Mother of two with medical problems wants to start a business or nonprofit. That could get complicated.

QUESTION.
I will start by tell you a little back ground. I'm a 36-year-old single mother of two. About three years ago I was diagnosed with a seizer disorder and taken out of work. I have always been a very strong-willed and independent person. After losing my job, home, car and moving in with my mom having a pity party for about six month and going through all the tests and adjusting to the medicine, I borrowed some money to start my own company and rented a couple homes and sub-leased them to low income families . Needless to say I spent more money than I made so now here I am with $50 in my bank account.

My question is about fundraising. I want to raise money for my company and use it to buy homes or rehab homes for low income families. Where should I start? I do have a LLC with my current Company. Should I us it, or start a new business or nonprofit? How difficult is it to start a nonprofit? Is it legal to have a fundraiser if it's for-profit business? Please help. I really Just want to help others.

ANSWER.
There are just too many questions for me to answer via email counseling. Furthermore, you need quite a bit of explanation in the answers. I recommend you visit your local SCORE chapter and schedule a face-to-face meeting with two SCORE volunteers to discuss your options. CLICK HERE and type your home zip code to find the chapter nearest you. The meetings are free.

I hope my comments are helpful to you. Good luck! Regards, -Jeff

Jeff Lippincott
SCORE.org Counselor
Princeton, NJ
scoreprinceton @ aol.com
www.scoreprinceton.org
www.jlippin.com