Small business grants are not just given away by government agencies or private institutions for helping you start your business. There needs to be a particular interest in your project in order for them to provide the funding that you need. And it’s not enough to have a good idea in order to obtain finance for it; you need to have a well made business project to convince them of your eligibility.

No Credit Or Income Requirements?

Though there is no need to reimburse the money on government grants, claims that state that there is no credit or income requirement in order to get approved for a government grant are far from being truth. Truth is that the requirements for approval are not present in the same sense as on private or federal loans but there is still a qualification process.

You may wonder then, what is needed in order to qualify for a government grant. The idea is that you’ll need to show that your business project is viable, and thus, you’ll need to show that you can be trusted which implies having a fair credit score and the ability to generate a proper income to show proof of the business viability.

Presenting a Viable Business Project

What you need to understand is that prior to requesting a government grant, you’ll need to prepare a presentation of your business project. This obviously implies having a project and not just a mere idea. There must be certain degree of research done with market analysis to prove the viability of the business and the income generation capacity.

Though the money doesn’t need to be returned, the government agency is interested in investing the money in a project that will endure in time and that will keep generating job positions and revenues thus boosting the economy and the welfare of the nation. The particular requirements of each government grant need to be consulted with the government agency that provides them.

Getting Approved For a Government Grant

The key to getting approved for a government grant is to present an appealing business project that shows great feasibility and relates to those fields that the government is interested in promoting. If you don’t meat the requirements for a government grant approval, there is not much you can do about it. Yet, if you do qualify, it is important to be well informed prior to applying in order to take the proper steps and avoid getting declined due to bureaucratic reasons.

If you can’t qualify for a government grant, don’t despair and use the opportunity to consult about government business loans that are sometimes offered with subsidized interest rates and very affordable payments.

Sarah Dinkins is an Expert Loan Consultant at Badcreditfinancialexperts.com where she helps people to repair their credit and to get approved for home loans, unsecured personal loans, student loans, car loans and other types of loans and financial products. If you need more useful articles find them here with more professional advice on the financial field.

The SBIR Program

The SBIR program was created in 1982 as part of the Small Business Innovation Development Act. Eleven Federal departments and agencies are required under this act to reserve a portion of their R&D funds to be awarded to small businesses each year.

To receive an award under this program, a company must be American-owned and independently operated, for-profit, and under 500 employees. Additionally, the principal researcher must be employed at least 51% of the time by the business. There is still some debate as to whether venture-backed companies qualify if the VCs own more than 50%. Speak with the program manager to determine your eligibility if you fall in this category. Each agency determines its own topics and amounts for the awards (within parameters). The websites for all the SBIR programs are listed on the DoD SBIR webpage.

The Latest NSF Solicitation

The NSF has a fairly comprehensive website that covers the submission guidelines. Your life will be easier if you review this site long before the submission deadline. The deadline for the spring 2008 round is December 4, 2007 at 5:00 pm. They are not kidding about the cutoff time. The topic for this solicitation is Emerging Opportunities in Bio & Environmental Technologies (BE), Components & Systems (CS), and Software & Services (SS).

The Phase I will be for no more than $100,000. You are usually notified four to six months after the proposal has been submitted. If you should win this grant, you will begin the grant period on July 1, 2008. You get 2/3 of the money up front and 1/3 at the end. After six months of research, should you find success, you may apply for a Phase II grant up to $500,000. Again, you may apply in either January or July following the completion and, if successful, you will receive your funds in another six months: 25% up front, 15% at the end, and 20% three times during the course of the project. A Phase II is usually 24 months. Please note, that for the first year, you are spreading a small amount of money over a pretty long period. This is useful for funding some of your development with non-dilutive funds, but not particularly useful at providing working capital.

