Any bank or credit union will require a valid business plan that shows that you can pay the loan back. Go to sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/plan/w... , www.bplans.com/ or www.score.org/template_gallery.html... for instructions on how to write a business plan and sample business plans. You should have a credit score of at least 700. You will personally have to put up 30% of the funds as no bank or credit union is going to assume all of the risk.

Go to grants.gov/ and follow the instructions. You will find that unless you are a nonprofit, in basic research or daycare, there are no grants for a small business. Some cities offer grants to small businesses if they will locate in the downtown area or want to upgrade their store front, for the purposes of building up downtown traffic. Check with your City Hall for details. Private foundations offer grants. You can get a list of most US Foundations and private grant sources at www.foundations.org/