Small Business Grants

Starting small businesses cost money. Although you could apply for a small business loan to get you going, there is an alternative available - one overlooked by the majority of prospective small business owners - and that is small business grants.

Small business grants could be excellent sources for starting capital because you generally don't have to repay the money. The disadvantage is that the process for obtaining small business grants is time-consuming and slow, and the grants offered may not necessarily meet your total funding requirements.

There is one overriding principle for obtaining small business grants: you must make your application and have the ambit of the assistance agreed upon before you start your business. Many small businesses miss out on small business grants because they do not follow this simple rule. Don't first start your business and then start looking for small business grants afterwards. Rather invest a little bit of extra time researching potential grants while you gather information for your business plan.

The research is necessary because institutions providing small business grants will sometimes only extend assistance to specific areas of the planned business. Some may focus on job creation, whereas others may focus on investment in new plants and machinery. There are instances where no restrictions are imposed. If this is the case, just about any project can qualify and nothing more than a simple application is needed.

When you receive literature about the small business grants, read these carefully. Find out how and when the application should be made and what supporting documents you need to submit. Supporting documents could mean anything from a full business plan to a realistic 3-year financial projection.

By having only a small amount of debt to contend with when starting out, you will significantly diminish the financial pressure on your business. This should be motivation enough to embark upon the onerous journey towards securing a small business grant for your planned new business instead of following the well-trodden path leading towards the burden of a repayable small business loan.