Winning Your Phase I

1. Understand the solicitation topic: they are very serious about sticking to the topics. The topics for this round are fairly broad, but if you have an advanced material that decreases the wind resistance on airplane, it doesn’t matter how fabulous it is, you will have to wait until the Advanced Materials solicitation. Call the program officer and find out if they are interested before you do all the work on the proposal.
2. Have an innovative technology. They are not interesting in funding improvements. Additionally, the proposal is reviewed by someone who really understands the technology. Don’t skimp on technical details because you assume the reader can’t understand it. If the program manager doesn’t understand what you are doing, they will find someone who does. You will not be successful if they don’t have the information necessary to understand what you are attempting to do.
3. Have a good commercialization plan. In Phase I, they are not expecting an extensive business plan, with a full marketing campaign defined. They are, however, going to expect you to have a good understanding of who might buy this product, why they would want to buy it, and what they might be willing to spend for it. They will also expect that the market be at least large enough to support your company as a commercial venture. And never, never say “there isn’t a market yet for my product because it’s so innovative” or “there are no competitors for my product.” When the car was invented, the market was everyone who owned a horse and wagon. Competitors were everything that could move a person from one spot to another.
4. Provide letters of support. It is actually a requirement for this solicitation, but even when it is not a requirement, it’s a really good idea. Good letters of support come from representatives of companies that will be interested in buying your product. In the best case, they will say that they will buy it, if you are successful. Often the easiest thing to do is write the letter yourself and ask the representative to copy it onto his or her company letterhead and sign it. If you include multiple letters, don’t provide the same copy to every supporter – it makes you look like an idiot.
5. Call the program officer well before the due date. Okay, I said this before, but it bears repeating in case you missed it. The program managers whom I have met are intelligent, dedicated people. They are very excited about these technologies and knowledgeable in their areas of expertise. They can be very helpful in developing your proposal. That being said, don’t pester them on little details, they are also very overworked. It’s probably a good idea to call sooner rather than later.
6. Let someone else read your proposal before you submit it. That someone should have a very strong command of the English language and should be able to let you know if the proposal reads well, presents the ideas clearly, and has perfect spelling and grammar. Also, don’t be clever in your presentation of the document. Times New Roman, 12 point, is the font of choice for newspapers, books and magazines for a reason – it’s easy on the eyes. Don’t make your reviewer’s job harder than it needs to be.

Some Technical Notes

1. You are required to submit your proposal through FastLane. Sign up with FastLane and start using it right away. It’s pretty easy once you get used to it, but occasionally there are technical glitches and they will happen to you if you wait until the last minute.
2. Get a DUNS number right away if you don’t have one. Call Dun and Bradstreet at (800) 333-0505 or find them online at http://www.dnb.com/us/. You will need a DUNS number to sign up with FastLane.

Winning Your Phase II

There is no official solicitation for a Phase II. If you have completed your Phase I NSF SBIR, you are eligible to apply for a Phase II grant. You may apply either the two following cycles, meaning if you completed your Phase I in December, you may apply either by January 31st or July 31st. The website has general Phase II proposal instructions.

Should You Apply?

When we are going through the proposals, they may be rejected for many reasons. Mostly proposals are rejected because they do not meet the technical or commercial hurdles required for a Phase II grant. That being said, we periodically hit a proposal that is rejected for other reasons that could have saved the company and the grant committee a lot of time.

If you did not get any positive results from Phase I, don’t bother to submit a Phase II proposal. We occasionally see companies who say basically, “my idea for Phase I didn’t pan out, but I have another idea on how to make this work, so I am submitting for support of that idea.”

That is another Phase I proposal. It gets immediately labeled as such and put in the rejection pile. Don’t bother to submit that as a Phase II proposal.

If you are not confident of your results, check with your program manager. They should be willing to suggest areas that need shoring up and also should let you know if they don’t believe a Phase II proposal will get funded.

Writing Your Phase II Proposal

The number one reason why proposals get rejected is technical. The technical review team is made up of scientists and engineers in the field of study of the solicitation. The program managers have selected a panel that has deep knowledge in your area of research. They expect the technical portion of the proposal to look like any other grant, meaning they expect all the technical information needed to make a decision on the technology, backed up by references. I have heard many times on the panel, “Well, this looks interesting, but I don’t have enough information to determine whether it is feasible.”

