Are Small Business Grants worth your time ?
As an entrepreneur the uppermost thing in you mind is financing and with limited funds and dire need of capital you will invariable think of grants for small business. You may heard stories about the governemnet grants and billions of dollars being set aside by the government for small businesses.It sounds easy , find a small business grant, apply and voila you get the much needed grant.
Let me clear the air for you, most US government departments like the Deptt of Commerce, do not provide grants for small businesses.Most of the grants you would find will be through the state government organizations and they also tie it up to a specific objective they are pursuing like the minority uplifment or specific fields like cancer research or education or even more specific like aglicultural communities etc.
This then begets the question that whether grants for small business owner like you are really worth pursuing.On an average it may take upto two weeks of search for you to find a specific grant. Finding is always not enough , you need to meet the spcific eligibility criteria for the grant like experience, sex, community etc. Now you stop and think again if you need to spend your time going through the application process.Think about the process and ask your a few probing questions because at the start up stage for you time is money.
Will you be able to spare time for searching the grant that meets your requirment? Weeks can go by without you finding a grant that fite the bill.
Do you have the money or rather would like to spend the money to hire a consultant or a grant writer?You can spend this money in marketing, promotion or simply put it in researching your market.
Think whether you really need the money at this stage of the business or you could live without it for the initial year or two ?
There are a number of resources there to help you find the right grant like the Foundation center or the Grant.gov or even the small business administration website.Browse through them and you will be able to zero in on a few possibilities.
Some tips will come in handy for applying the grant, which means you can save some time and reduce the odss of rejection.
1) Accuracy and transparency is one of the foremost requirement when writing a grant application.
2) Make sure you know everything about the deaprtment you are applying to, in turn it will help you understand the constraints and work those in your favor.
3) Use consultants and experts if needed. Also, use a consultant for preparing a well laid out business plan.
If you have already decided that grants for small business outweigh the demands on your time, then make sure that you are diligent and thorough coupled with lots of patience and persistence.
Filed Under Applying for Government Grants, Grants Application process, Small Business grants | Leave a Comment
Tagged With Foundation Center, grants for small business, Grants.gov, state government grants
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