Grants for Small Business Startup: Your Options

Grants for Small Business Startup: Before you go and take out huge loans to finance your business you should take the time to research small business startup grants. Grants are essentially free money and usually don’t have to be repaid. You probably won’t be able to fully fund your startup through grants, but it makes sense to use them as a means of reducing the amount of debt you incur before even starting your business.

There are a number of grant options available to you so it’s going to take some time to do the research to determine which one(s) is right for you. For example, there are grants that are specific to transportation, the environment, and health and safety. If your business impacts one of those areas then you would want to target those specific grants.

One of the first places you should visit is the Small Business Administration (SBA). There is usually a branch in most cities where you can sit down face-to-face with a representative, or you can visit their website (sba.gov). Most of the local SBA offices cooperate with the consultant service Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) which works with new and startup business.

These two organizations will help you with every step of this process and will guide you towards the small business startup grant that makes the most sense.

The process of getting any grants for small business startup will begin with establishing a business plan that will have to be in place prior to applying for any grant or loan. This plan will include your financial statements, what type, if any collateral you’ll have for obtaining funding, a market analysis of the area, and a statement of your personal experience.

Nearly all of the services provided by the SBA are free. Keep in mind that the SBA itself does not actually loan or provide money. This organization will provide surety for loans and will help you go through the application processes for both loans and grants (which can be quite intense and time-consuming) and provide support at various stages of operation.

Some of the items you’ll need to have in place will include your personal credit history. You should get credit reports from the three major credit reporting agencies. This task should be initiated very early so you can make sure there are no errors or discrepancies in your history. If there are you’ll need to take immediate action to have the errors fixed or removed. It can be very difficult to obtain grants for small business startup if your credit history is less than stellar.

By taking the time to research and apply for any small business startup grant you may be able to dramatically reduce the amount of debt you start your new business with. This means you’ll be able to see a profit a lot sooner as well.

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