Helpful Advice for Small-Business Starters

MINNEAPOLIS - How do you start up a business and succeed during a recession? Here's some advice on how to take your dream and turn it into dollars.

While big banks may be saying no, community organizations like Women Venture are saying "let's talk."

Unlike many banks, they consider a lot more than a credit score -- they look at the 5 C's. Credit score is one of them, but also considered is character, collateral, conditions in your target market and conditions in your life, and capacity of the business and person to repay the loan.

"We work with people for a long enough period of time, where we can develop good character assessments," says Tene Wells of Women Venture.

Women Venture gets funding from just about everywhere -- state, federal, corporate, and even private individuals. Despite the name, they do loan money to men as well.