In Government Grants for Women Part I, I told you about the great websites, Grants.gov and The Foundation Center, which you can find by Googling the name. Both of these are excellent resources for those looking for grants.
As to grants for starting businesses, the federal government is very interested in helping women and minorities get into entrepreneurship. So, a number of business related grants are geared toward helping minorities.
The only problem is what type of business to start.
Of course, there are an endless number of possibilities, here. Let’s take one, though, and discuss it.
You might want to think about starting a day care center. Day care is big business in the United States. It is the norm to have both parents work, so they need to have somewhere to put their children during the day. An entrepreneur can make big bucks with day care centers. I read recently about a woman who started a day care center in New Jersey, then expanded into a chain, then sold her business for several million dollars.
Day care is a fairly low tech business to start. Other than basic business skills, which you can pick up, there is no specialized knowledge you need. There are a number of local and state regulations you need to understand and follow, but all that takes is a willingness to find out what they are. All in all, day care can be an extremely profitable business.
You might be thinking you do not want to be surrounded by kids the rest of your working career. Well, get your business to a certain point, then hire a manager. You can stay in the office working on the back end of things.
There is enormous marketing potential with day care centers. I can think of a dozen or so cross-sell and up-sell products you might want to try. A cross-sell is another product you sell at the time of the original sale or after the original sale. An up-sell is a better, more expensive product you offer someone when they decide to buy. For example, let’s say some one decides to enroll their child in your day care from 9-12, Monday through Friday. A good up-sell might be something like offering them more tutoring services during that time, or offering them some number of pre-paid parents’ night out time.
Locate your day care in a good section of town, drawing from people who have more, not less, money to spend, and the sky will literally be the limit.
A day care would be an excellent business for a woman, minority or not, to try to fund with grant money. There would be a number of grants that might be helpful. The only problem is finding out about them. For that, you will need more resources. You can find out more about government grants for women from my website, which you can reach through the link in my bio box.
By: Lee Cole
Did you know that there are very real government grant programs that award women $100,000 to help you start your own business?
Fact: It is much easier to get a government grant than a bank loan during our recession. In fact, any you could receive up to $500,000 to start a your own company or up to $100,000 to work from the privacy and the comfort of your own home.
In order to qualify for these grants you only need to be 18 years of age and a legal US citizen. After this, you only need to decide which grant program that you would like to apply for.
The US government awards over 5,000,000 grants and more each year. The reason why this information is not common knowledge is because the government does not advertise these programs. In fact, even though we are in a recession. The US government will still issue out over 1 Trillion in grant funding.
American families that have incomes in ranges from 10,000-$100,000 per year receive grants to help them start business. In fact, the US government has many programs just for women that can help you start your own business.
Women can finally escape the rat race and get away from the daily grind and migrate towards their own business with money that:
1. You never have to pay back.
2. Is never taxed.
3. Can be applied for over and over again.
4. Does not require any credit check.
Every American woman should apply for as many grant programs as possible.
This is free only for US citizens.
By: Mark Snowfire
Many Moms with a passion for making a difference are starting their own businesses. These motivated Moms introduce products, services, and opportunities to the market place that meet needs, provide valuable services, and deliver goods that people love. Funding is often a problem for any business start-up, but grants for Moms are available, and in greater abundance than many would guess! You want a source for the most accurate information about finding grants for Moms who want to succeed in business.
Let your search for the right grant begin with these proven sources:
The Small Business Administration’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership: The federal government has thousands of grants available for women who have a sound business plan and the passion to make it work. Women entrepreneurs are succeeding as never before, and the Office of Women’s Business Ownership is providing inspiration, education, mentoring, and funding for new start-ups and for established businesses that want to expand.
The Women’s Funding Network: This private group works with public organizations and private sources to promote effective alliances among women business owners, including Moms, and the sources of funding required to launch their businesses toward success.
TAP – The Ada Project for Women: Geared toward the sciences, this organization supplies helpful information on conferences for all women business owners, as well as sources for applying for grants for business start ups owned by Moms and other women.
Count Me In: This grassroots source of funding organizes women with funds to loan or give, and makes those funds available to other women who are looking to start or expand a business. They provide the application and review process, award the grants and loans, and offer mentoring for all recipients.
