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Okay, shameless self-promotion here.

I'm trying to get a horse-drawn carriage business going. I tried to go through my county microbusiness foundation but they skunked me. I need to be gainfully employed and drawing a regular paycheck before they'll help me, and I haven't worked since before my cancer diagnosis.

So I went to the Ideablob.com site in an attempt to win money for a business startup. Winners receive $10,000, and while they're waiting for the voting to end they can also get tips and advice from site users and guest advisors.

Anyway, it's on my shoulders to hustle and get the word out, so I'm hitting all my fora, social sites and e-mail contacts. If you want to view, comment on and vote for my proposal, click here:

http://preview.tinyurl.com/6cqcel

Thanks!

There's not much more I can do other than chip in with "Voted!", here. That and wish you the best of luck with this endeavour.

I'm afraid I'm not much one for going to other sites and registering anew (I have waaaay too many accounts and things to keep up with already). I read your proposal, and one thing comes to mind. If you don't win, what are your plans on the how-to get a carriage, and the business started?

Also - I must've missed that you're a cancer survivor. Congrats!

As for my own projects, we're kicking them all off on a $0 budget, doing the funding-with-spare-change thing. Congrats though - a $10k project is much less expensive, and you might actually get some help through the Chamber of Commerce - especially those who get their $$ from tourism. A horse-drawn carriage might be a small impact on the town's character, but a tourist that sees it will remember it for a long time.

Okay, I voted.

Best wishes!

Thanks for the vote, RedEye

@Baphnedia: If I don't get the $10,000 this month, I'll try again in December and January and see if I can ride through on the momentum to get enough votes. I don't know how many it'll take to win, though.

If Ideablob doesn't pan out...I'm back to the old "stash $100 - $200 into savings account every month" strategy, which sucks. At that rate, it would take me about five years to save up for a harness and carriage in workable condition. I flatly and utterly refuse to get a loan or line of credit to do this transaction. I'm not going to become the bank's b**** and get malnourished while their interest coffers swell, especially now.

I'm looking into SBA grants, as well.

If you find SBA grants - throw some my way? I'll be settling in Tigard, hopefully before Christmas (and will be able to run my business from the actual place of business).

Okay, I read a little more on how IdeaBlob works.

The current contest started on September 24th and goes through March 31, 2009.
The contests are a series of "Sprints" aka quarter-finals. The highest voted proposals go to the next Sprint until they all face off in the Final. The winning proposal in the Final gets the bargeld.

The next Sprint is Monday, December 1. My proposal is in that one. Right now my standing is 62%.