Kid venture capital: here's how young people can look for cash.

Your child runs home excited one day. She's decided that her talents for crocheting can be used to start a business making clothes for dolls and stuffed animals. Now where can you get the money to finance her idea? Do you get on your knees and pray for a windfall? Or do you go to a commercial bank? Trina Taylor posed that very question to her parents, who ended up giving the 12th-grader a small loan.

Asking Mom and Pop for a loan is usually the first route kids take in securing capital. Going to family members for loans to get your business off the ground is not a bad path to follow. Say you were to ask 10 people for $20 each. That's $200 to get started probably enough to buy supplies.

But what if your family is strapped for cash and you require DAN $1,000 to get up and running? Now what? Off to see the wizard? Yes, the wonderful "financial wizards" who sit on venture capital boards. Venture capital boards exist at most youth entrepreneurial organizations. Usually made up of an executive committee and the divisional director of the program, their primary function is to review business plans and decide whether or not the plan warrants funding. If your child attends a business program, completes the required hours for entrepreneurial course instruction, and is prepared to logically and clearly state how the grant or loan will be distributed, up to $5,000 may be available to him or her.

Shannan Robinson, 17, plans to go to a venture board for capital to finance Sapphire, a clerical business she founded that produces resumes, cover letters, business cards and brochures. The bright young entrepreneur also intends to send a proposal to several local businesses that might invest in her company.

Unfortunately for young entrepreneurs such as Robinson, raising capital is the most difficult part of starting a business. Because young people lack experience and maturity, or they tend not to follow through on projects, business owners may shy away from investing in a kid venture. You also have the option of approaching credit unions or community organizations who have proven to be sensitive to the needs of young entrepreneurs. Strictly Business, a youth entrepreneurial program run under the auspices of the Citizens Committee for New York City Inc., works with displaced youth, former drug dealers and gang members. Strictly Business isn't giving away handouts, but young people who already have a business can get expansion start-up capital is available to those who have completed an entrepreneurial training program. In order to qualify for a revolving loan, the young person has to be sponsored by an adult mentor or a sponsoring organization.

But not every young adult should took to get a loan, says Julie Rainbow, assistant director of the University Community Outreach Program at the Wharton School of Business. Washing cars, repair work and babysitting are all viable, money-earning services that can be provided without seed money.

Another option is simply stashing away cash. By saving a percentage of her salary from a part-time job, for instance, your child could reach her financial goal in little or no time.