While these organizations are well established and legitimate, there are many frauds lurking out there as well. They offer grants and ask for high fees for applying, but deliver nothing but disappointment.
By: Cathy Yeatts
These days, we can see plenty of ads everywhere that promise to offer the most beneficial minority small business grants. Everything seems perfect and nice – the ads are colored and shiny, the slogans are attractive and capture the interest of the reader. But before we get all eager to start the application for the minority small business grants, we should look a little deeper than just on some piece of paper that advertises and gives us hopes.
When you read the ads that talk about all the free money you can get and all the highly profitable grants, you should think twice: can these minority small business grants be real? The answer is simple: “no”. There is no such thing as grants offered for free, without interest or paying back specifications, in case you are interested in opening a small business. There are, however, grants that are allocated to organizations that fight for good causes – but these types of foundations are non-profit ones. If you want to find out more about the type of organizations that can actually obtain funds, also known as minority small business grants, then you should know that they must be dedicated to improving one aspect of the community. An area which does not have running water, for example, welcomes people with viable projects and these people can count on the government’s support.
But obtaining free money is not easy at all, since there are many criteria of eligibility. For starters, you must have a very perfect-looking credit card history and you must prove that you are part of an ethnic group – even though these grants are also allocated to women and in this case, they are known as small business grants for women. The most popular business ideas that can get the government’s support regard heath and education, but also environmental aspects and animal care.
Some people claim, on various blogs or in certain communities that they have obtained substantial funds from the government, which they refer to as minority small business grants. Well, these people actually refer to loans, and not exactly grants – which means that the money needs to be paid back and there is also an interest involved. However, these minority small business grants, or, better said, loan programs, can be quite advantageous, financially speaking and they seem to appeal to people who need funds in order to continue their education or to purchase different goods.
Even though the above facts might sound a little too discouraging, the facts are that these programs do exist, but are simply misinterpreted. If you think you are eligible, meaning that you are part of a minority group and if you have a non-profitable business idea in mind, then you can start thinking about applying for minority small business grants. Minority small business grants seem to have gained a lot of popularity, yet not many are aware of their true meaning and purpose. But since you have found out what exactly these free funds represent, you can start thinking whether they worth your interest or not. Act to your advantage!
By: Sam Ness
When you apply for a grant you have nothing to lose but a little bit of time, but the rewards of getting approved are well worth it. Who doesn’t want free money? Getting grants for women-owned businesses are easier because the business world is still dominated and led by men, and being in the minority makes getting grants much easier.
Obviously on any kind of grants there are certain requirements, but there are grants for just about practically any business that are available in the market. There are some general requirements for getting the grants. One, you have to own a minimum of 51% of your business, in order to be a good candidate for getting a women/minority small business grant. Second thing is that you must be able to show to the government representatives that you have a clean credit history or in another words, show responsibility and follow through with your financial commitments. For some people its an obvious that this is not an easy thing to achieve, especially if you have had financial troubles. While there are simply no “delete” buttons for a flawed history in a few days or even months, if you really want to get one of the small business grants for women, still repair your credit as much as possible before applying for grants.
The next step is to get a good strategy. A well organized, creative, and powerful business plan is what you need. And for a woman who has a very high creativity and is well organized, this should be a walk in the park. To make your idea stand out, you need to have a strong and original, as well as worthy enough idea that will be profitable. This combined with the tendency of grants to lean toward helping women rise in businesses will make you a shoe-in for grants written for that kind of thing.
Another idea you should definitely take into consideration when conceiving your business plan is the fact that you should take a look in your community and look for services it lacks. Think about what your area or city might need, and especially look for something “grant friendly” like something to help the elderly or children. By putting these things as one of your future goals on your women business grants applications you will have a better chance on getting it. The key is to get the point where it’s not only going to profit yourself, but it will also be a large benefit to society.
So get started today; apply for small business grants for women in get your grant money as soon as possible. After obtaining the small business grants for women, your only worries should be spending the funds the right way to expand and run your business. Good luck with your small business project!
By: Rose Basile
There are small business grants for women who want to expand their businesses or simply start one up. Money can limit your expansion but you need not worry because you can get financial assistance from the government or private agencies.
These grants are usually free and can help you solve a number of financial problems, which can ruin your business. It is a challenge to get the funds because most grantors are looking for businesses which are likely to be successful and benefit other people in the community.
