No matter what kind of money you go after, whether that be grants, loans, venture capital, angel funding or other types of financial assistance, you will need to approach your funder with a solid plan about why you need the money, where it is going to go, and how you think you will make the money back as your business prospers.

There are many tools available on the web and many books on the market to help you determine how much money you need. One of the best web tools is the "Idea Café's Exclusive Instant All-In-One First Year Budget Worksheet," which is located at http://www.ideacafe.com/getmoney/fgr_budget.html . This worksheet provides blanks for all the possible expenses your business will encounter, including big ticket items like office space, rent and utilities, and small items like postage and office supplies. It also allows you to incorporate your personal expenses, which is important if you are to be a sole proprietorship. When you first get started, the money for your business and personal expenses are likely to be coming out of the same pot‹you may not be able to afford to pay yourself a salary immediately, so it is important to consider your personal expenses in this amount. However, do not take those into account when you are applying for loans or grants. Those financial statements should strictly include information about you business expenses and projected income.

Here are some other good start-up and operating expense budget tools available on the web:

° A start-up expense calculator is available on the Ka-Ching.com website at http://www.ka-ching.com/tools/calcs/startup_initial.html .

° A cost-estimation shareware program is just one of the many helpful financial programs available for download from the Small Business Administration website at http://www.sba.gov/library/sharewareroom-financing.html .

° Another Microsoft Excel spreadsheet is downloadable from the Quicken.com website at http://www.quicken.com/small_business/cch/tools/?topic=6&subtopic=2&article=cashne_m#article