If you have never been a university scientist, it behooves you to find one in your area of expertise and ask them to review your technical proposal before you submit it. The technical reviewers are extremely brutal and are unwilling to compromise their review standards.

The second reason, and much lower on the weighting scale, is the commercial section. I have seen a technology where the technical reviewers rave about in its innovativeness and brilliance, but the commercial reviewers can’t see a market at all, and the project gets funded. I have never seen a great business plan, with a mediocre technology, get funded.

The business plan is important though. Should your proposal be placed next to another with a similar quality of technology, the commercialization section can carry the day.

Your plan should clearly define the steps that your company will take to get from R&D to revenues. If you need to build a beta tool after the prototype has been completed, you should have a clear definition as to how you will fund it. Just so you know, everyone says, “we will raise venture capital.”

Raising venture capital is easier said than done. If you are going to say that, make sure that you have some venture capitalists review your technology and write letters of support. Also, have alternative plans in case the VCs don’t drop money in your lap.

Also, a lot of proposals say things like, “We will partner with Honeywell to manufacture our first project. Five years later, we will have $50 million in revenue.”

It seems that people put a lot of thought into getting the first product completed and are good at imagining what will happen in five years, but they seem to skip the whole process in between – which by the way, is the hard part.

Another commercialization issue is the lack of any business experience in the management team. If you can’t afford to hire some one, find some business advisers (and listen to them). You can start with your local S.C.O.R.E. office.

Finally, have someone read over your proposal. It should be written clearly, with no grammar or spelling mistakes. If you can’t find business advisers or someone to read your proposal, why would someone want to give (yes, give) you $600,000.

Good luck.

Please visit my website for more small business finance advice: http://cfoyourself.com

Free money is available because government officials are well aware of some of the setbacks that U.S. citizens encounter when trying to achieve the American Dream. Many citizens strive to contribute to the success of the United States economy. Society has set standards that dictate success among the American people. The major components of success in America are education, home ownership, business ownership, and retirement. There are several reasons why many taxpayers find it difficult to achieve success.

With technological advancements on the rise, it is nearly impossible to function in society without a post-secondary education. Many citizens have pursued a college education. Unfortunately, some have dropped out. Others have avoided college all together. Some of the most common reasons why individuals delay their college education are:

” They cannot afford it.

” They want to avoid accumulating loans.

” They already owe a substantial amount of money in school loans.

” Interest rates are too high for individuals with a poor credit history.
Increasing the number of homeowners in the United States has a positive effect on the American economy. Free grant money is available for prospective homeowners. In order to encourage taxpayers to pursue buying a home, local government programs have been created to help individuals with down payment and closing costs.

Small businesses help to stabilize the U.S. economy. There are many benefits to starting a small business. Some individuals desire to start their own business, but find it difficult to begin the process. Many prospective entrepreneurs do not pursue starting or expanding their small business for the following reasons:

” They do not have enough money for startup costs.

” They cannot afford to hire more employees.

” They cannot afford to lease more space or purchase more office equipment.
Government officials recognize that small businesses help to improve communities, create jobs, and generate tax revenue. Because of the major impact that small businesses have on the economy, the government grants free money to prospective entrepreneurs who desire to have small businesses.

The government gives away millions of dollars in free money every year. Grants are available for personal expenses such as housing, education, small businesses, and retirement. Now is the time to apply for a government grant. Toward the end of the year, fewer funds are available. As a result, the chances of getting free money will decrease dramatically.

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The price of starting up a business can quickly spiral out of control and certain things may pop up that you never even considered before. This means that you have to shell out more money occasionally and you need to ensure that you can afford to do that. Because of this a lot of businesses start to fail almost straight away because they are fighting a losing battle.

The great news for people who are starting up a business is that they may be eligible to qualify for a business start up grant, which could help massively. Grants are given out to many different businesses that are starting up each year and to have more chance of qualifying, it will be imperative to have a concrete business plan which will improve your chances.

Finding the Best Type of Business Start up Grants

When it comes to getting a business grant, you will need to make sure that you get one that is completely free where there is no interest added on top of it. The great news is that there are many federal grants for business available from the government that may be worth inquiring and applying for.

