Government Business Grants – Part I

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Have you considered government business grants for you start up capital?

A lot of people have great ideas for businesses, but no capital to start with. No matter what business you start, it takes at least a little seed money. You can get a bank loan, a home equity loan, or borrow from friends. A lot of entrepreneurs have less than the best credit (it's in the nature of a risk taker). You might not own a home, or if you do not might want to put more debt on it, especially right now. Also, your friends might not have the kind of money you need. Does that mean you just roll over and quit? No!

Another great source of money is grants from government and private institutions. Money from both of these can be used to start a business. It gets even better if you are a woman or a minority, or both.

You do not have to pay back grants, while you do have to pay back loans, or if you are borrowing from a friend, at least give them some equity. Looked at like this, grants might not be your last resort, but your first.

How easy is it to get grants? Well, it is not that easy. But then starting a business and surviving is not easy either. If it is easy you are looking after, you might as well pack up and go home. Entrepreneurship is not for the feint of heart.

The fact that grant money is free makes grants very competitive. That also makes them worth going after.

There will be a world of paperwork to fill out and hoops to jump through. But there are a ton of resources on the Internet to help you through all of this. Two resources I really like are The Foundation Center, a non-profit which is the nation's leading authority on philanthropy, and a federal website called Grants.gov, which has over a thousand grants registered, along with lots of other information.

You can find other resources at my website.

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Source by Lee Cole