace

If you have businesslink over in Ireland you can get some advice from them on how to set up a business but it is extremely difficult for start ups to get money to help them set up - nigh on impossible I say as I haven't found anyone to give me any money so I have started on a shoestring.

Savvy_Sue

Even if businesslink doesn't operate in N Ireland the information on the site will be fantastically useful, and there might be links to whatever grants are out there.

buglawton

How much capital are you putting in yourself? What does you r business plan spreadsheet look like? Don't want to be a wet blanket, however, most people use their own money for such a venture because the start up costs are so low. The rest is down to your creativity and energy!

aaronjunited

Any help on creativity would be nice.

Savvy_Sue

aaronjunited wrote: »

Any help on creativity would be nice.

DKLS

Credit card, small loan, sell valuables, escort work, Family, friends?

motorguy

DKLS wrote: »

Credit card, small loan, sell valuables, escort work, Family, friends?

I would have thought this would be an easy way to get an interest free loan.

I used to sell up to £10,000 a month of IT hardware by buying on credit card and having it sold by the time the bill came in.

bingo_bango

Does it all have to be on Ebay?

I know there is a guy who runs a small tackle shop on the beach at Greenore (Co Louth) and it would appear that he buys all of his gear on the net and adds his own profit margin on. There are lots of people fishing there on any given day (a good mackerel run) and he seems to do alright.

As for funding, you will need to draft a business plan if you want any money from the likes of Invest NI and will have to complete one of their startup courses.

Check your local council. A lot of them have a pot for startup grants each year, so you might be able to get some money from them. Bear in mind that between the two you might only get ~£1K so you may need to bite the bullet and speak to a bank if you'll need more.

INVEST NI Link

Belfast City Council SME development grant link

Intertrade Ireland are also running a competition where you can get up to €360,000 for your business. Only 2 weeks left to enter though!

And good luck with it all!

DireStraits_2

Why ebay...its sooo expensive!

Have you looked at ebid? much cheaper!

Ballymackeonan

In N Ireland, you should be looking at the Go For It programme - the latest version of the Business Start programme. It's free training and advice, but I think the grants are long gone. Have you a credit union account? I've found that some of them are very sympathetic to business start-ups for a stock loan, and the interest rate is low.