It is a good idea to look around and to make some inquiries and a good place to start would be to search on the internet. A great place to tap into the world’s richest source of cash for anyone wanting to start up a business would be to visit hotgrants.com. So if you are considering applying for a business grant, make sure that you visit this site to get the information that you need and to see if you can qualify for one.

It is always good to have a good amount of options available to you when looking for a business grant. So you may want to weigh up the pros and cons of each option to see which one would be more suited to your needs. If you are thinking of starting up your very own business then you may be able to qualify for a grant to help you with the start up costs and fees that you may have to pay.

Grants are definitely worth looking into but you should remember to create a reliable, convincing business plan if you stand any chance of achieving one.

Learn how you can tap into the world’s richest source of cash to start or Grow your Business by visiting HotFreeGrants.com and get your share of Grants For Business Start Up

1. Clearly demonstrate public benefit.

This is one of the most powerful ways to obtain grants for small businesses. Almost any small business utilize this technique. Think about your business, or the project within your business for which you are seeking a grant. Is there a way you can demonstrate that you are offering the public, or a specific community, a benefit? There are many grants for small businesses that can demonstrate that their business provides a public benefit.

For instance, if your business sells computers and computer equipment, can you use part of your business profits every year to purchase and donate computers to inner city schools? Can your dental office offer free teeth cleaning to 3 families that lack insurance per month? This is far easier than you would think. I know of a shooting range that received a grant to build a new facility because they were offering “shooting lessons” to young rural kids, regardless of income, on Saturday morning, rather than getting involved in delinquent behaviors.

2. The letter of affiliation.

This is a powerful strategy that can be used in conjunction with a 501c3 non profit organization to obtain grants for small businesses. With this strategy, your small business provides services to a non profit organization, who in turn “co-signs” for the grant you are applying for, stating in writing that your business needs this grant money in order to effectively provide them services. This causes you to become eligible for many more grants than you would on your own (non-profits are eligible for many more grants than for-profit businesses). A good example of this is a client of mine who wanted to purchase sound equipment and open his own recording studio. So he partnered with a non-profit who wanted to use his services and equipment for their fund raising rallies. They wrote a letter of affiliation stating that he actually needed the equipment in order to provide them with this service, which gave him much more of a chance to receive grant money from organizations who only wanted to give to non-profits.

3. Form a 501c3.

Before you write this off as being too difficult, let me explain. It is relatively easy to get 501c3/non-profit status for just one division of your company, which can operate in partnership with your for-profit business. With this 501c3 “division” you will be able to funnel grant money into development, research, marketing, personnel, or any other part of your business that you wish, if you structure it properly.

The problem is, most of the time it takes many months and thousands of dollars to form a 501c3. However, there is an easy way to get 501c3 status that is unknown to many business people and entrepreneurs, within a few weeks at relatively little expense.

I explain in detail how to do this, and many more small business grant strategies on my website http://www.freegrantdollars.com/grantsforsmallbusinesses . Grants for small businesses are very much possible to obtain, but you must know certain strategies and tactics to be able to do it successfully.

Find out the strategies you need to seize grants for small businesses here: Grants for Small Businesses

It is no wonder that the government is heavily involved in providing grants to start a new business. Put quite simply, the economy depends on it. At any given time, the government is offering thousands of different grants for business needs. Three quarters of these are targeted towards the business that has less than 100 employees. Grants for big business make up the other 25% of the government business grant allocation.

The main reason why these government grants which are provided to start a business are so desirable, is because they represent free money. Many people are of the misconception that this grant money has to be paid back. It doesn’t. If it did, it would be called a loan and not a grant. The whole idea is for your business to become profitable. Not only do you benefit by making a profit, but the economy becomes a winner too. This is by far the best way that the government can help a business get on its feet and become successful.

The government grants to start a business are constantly changing. Their desire is to encourage business in all areas, from traditional through to hi-tech companies. Naturally there will be far more grants allocated to those wishing to start a business in such important fields as agriculture, retail and transportation because these are such in-demand areas and essential for the continued growth of the nation. Because of the enormous amount of government grants that are available, any business idea that has merit will be considered. The aim is to encourage people to start a business, or who wish to expand their existing business.

