Government Loan Grants

1. Smilin' Fred Said,

   Your business – you find the resources. If it’s a good business plan with competent people, investors will be lining up.

   No line? Recheck the Plan.

2. GE44 Said,

   Check on-line, U S Government pages. Plenty of grants. Then your state and local governments pages. Local colleges business deptartments could help you. Some cities have programs available, depending on location. But of course, wanting a business with “grant” (reads free) money indicates you hesitate to take a risk, which EVERY business is. If you are hesitant to loose what you have you may never reap the rewards of gambling for what you want.

3. imisidro Said,

   You stand a greater chance of getting a government-guaranteed loan through the Small Business Administration than a government grant. Read the SBA Financing page to learn about criteria needed for borrowing

   As a woman-owned business, you can get certified in order to better compete in the government contracting process – here’s the SBA page . Another certification you can get is from the WBENC and WBDC

   But NOT for grants. It is hard to find grants to start a business — both for men and women, minorities or non minorities. Unlike the myths that some perpetuate, federal government and even private foundations hardly give grant money for a for-profit business.

   Nonetheless, you can go to the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) and Grants.gov – these are two sites created by the federal government to provide transparency and information on grants. Browse through the listings and see if you can find any grant that would support a for-profit venture.

   Even if you buy books on “how to get grants” or list that supposedly has information on grants — all of them are mere rehash of what CFDA has, albeit packaged differently. But still the info is the same – hardly any grants for starting a for profit business.

   Even SBA does NOT give out grants. From the SBA website

   “The U.S. Small Business Administration does not offer grants to start or expand small businesses, although it does offer a wide variety of loan programs. (See for more information) While SBA does offer some grant programs, these are generally designed to expand and enhance organizations that provide small business management, technical, or financial assistance. These grants generally support non-profit organizations, intermediary lending institutions, and state and local governments.”

   Here is a listing of federal grants for small businesses. See if there is any available for individuals for starting a business — THERE’S NONE.

   Most of the federal grants are given to specific target groups with specific requirements (e.g. minority business owners involved in transportation related contracts emanating from DOT – Grant#20.905 Disadvantaged Business Enterprises Short Term Lending Program

   Grants are also often given to non profit groups or organizations involved in training or other similar activities (grant 59.043 Women’s Business Ownership Assistance that are given to those who will create women’s business center that will train women entrepreneurs

   I suggest you read the following books to get ideas of how to finance your business:

   Financing Your Small Business
   Small Business Financing: How and Where To Get It
   Financing the Small Business: A Complete Guide to Obtaining Bank Loans and All Other Types of Financing
   The SBA Loan Book
   Angel Capital : How to Raise Early-Stage Private Equity Financing
   Financing Your Small Business (Barron’s Business Library Series)

   For private grants, you may want to check the Foundation Center’s Foundation Grants for Individuals Online . It’s a subscription based website ($9.95 per month) but their opening blurb only says that the database is ideal for “students, artists, academic researchers, libraries and financial aid offices.” Entrepreneurs are apparently not one of them, so I take it they also don’t have listings of private foundations who give grants to would-be entrepreneurs.

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