Grants and Assistance Programs for Small Business Owners

Generating revenue is the lifeline for small business owners. Business owners depend on grants, loans and assistance programs to launch their businesses. Some well-established businesses often need some type of financial assistance in the form of grants and assistance programs, also. If obtaining a loan is out of the question, identifying and applying for a grant is the natural next step for a small business owner. Although some federal funding streams have dried up, there are still several grants and assistance programs available for the small business owner.

Planning for Grants and Cooperative Agreement Awards
Some Universities hold classes in performance improvement areas such as grants and assistance. It is easy to do a Google search to find a comprehensive list of federal grant and assistance program educators. It would be better, however, to ask some of your peers who seem to be successful in the area of grant planning and application. Once you have selected a class, become familiar with the course outline before the class and prepare your questions ahead of time. These classes are useful for organizations that are not familiar with the grant application process, but the instructor may not touch on all of the questions that are specific to your organization.

Additionally, the federal government often offers free technically assistance through their website. View their free sources here.

If you have a new business, the Small Business Training Network is a great online resource. It allows the small business owner to focus on the area that best meets his/her needs.

By turning website into a real-time, 24 hour resource for small business owners, the SBA allows their customers to take advantage of training programs and capture critical data at the same time.

Their tools help you answer these questions:
1. How Much Do I Need?
2. What Will I Invest?
3. What Kind of Funding is Right for Me?
4. Where Can I Find Funding?
5. How Do I Secure Funding?
6. Why Think About the Future?

Additionally, the NASE has small business grants available. Grant information and application are available here.