There are many good websites which are totally devoted to helping people sort through the maze of government grants. Because the choice of grants is so large, this in fact presents a problem to many who are looking to start a business. They just don’t know which type of grant is going to best suit their needs. It is best to persist though, because if you have a good idea to start a business, then there are sure to be government grants available. Would $150,000 be enough to start your business? Well, if you are a woman with a good idea then chances are that you would be eligible to apply for one of the government grants specifically designed to help a woman start a business of her own. Definitely worth pursuing!

Having taken advantage of government grants to start her business, Livia Monroe helps others do the same. Her website Grants-Finder.com offers free valuable contacts for all grant seekers.

What happens if you make any infractions toward the use of this money? Failure on the part of the grantee to perform under the requirements of the grant can result in penalties ranging from economic sanctions to prison in cases of improper use or theft of public funds. We are not trying to discourage anyone from making application, however what we are encouraging you to to do is research the federal grants program to see if it meets your criteria. If your are part of a Government Organization, Educational Organization, School District, you may meet the criteria for loan approval. Below you will find a list of the specifics for federal grant program.

Government Organizations State Governments Local Governments City or Township Governments Special District Governments Native American Tribal Governments (federally recognized) Native American Tribal Governments (other than federally recognized) Education Organizations Independent School Districts Public and State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education Private Institutions of Higher Education Public Housing Organizations Public Housing Authorities Indian Housing Authorities Nonprofit Organizations Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education For-Profit Organizations (other than small businesses) Small Businesses Small business loans and small business grants may be awarded to companies that meet the size standards that the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has established for most industries in the economy. The most common size standards are as follow: 500 employees for most manufacturing and mining industries 100 employees for all wholesale trade industries $6 million for most retail and service industries $28.5 million for most general & heavy construction industries $12 million for all special trade contractors $0.75 million for most agricultural industries We encourage you to look into the federal grants for small business programs. Many have benefited by looking into and meeting the requirements for the program. However please remember this can be wonderful opportunity if you are willing to accept the responsibility that comes with it.

Vincent Foster is the author of this article we invite you to look into the federal grants programs find out what Uncle Sams gives out. You can grab this information at http://www.usfreeads.com/989431-cls.html

As you might have expected, there are certain requirements when it comes to being eligible for small business grants for women. Firstly, you need to own a minimum of 51% of your business, in order to be a suitable candidate for one of these minority small business grants. The second most important thing you must be able to present to the government representatives is a clean credit history. Obviously, this is not such an easy thing to achieve, especially since you can not simply “delete” an unclean and flawed history in a few seconds. If you really wish to obtain one of the small business grants for women, repair all you can before applying for the money grants.

The next thing you need to o is to think about a strategy. A very well organized, powerful and impressive business plan; to be more exact. Well, you are a woman, so you should get creative and organized in order to create the best plan ever. A good idea is the best starting point in these situations. If you have a strong and original, worthy idea to begin with, then have high chances to get the desired small business grants for women. But maybe you need some help: which ones are the most desirable concepts and businesses that appeal to the government? Well, the state is willing to allocate money for good causes only. And, for example, education, health or environment protection classify as noble, positive grounds for getting small business grants for women.

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 observe its lacks: what does your region or town need? Maybe a center for helping the children or the elder ones – these types of causes always seem to gain the interest of the government and you have great chances to get your small business grants for women. If you are feeling a little overwhelmed at this point, you can start thinking about hiring a specialist to help you create a strong case that would appeal to the committee. Whatever it takes, the small business grants for women are worth the effort.

So – what are you waiting for? Get started today; apply for small business grants for women in order to get your grant money as soon as possible. After obtaining the small business grants for women, your only worries should be spending the funds for your great causes. Good luck with your project!

Small business grants for women are your ideal source of finance for a new or existing business. Website Small-Business-Grants-Aid.com by Sam Butler provides timely advice and tips on how to avoid common mistakes that can deprave you of the money you deserve.