3 Online Tools To Find Funding

Whether you're trying to grow a business or start one, securing the money to do it can be overwhelming. From traditional bank loans to crowdfunding, there are now many options to consider. To determine which ones are best for you, here are three online tools to consider:

1. Intuit’s Loan Finder. Intuit, the financial software-maker headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., offers a free tool to discover funding options and loan experts to help you through the process.

When to use it: If you're not sure what your funding options are or how to prepare an application, consider this tool. Intuit will shop around your online loan application to 450 lenders, from banks to credit unions and micro-lenders to more alternative lending options. 

How it works: You submit a loan application and receive an instant “pre-approval” from interested lenders with rates and financing details. Loan amounts range from a few thousand dollars to several million. Once you decide on a lender, you have to submit additional information (think tax returns or financial statements) to officially apply for the loan. Final approval comes within 12 and 45 days. 

Be aware: You have to at least submit basic financial information before you will get any response as to what kind of loan you are eligible for.

Related: Small Businesses Suffer in States Hardest Hit By Housing Meltdown

2. Multifunding’s Banking Grades. The Broad Axe, Pa.-based business loan advisory firm, Multifunding, offers a free online tool that grades banks based on their small business lending. It calculates the percentage of a bank’s deposits that are going to small businesses. As guidance, Multifunding labels any loan less than $1 million as one that is likely going to a small business. To get an “A,” a bank has to use 25 percent or more of its domestic deposits to make loans to small businesses: there are 2,693 banks that have an “A” grade. 

When to use it: If you're set on applying for a traditional bank loan, this tool can help you identify a bank that has a track record of lending to small businesses. 

How it works: You can search for banks by zip code. Other than Texas and California, banks in the midwest reign supreme in small business lending: Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Kansas and Oklahoma were eight of the top ten states, ranked for having the most “A” banks.

Be aware: Multifunding's grading system is determined by the percentage of a banks' total deposits that go to small businesses. Because of the volume of deposits that they hold, the nation's largest banks are not predisposed to rank well on this list.

Related: Getting the Big Banks Back into Small-Business Lending (Video)

3. SoMoLend. This Web-based service matches entrepreneurs with investors in the same geographic area. SoMoLend, headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, targets small, upstart companies with up to 15 employees that are seeking loans between $100 to $1 million. Investors on SoMoLend run the gamut from banks to individuals. What's different about these investors is they are focused on businesses in their own communities.

When to use it: If your existing business has a dedicated fanbase in your community, or you primarily serve customers in your neighborhood, this option may suit you.

How It Works:  You have to complete an application, including financial information (both personal and business). SoMoLend then ranks your company based on risk – a rating of one to five stars – so investors can weigh their options. Risk is based on your personal credit score, your time in business and with managerial experience, and the amount of debt your company has as a percentage of income. Investors use a GPS location tracking system to identify businesses that are seeking funding nearby with SoMoLend. 

Be aware: You'll have to submit a lot of financials upfront, including personal tax information, credit score, business taxes, a profit and loss statement, and a valid Employer Identification Number. After that, you'll find out if you've been pre-approved for a loan. If you decide to accept a loan, SoMoLend charges a 2-percent fee. 

Related: 3 Rules for Successful Crowdfunding

Readers, what is the best resource you have used to find funding? 

Did you find this story helpful? YesNo Thanks for making Entrepreneur better for everyone.

Catherine Clifford is a staff writer at Entrepreneur.com. 

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Free Tools for Improving Online Security

Many small-business owners fall below what some people call the “security poverty line." Bootstrapping entrepreneurs can be especially vulnerable to hackers because they don’t have the money or personnel to buy, install and maintain the fancy security products large companies take for granted.

On the hunt for easy pickings, hackers are attacking these security-poor businesses, typically with indiscriminate, automated assaults that could be stopped by basic security tools and computer hygiene. Seven in 10 of the cyber break-ins analyzed in Verizon’s 2012 Data Breach Investigations Report occurred at organizations with 100 employees or less.

The good news is that it can be surprisingly easy and inexpensive to mount a quality defense on a budget. We spoke with Grady Summers, a vice president at Mandiant Corp., an Alexandria, Va.-based information-security firm, and former chief information security officer at General Electric Co., to assemble a list of easy-to-use, free tools that any company -- including those without a technology staff -- can use to create a comprehensive security program to protect its network, computers and data.

