How We Can Help — Technical Assistance

Do you need entrepreneurial training or technical assistance?

A business loan borrower must demonstrate enough character, experience, and planning research to generate sufficient confidence that the business perform well enough to repay the loan. When IowaMicroLoan lends some of our funds to assist an entrepreneur, we are evaluating our level of confidence that the entrepreneur will repay the loan. In order to sustain our program, we cannot be in the business of providing forgivable loans or grants.

Our mission recognizes that the needs of entrepreneurs who have completed a business plan for starting a business are different from those who have not yet completed a business plan.

IF you have completed a business plan or if you are currently operating a business and want to learn more information about IowaMicroLoan opportunities for Technical Assistance.

If you have not yet completed a business plan, there are a number of entrepreneurial training programs and curricula that are available in Iowa as outlined below.

  • FastTracTM is 12-week curriculum developed by the Kauffman Foundation and scheduled through Iowa SBDCs to teach entrepreneurs about the major aspects of running a business and to assist entrepreneurs in developing a business plan.

  • MyEntrenet is a specialized entrepreneur resources development program for rural communities and clusters that incorporate FastTrac™ training by the SBDCs with additional efforts to develop a community-led support team, access to financial resources, and online technical assistance and networking opportunities.

  • ISED Microenterprise Curriculum was developed by ISED Ventures with assistance from SBA for use with LMI eligible target populations. This curriculum presumes that the participants are less familiar with basic business and financial terms and concepts. Workshops can be organized by contacting ISED Ventures.

  • First Step Fast TracTM is a 12-week curriculum developed with Kauffman Foundation support that is targeted for use with LMI eligible target populations. This curriculum presumes that the participants are less familiar with basic business and financial terms and concepts. The focus is developing a feasibility plan. A version of the curriculum is available in Spanish. Workshops can be organized with assistance from the Community Vitality Center through ISU Extension if there are no similar workshops available in the region.

  • NxLevelTM Microenterprise is a 12-week curriculum developed by the NxLevel™ Education Foundation designed for potential entrepreneurs who are interested in starting a small business. Many rural case studies are included in the materials. The NxLevel™ Value Added Agriculture Enterprise curriculum materials may accessed through ISU Extension's Agricultural Marketing Resource Center. The NxLevel ™ Microenterprise curriculum can be made available with support from the Community Vitality Center through ISU Extension if there is no similar workshops available in the region. A version of the curriculum is available in Spanish.

While IowaMicroLoan does not require loan applicants to have completed an entrepreneurial training course or to have other entrepreneurial experiences for microloan approval, describing such participation and experiences may enhance the quality of the IowaMicroLoan application. If the IowaMicroLoan application is approved, participation in certain entrepreneurial training workshops or online entrepreneurial networks and seminars may be made part of the technical assistance work plan to address any gaps as may be deemed neccessary for business success.

A Local Business Mentoring Team

Successful entrepreneurs often surround themselves with business advisors and other successful entrepreneurs to provide just in time advice for solving problems as they emerge. A business mentoring team might include an attorney, lender, accountant, insurance agent, and one or two successful entrepreneurs or businesspersons willing to share their talents and experiences. In addition, local economic developers, extension professionals, entrepreneurship instructors, and regional Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) can often become important advisors and entry points for accessing additional expertise and networking opportunities. In some cases, local entrepreneurs may want to seek the advice of experienced entrepreneurs in the industry but not in the same competitive trade region. In these cases, familiarity with industry networks and online resources may be of assistance. The IowaMicroLoan Application will request information regarding the Applicants Business Team.

Technical Assistance

If you wish to access additional technical assistance beyond your local community to complete a business plan, the following regional, statewide, and online resources may be of interest to you. Beyond the basic business fundamentals, entrepreneurs often begin to tap industry specific areas of expertise. As a business plan becomes more specialized, it may be appropriate to consider accessing more specialized industry expertise.

IowaMicroLoan does not develop business plans and can only provide a limited amount of application and referral assistance for anyone who is thinking about starting a business and applying for a loan. However once approved, IowaMicroloan clients receive a tailored technical assistance plan and a grant for technical assistance up to $500 per year during the term of the loan. IowaMicroLoan is dedicated to creating an “umbrella” of resources that can enable small entrepreneurs to tap a wide variety of technical assistance resource networks that can aid in improving business performance tailored to individual business needs.

Iowa Small Business Development Centers

There are 16 Small Business Development Centers operating in the state of Iowa to help small businesses start or expand their businesses in Iowa. Use this link to identify the SBDC consultant serving your region and contact them if you would like assistance in completing your IowaMicroLoan credit application. SBDC »

Iowa SCORE

There are 14 Service Core of Retired Executives (SCORE) chapters operating in Iowa that offer professionals from various backgrounds to help you with your start up and operating questions dealing with all the topics a small business will encounter as they grow and become successful. SCORE »

  • SCORE Library

    The SCORE organization has chapters all across the United States and at their national website is a great library of small business information.

  • SCORE: 60 Second Business Guides in English and Spanish

    The listings of business topics are delivered in text format and, as the name implies, each subject takes about 60 seconds to read.

  • SCORE: Top 5 Business Tips

    Covering a broad spectrum of business tip topics, these concise listings are nuggets of business information specific to issues many small businesses deal with.

U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Technical Assistance Resources for Microentrepreneurs

The SBA web site has a great deal of information, and yes, it can be a bit overwhelming until you become familiar with it. Identified below are some areas for specific information on the SBA web site that may be interesting and useful for the Microentrepreneur. SBA »

  • SBA Videos

    This library of business plan examples may provide the Microbusiness applicant with some ideas while working on the IowaMicroLoan business plan. We realize that the software generated business plans in this library are not in the same format that IowaMicroLoan is requesting, but some of the topics are similar and it is interesting to look at an example similar to your business.

  • SBA Business Plan Examples

Internal Revenue Service

The IRS has prepared a number of videos that deal with tax issues facing small businesses. You may either watch the 15 – 20 video or read the transcript from a number of tax related topics. IRS »

Additional Great Resources for the Microentrepreneur