Here are some steps to help you get business grants for women quickly and easily.
To get the grants you need to send a well written grant proposal cover letter. This allows the grantor to know your requirements and makes you get the grant if it is convincing. It should have some eye catching points which will attract the reviewer and make it possible to get the free money. The letter should be typed and make it short to the point. Avoid getting into much detail and make sure that there are no grammatical errors and this will be a good way to show how well organized you are. You have to write a summary which should go with the cover letter. This is important and plays a major role in getting you the grants. The summary should be attention grabbing and should contain major points from your proposal. Make sure that your proposal is clear, complete and correct. This means that you have to give correct information and be honest. Do not lie to create a good impression because you will get caught by the evaluators. Make sure that you stick to the rules of writing business grants for women proposal. This will reduce the chances of your proposal getting rejected.
By: Laura Altbrite
The great thing about government grants for small business compared with loans is you do not have to pay the grants back! This is a huge benefit for anyone interested in funding a business. This is also why so many entrepreneurs try to secure grant money for their start ups. Actually, finding a grant that will fit your needs (and for which your business might qualify) is not that hard. There are tons of great resources out there, some of which you can get to from my website, below. The real problem is not finding a suitable grant, but in actually getting it.
The fact you do not have to repay grant money makes them all the more competitive. Do not worry, though. There is a lot of support for business owners who are interested in grants. To actually get a grant, though, you have to be prepared, just as you would need to prepare yourself if you were approaching an angel investor. Here are some steps that will help you, if you follow them.
Probably you will want to start your grant search at the state level. Get on the Internet and find websites from the state you live in that address grants. Better yet, call! Getting hold of the right individual can save hours of searching on the Internet. For federal grants, check out the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance.
Just as you would prepare a business plan for a bank loan or an individual investor, you will need to do the same thing to prepare for applying for grants. You will need a reasonable projection of cash flow over the next five or so years. When you write your business plan, make sure you do not just look at the world through rose colored glasses. Plan for emergencies, and for everything costing at least 20 to 30% more, and taking twice as long to do .
If you are serious about this, you will want the help of an accountant and lawyer.
More about this is Part II.
By: Lee Cole
With the economy in the state that it is, the government is trying a number of methods to help small businesses stay afloat and to start out. If you are a woman in business then there are grants available just for you! These grants for women owned businesses are basically free cash sums that can be used however you need to.
Many women are unaware that such grants exist for their business, mainly due to the fact that the government does not heavily advertise them. However, they are there as a way of helping the American economy, and provide a valuable aid to those who can help to get the economy back on track with valuable business assets.
Traditionally, women and minority groups have a hard time getting recognised in business, and this is why the government is finally providing this long-awaited support. Due to the fact that many of these people are now unable to get business loans in the traditional way (from the banks), this is an important factor to consider if you think you are eligible for the grant. This can help you to build up your business if you don’t already have the cash to do so.
All you need is to be 18 or older, and female, to apply for this grant. In fact, the government has millions invested in these grants for women owned business and they are willing to give it to anyone who shows real potential in the business world. The grant amount will vary according to your business ideas. The most important step is to ask for the money, so get started in your application as soon as possible!
By: Andrea Brown
Grants for minority women provide financial assistance for those who are interested in starting a business or going back to school, but can’t take the financial risk. The government realizes the financial pressures you may be under, but is also aware that the success of minority women is critical.
This is a rapidly growing demographic of individuals who are entering the professional workforce and starting their entrepreneurial endeavors. As a result, they are going back to school, creating jobs with their new businesses, and providing more tax dollars.
At a rather fast rate, minority women have become an important piece to the health of the American economic system, which is why grants are becoming more and more available.
The government, however, is not the only entity interested in the success of minority women. Grants are also being made available through many private and non-profit institutions – particularly at the local level.
When you community is able to show an increase in minority women businesses that are having success, they attract new business owners and receive more resources from the state and national government agencies. That is why these government and non-profit organizations are so willing to do what they can to ensure your business succeeds.
The application process can be somewhat overwhelming for these programs, which is why the grant kit is almost a necessary piece to obtaining grants for minority women. You’ll have access to the database of the currently funded programs that you can apply for today, and have the resources you need to appropriately apply and obtain this money to go back to college, get professional training, or start your own business.
By: Melissa Sabella