Specific Situations

Veterans can access up to $350,000 in funding with the same time to funding as the SBA Patriot Express Loan program. For businesses that don’t have the time to wait around a few weeks—or even months—for their financing, an SBA Express Loan is a great fit. (There are other fast business loans you can check out, too.)

Without knowing all of the details, I would suggest the following steps:

1. Put together a written plan, including detailed month-by-month financial projections for a 3 year time period.
2. The financial projects should tell you how much you need and when, as well as when you have excess cash to repay loans. It should also indicate what you need the money for (equipment, operational costs, payment to prior owners, etc.)
3. The amounts you need and their purpose should guide you to the right sources of funding (e.g. if you have assets, they could be pledged as part of a loan package, the seller may be willing to carry back some or all of the purchase price, etc.)

Hope this gives you some clarity on your options.

Put together a project plan / budget/ timelines and have it approved by school / district / etc.

You can lower the amount of money needs by soliciting volunteer labor from the school, it’s support organizations, and the community.

You may be able to get some or all of the materials donated by local building supply firms and/or construction companies.

There are a number of tried and true fundraising methods to help you close the gap between what you need and what you can get form volunteers and donations. Ask one of the school administrators what types of fundraising is approved for that school.