Anyone ever use a grant or loan to expand their "existing" online business?

arkitech,

So let me begin by saying well done on taking action! Its awesome to see people making money as I too used to run an ebay business about 8 years ago.

I am unsure of where you live so will answer this generically.

There is always ways of getting funding for businesses whether you got to the bank, get it from crowd funding or borrow from people you know you can always raise finance.

The challenge you are going to face is that you said you are raising the money to "expand your business online" and in your actual post it turns out you are borrowing it to get time off work to expand your business.

Your challenge will be and I have seen MANY people do this, they take a break from work having not already created an income and they say they are going to achieve x in the time off and they don't achieve anywhere near what they were intending and it simply comes down to this.

Trying to do loads in one go will mean you DO NOT create a habit, to be successful at anything you need to create a habit.

This means spending 30 minutes EVERY day no matter what working ON your business - just 30 minutes and over time you will have spent a LOT of time ON your business.

I emphasise the word ON, because most people take this time off to work IN their business, working harder IN your business will never make you more money.

So working harder on marketing MORE stuff will make you more money but take more of your time, working ON finding someone to do the marketing for you for a % share of the profits so you can focus on the bit your really good at (which in an ebay business the sourcing of the products at the right prices will be the highest value task you can conduct).

So I would ask the question - what are you really focusing on?

You may think it will take longer to get out of your job if someone is always taking a 50% share of the profit you make from each item you sell, but if this allows you to sell 3x, 4x, 5x more products this will mean you will make a LOT more money out of e bay and actually get out of your job quicker and then when you are out of your job it won't take as much of your time to manage the process and your business will litterally sky rocket.

Focus on the small things you can systemize and work on your business mkore than in your business and do 30 minutes a day for the next 12 months. If you are already spending 30 minutes a day then spend an additional 30 minutes per day in your lunch break, wake up earlier and focus on getting someone to do the low value tasks as quick as possible so you can do more of the high value tasks.

Your aim as an entreprenuer should be to get away from doing the the $20per hour tasks to only doing the $200 per hour tasks. Once you get to that stage you want to focus on going from the $200 per hour to the $2000 per hour tasks so eventually all you are doing is the $2000 per hour tasks and nothing else.

I would advise outcoursing to odesk, peopleperhour, elance or other outsourcing websites whatever you can and then find local people to help you with other things.

I hope that helps!

You won't get a grant, they just do not work that way. For loans, you can look to companies like Kabbage who deal exclusively with ebay and other eCommerce sites. Know that if you business is making money - you can leverage that revenue into a loan - look to business cash advances or even revenue based loans.

If you don't qualify for any on those or don't want to go that route - here are a few suggestions:

1) Micro loans - can provide up to $35,000 for new businesses and up to $50,000 for existing businesses.

2) Personal loans - most business loans require that you personally guarantee the loan anyways - so, a personal loan is not that much different - and they are easier to get.

Business Money Today - Business Loans | Small Business Loans | Business Money Today

Having a loan is easy. When planning to avail a car loan, I've found a little help where you can get a pre-approved for a brand new car. It can even assist you in finding the vehicle you need to buy at a dealership near you. Having a loan already at hand is a ton of help, especially because it is nearly impossible to pay cash for a car.