While no security program is perfect, applying these free tools can defend against the most common attacks. “A small business with a part-time IT person could probably do this in a day," Summers says.

Defend your network.
Most of the threats to company networks come over the Web, Summers says. He recommends using filtering software to block dangerous websites, including “phishing” sites designed to trick unwitting employees into falling for a scam or infect their computers with malware.

San Francisco-based OpenDNS offers a free, cloud-based Web filtering product that can protect a single PC or mobile device, or an entire network, from known phishing sites. OpenDNS’s paid services offer more security features and the ability to block porn and other sites companies may not want people to access while in the office.

Related: How to Avoid One of the Biggest Email Hacking Threats

To find any weak spots on your network, run a scan. Lumension Security of Scottsdale, Ariz., offers a free vulnerability scanner for checking networks of 25 or fewer computers. It can identify software vulnerabilities and misconfigurations that could put you at risk.

Also, scan your website for security vulnerabilities. Hackers often break into customer databases by striking company websites or hack sites to plant malware that will infect visitors. Qualys, a Redwood Shores, Calif., security company, offers FreeScan, a free tool for detecting security vulnerabilities in Web applications and finding malware infections and threats in websites. Users are limited to five free scans.

If you have a capable in-house technology staff, you also may want to consider using Security Onion, a compilation of free tools for intrusion detection and network monitoring.

Related: 7 Tips for Upgrading IT Security

Secure your computers.
Protecting computers on your network starts with firewalls and antivirus software. Free basic firewalls now come with Windows and Mac computers, so make sure they’re turned on. Antivirus protection will require a download.

Among the most popular free antivirus programs is one from AVG. Another is Microsoft's free basic security product Microsoft Security Essentials. It's made for consumers and businesses with 10 PCs or fewer. And firewall giant Check Point Software of Redwood City, Calif., has a free security suite that includes antivirus and a ZoneAlarm firewall that monitors traffic leaving your computer, as well as standard inbound traffic. In addition, U.K.-based Sophos offers free antivirus software for Macs.

Eliminate security vulnerabilities by applying the free fixes software makers regularly issue. To make that easy, use automatic update features for Microsoft, Apple, Adobe and other products you use. Windows users can make sure all their programs are current by using the free tool FileHippo.

Related: Three Low-Cost Ways to Keep Data Safe When Traveling for Business

Protect your data.
Full disk encryption software can make company and customer data on your devices unreadable to unauthorized people. Free open-source software TrueCrypt is available for Windows, Mac and Linux machines and can be used to secure data on thumb drives and other storage devices. For Mac, Apple offers free full disk encryption dubbed FileVault2 to users with the Lion operating system.

If you have particularly sensitive information, Summers recommends creating a special encrypted area for that data with its own password. You can create this sort of encrypted “volume” with TrueCrypt and a similar Apple feature.

Also back up the data on your computers in case of loss, theft or damage. With Mozy, you can backup two gigs of data for free offsite and encrypted in Mozy’s data centers.

Did you find this story helpful? YesNo Thanks for making Entrepreneur better for everyone.

Riva Richmond is a freelance journalist who has covered technology for more than 10 years. She writes regularly on electronic security and privacy for The New York Times and its Gadgetwise and Bits blogs. She has also written extensively about small business for The Wall Street Journal and was previously a technology reporter at Dow Jones Newswires.

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3 Tips for Legally and Ethically Monitoring Employees Online

Employers have a well-established legal right to track Web surfing, emailing and other activities by employees using company computers and mobile devices. But should they do it?

There can be several reasons in favor of monitoring. First, it can help protect your company from theft or other harm. Monitoring can also help affirm compliance with regulations, secure evidence in case of lawsuits and ensure the workplace is free of harassment. At least two thirds of companies monitor and half have fired employees for Web and email infractions, according to research by Nancy Flynn, executive director of the ePolicy Institute, a Columbus, Ohio, training and consulting firm.

