Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

As a female entrepreneur looking for funding I am always asked have I looked into grants.  I have looked into grants but have had no luck. 
Are there any for- profit business owner out there that have successful secure grant funding?
If so please share....

I`m interested in this, for my sister. I`ve been one of those folks who`ve oh-so-casually said, "Well, maybe you can get a grant." :-) I know how easy it is to be cavalier without having a lot of actual experience.

I`ve heard that grants are available for many things, and often are focused on a particular demographic group. Women, for instance, seem to be such a group where foundations or government organizations are promoting women-owned businesses, using grants. Did you find this to be true, or are you trying to find out whether the statement even is accurate?

So I think it`d be useful for a lot of reasons if you would take a minute to list out some of the ways in which you`ve tried to research grants, or find grants, or ways by which you`ve gone about trying.

What are some of the online resources you`ve used? Have you spent time first on understanding the grant process, or have you looked for places that actually provide grants?

Would you say that your search has been for the purpose of starting a business, or more toward supporting a business?

Hey Najah-

I have extensive experience working with grants and I can tell you that government funding for for-profit businesses is not at all what some people would lead you to believe (an "unknown" free-for-all for asking). There are books and seminars and all sorts of people out there who will tell you that they know the "secrets" for obtaining grants to start or expand a business. I`ve never (and I mean never) run across one of those that is legitimate. The facts are this:

1. The majority of federal grants are administered through states, counties and cities-not handed out directly to organizations or businesses.
2. Nearly all grants awarded to a for-profit company are for highly specific purposes (usually research or technology-oriented).
3. There are a few programs that support women-owned businesses but most of them are offered by foundations, not the government.
4. ALL of the "secret" or "little known" information about government grant programs that someone promises to provide you is available for free online.
5. Your best bet for finding any kind of government-sponsored program that would support you is to check with your local city or county.

The bottom line is this-be very wary of anybody who promises to guide you along for a fee.

Good luck,
Ron

Thanks everyone for the great post!

Ron and BizDevGuy thanks for confirming my feelings about these so called grant resources.

nwallace,

FYI

The Federal Government has two huge grant programs (SBIR and STTR)  which were designed for small businesses. However, they are primarily for "technology" development. 

Each major section of the government (Defense, Agriculture, etc) provides these grants for specific things which they define annually. These grants are administered through the SBA. For more info - http://www.sba.gov/SBIR/

These are not intended for starting a business.

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Business Growth Masters, LLC -
Capital Catalysts for Entrepreneurs
Home of the Scalable Business Plan and QuikStart Capital Programs
http://www.bizgrowthmasters.com
info@bizgrowthmasters.com

Many people each year fall to this, and end up forking a lot money into grant research. Do not believe people that there is grant money available over the internet. Your best chance is at your local government. Find out where they are trying to redevelop a run down business district, and see if you can insert a business in the area. Sometimes the city would have received grants from the government, so that they can provide a loan to help you get started up.

This has been really helpful to me! I`d thought money was, indeed, available sort of in a bucket, where you just figure out how to get into that funding. My sister`s possible idea will be dovetailed to government services anyway, and now we`ll look more in to the specific local city and state government. Thanks! :-)

Najah, I`m in a similar situation as you. I am starting a business and looking for funding. I`ve just started working with a local Small Business Development Center (funded partially by the SBA) and was told that there are some funding options open to me as a woman business owner. It was not grant money, but probably loans (I did not get details, it was a short consultation leading to further help later.)

Do you have access to an incubation center such as this? Also, search the SBA web site for minority/women business funding to see what they offer and what the requirements are.

I spent a short time researching online grant money and found it to be scams and ways to part me from my hard-earned money.  I don`t plan to waste any more time with that. If I can`t speak directly to someone who can give me real information and not just "leads", then I won`t spend time on it.

A tidbit - it may be useful to pursue certification as a woman-owned business if you want to pursue government and corporate clients. They need to do a certain amount of business with minority companies so if your business is certified, it helps to get those contracts. 

Best of luck to you. When you get some good answers, it would be great to have you post back here so we can be encouraged :-)


ps - I took a grant writing class last spring for a non-profit I volunteered with. Some things I learned:  1) Most grants through the government seem to be for non-profit organizations.  2) No matter how narrow your niche may be, there will probably be a foundation somewhere that has money and is willing to help you.  3) Keep looking. Your dream is worth pursuing.  

If you have access to an adult-ed grant writing course, I suggest it because you learn how much goes into actually preparing one (about the same as writing your business plan)  and you get lots of info on where to look for the less-common grantors.

Unfortunately, the cold, hard facts are that there are no shortcuts to funding a new startup. Forget about grants and forget about free money just because you are a minority and/or disabled.

 

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Sylvia Freelance Business Plan Writer

Bootstrapping really does work, too. And after enough years of growth, demonstrating a viable business and product, it helps when it comes time to convince someone to lend money.