Places to Look for Small Business Grant Money

A Home Business Article Contributed by Elizabeth Fox-Wise

It is Impossible to Say Just How Much Small Business Grant Money is Available

It is impossible to say exactly how many small business grants schemes there are out there at any given time. The Enterprise Advisory Service's main database usually contains over 3, 000 at any time not including those offered by local authorities. The reality of it is, most of this small business grant money goes to churches and non profit agencies, but there is a limited amount available for the private sector small business owner.

The First Step is Knowing Where to Look for Small Business Grants

Here are some places that may help you in your search for small business grants.

European business grants

The European Union is a vast source of funds for business of all sizes, and the money is usually distributed through the European Commission. This organization administers a number of schemes through what are known as Structural funds. There are also specific category business grant schemes such as for business involved in agriculture for example.

The federal government does NOT offer free business grants, but they do offer loans and other programs for small business funding.

Local grants

In addition to the local government authorities, which is potentially your best chance of securing a small business grant, there are also a number of local based agencies and organizations which have been established specifically to support and encourage enterprise at the local level.

Small Business Grant Eligibility

Each individual small business grant scheme has its own set of criteria to determine whether a business or project is worthy of receiving its money. There is no business or industry sector which is excluded from applying for assistance. The vast majority of small business grant schemes are without any major application restrictions. But for those small business grants which do, eligibility tends to fall into three main categories – location, size and industry.

How to Apply for a Small Business Grant

Have a meeting with the small business grant provider about your chances of success before spending too much time preparing for the application.

Prepare a good business plan and back everything up with research.

Ensure you can commit enough time to the application and that its worth this time investment.

Make sure you can actually deliver results, as the small business grant money can be withdrawn if you don't achieve agreed upon targets and goals.

Consider getting involved in partnerships. Public/private sector partnerships can be strong and sometimes essential and overseas partners will be essential for European schemes.

Consider how you will match funds of the grant, as it will rarely cover more than 50% of the project cost and you must have the matching 50% available at time of approval of grant.

Always proceed with auction and read ALL of the fine print, and might also want to have someone else check your application for clarity and any mistakes.

Don't spend money on gimmicks that promise to find you all kinds of free grant money. There is not that much grant money available and any that is out there can be found for free by contacting local government agencies.