Take Celeste O'Keefe for instance. The chief executive of DANCEL Multimedia, a Biloxi, Miss., marketing firm that serves lawyers, began monitoring in 2006 after noticing that employees too often hid their screens when she walked by. Her clients pay by the hour, and she wanted to make sure employees were working. O'Keefe asked her staff to sign a technology agreement and told them she would be watching.

Still, she has fired four people for digital infractions since then, including a woman who did school work on the clock and a man who inked side deals with clients that should have been brought into the firm. Worse, O'Keefe says she caught an employee who was downloading pornographic material that appeared to involve minors and gave police evidence collected by her monitoring software, SpectorSoft.

Related: Seven Tech Tools for Fighting Retail Crime

Employers should also be aware of the potential pitfalls of monitoring. You could create a morale problem and hurt employee performance if your workers feel a distrustful Big Brother is lurking over their shoulders. You could inadvertently learn about people's religion, sexual orientation, political views and medical problems, creating potential privacy dilemmas or even opening your firm up to discrimination lawsuits. And you could run afoul of the National Labor Relations Board if you discipline employees for making negative comments about you online. A year ago, it issued guidelines affirming employees' right to discuss and seek to improve their working conditions, following a number of cases involving social media.

Mangers should consider the difference between monitoring and surveillance, says Andrew Walls, security and risk analyst at Stamford, Conn.-based research firm Gartner Inc. It isn't controversial or obtrusive to monitor events on a company's computer system to ensure proper use and protect the company's assets and reputation.

But surveillance, defined as tracking an individual's activities, has "a creepy factor" that can cause pushback from employees, he says. Avoid such trouble by engaging only in focused surveillance of a person if you have well-founded suspicions of policy or legal violations and have the documented agreement of top managers and your attorney.

General monitoring for electronic abuses, with employees' full knowledge, is a necessary practice, Flynn says. "It's a fact of business life that legal risks exist, regulatory risks exist," she says. "Employees will put your business at risk accidentally or intentionally. You need to mitigate those risks" and keep misdeeds from turning into expensive crises or lawsuits.

Here are three tips for an effective and fair approach to electronic monitoring:

Related: How to Protect Your Business from a Rogue Employee

1. Set written policies.
It's important to create a corporate policy on Internet and device usage that makes rights and responsibilities clear to everyone -- and that bolsters your case should you face a legal challenge.

Employers should define their risks and security needs, weigh employees' expectations and develop a policy that strikes a balance, Walls says. Set rules for acceptable use of email, instant messaging, social networks, blogging and Web surfing, as well as for downloading software and apps. Also, consider establishing an electronic code of conduct for employees to sign.

A policy also should spell out how monitoring will be done and how data will be secured or destroyed, Walls says. Protect your business and your employees by putting a high-level manager in charge and putting checks and balances on his or her power.

2. Inform your workforce.
Explain the risks to the business from improper use of digital assets, the company's digital policy, the limits on employee privacy in the workplace and the fact that monitoring will occur.

"You need to have the transparency, that fully informed consent, or you run into morale issues or legal issues," Walls says. Moreover, simply letting people know you're watching can have an important deterrent effect.

Only Delaware and Connecticut require employers to notify employees about electronic monitoring, but it's a sound practice wherever you live, Flynn says. Reassure employees by saying: "Listen, we're not electronic voyeurs. We're not monitoring because we're nosy and want to find out all about your divorce. ... We are monitoring because we are obligated to maintain a compliant workplace." Encourage employees to keep private communications to home computers and personal smartphones.

Related: Tech Tools for Keeping a Digital Eye on Employees

3. Use technology tools.
Products abound for monitoring computers, mobile devices and networks. To reduce the potential for office friction, the collection of sensitive personal information and the amount of time you spend on the task, consider using technology that can alert you to potential problems, so you can focus on what matters and pry less.

You may also want to filter or block some Web content, such as porn and hate sites that could create a hostile work environment and spiral into a dangerous problem.

Did you find this story helpful? YesNo Thanks for making Entrepreneur better for everyone.

Riva Richmond is a freelance journalist who has covered technology for more than 10 years. She writes regularly on electronic security and privacy for The New York Times and its Gadgetwise and Bits blogs. She has also written extensively about small business for The Wall Street Journal and was previously a technology reporter at Dow Jones Newswires.

View the original article here