Chapter 3 Agriculture as a Career 107 Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Entrepreneurship SAEs are the type most likely to require a financial investment up front. This is because you are essentially starting your own business enterprise. Thinking through how much money you have available can guide your selection of an SAE. Will you need to have money to purchase an animal for your show animal project? Will you need to purchase advertising materials for your landscaping business? Many students rely on short-term loans from their parents to get the funds needed to start their SAE. In addition, there are several organizations that will provide grants and loans to students for initial SAE costs. Equipment/Facilities The last category of resources you should consider is the special equipment or facilities you have available. For example, if you want to conduct a research SAE on growth patterns of greenhouse plants, you would need to have access to a greenhouse. Look around your agriculture program for available resources. By making a list of the equipment and facilities you have at home, school, or in other locations, you might be able to come up with a great idea for an SAE. Your equipment or facilities may change over the course of time. An SAE improvement project is an enterprise undertaken to make changes to your SAE for the better. Some examples of improvement projects are designing a new website for your business, restoring an old piece of equipment, or building a new facility for use with your existing SAE enterprises, Figure 3-12. OLJ Studio/Shutterstock.com Figure 3-11. The amount of money you have to spend on SAE resources, and the amount you hope to profit from your SAE, are factors to use in making your selection. rawmn/Shutterstock.com Figure 3-12. Restoring an old piece of equipment for use with one of your SAE enterprises is an example of an improvement project.