Saturday, October 23, 2010

Financing a New Business - How to Find Government Small Business Grants

This video was my original inspiration for researching and ultimately winning my small business grant.

There's nothing like a pretty face inspire action :)

Starting a New Business With Grant Funding

Here's an article I found very helpful...

Simply put grants are sums of free money you can receive and spend and you will not have to pay the money back (except for under rare circumstances where you misuse the grant money). In other words the loan is not being granted on the status of your business but being granted on your personal financial status. While others have for hire services such as building your proposal that must be forwarded with the small business grants application. Be sure to check out Grants.gov, they offer a ton of great information and several guides that will help you apply for free grants with little hassle.

Business grants could be one of the most important financial tools that nearly all businesses would need. They may not be the single most significant support businesses could have, but they can get definitely help you start the business right, especially when building passive income sources.

Business grants refer to a particular amount of money that is being granted by the government to a particular business. Some people may have thought of it as a “free financial support” from the government, but they are not. That is because there is an equivalent effort, time, and sweat entailed when requesting for grants.

Moreover, not all businesses can avail of business grants. Even if the government provides business grants to support businesses, certain qualifications are required prior to the approval of the business grants.

Primarily, your business should be a not-for-profit organization or it should include an expansion of a new knowledge or technology. If your business does not fall under these categories, you are not qualified for a business grant. There are plenty of resources on the Internet if you wish to brainstorm small business ideas.

However, there are some instances that the government may award business grants if your business can prove that it can develop a new technology for economic advancement or if you can meet the requirements. You need to accomplish all the prerequisites at an agreed period to get the business grant. If in case you failed to meet the deadline, your request for a business grant will not be approved.

Secondly, your business should have a business plan. If you think you can qualify for business grants, you should consider having a business plan as well.

Getting the first stage of the application is just the start of your journey. You need to create a business plan in order to guarantee the government that you really intend to develop your business and help the economy. In this way, you can show them that your business aims to develop a knowledge that will boost the country’s economy.

What most unsuccessful businesses failed to realize is that business plans are extremely important when establishing a business. Statistical reports show that more than 85% of unsuccessful businesses do not have business plans.

The most common problem is that businesses only create business plans to reach their primary goal, that is, to increase their finances. What they do not know is that businesses need business plans to create an effective line of attack. Plus, these also serve as a gauge of the present achievement.

So if you want to obtain a business grant, you must create a business plan. In this way, the government can tell if you really have a strong marketing strategy and if you intend to boost the economy as much as you want to increase your finances.