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WorkOne for Entreprenuers: Part III
How Do I Get a Grant For My Business?
I have had quite a few questions over this past month about how to get a government grant, are they "real" and where can they be found. The first image that popped into my head was that loud, jumpyman who you see in commercials during late night shows that has the question marks all over his suit. I'm grinning right now as I'm thinking about him again.He promises government grant money to pay your utilitiesor buy a houseor payoff your debt and on and on.
To gather more information on grant funding, I went to my closest Small Business Development Center (www.isbdc.org) and spoke with Tom Steiner, Business Consultant, and you know what? He started laughing, too, when I brought up the question mark guy. But, as he was laughing, he walked me over to a book shelf and pulled out this ginormous,three inch thick book...yep, the question mark guy's book. Tom thumbed quickly to the chapter on starting your own business with a government grant. The very first line in the chapter told the reader," Small Business Development Centers could be the best deal the government has to offer to entrepreneurs and inventors."
Tom's words to me, and my words to you, are simply this: Grants are very specific, take a lot of detailed thinking and planning and don't happen quickly. Grants are around. There are a ton of them! But, you are not going to be able to pay off your house or start a coffee shop.
Two very real grant opportunities are available for our Region 6 entrepreneurs. You can visit www.Work-One.org and click into the entrepreneur section to get the details on our GrowthStart and StartUp Indiana projects.
GrowthStart is worth $10,000 to the person who needs help building a business plan, marketing plan, needs a feasibility study or legal help and is committed to supporting early stage small businesses in Economic Growth Region 6.
StartUp Indiana is an initiative of the Eastern Indiana Regional Workforce Board aimed at growing the economy of Economic Growth Region 6 by growing the jobs of the region through the development of entrepreneurs. StartUp Indiana matches business plans to investors. Both grants are funded by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.
Getting grant funding to start or operate a small, for profit, business is not as common as many TV commercials and grant clearing house publications would lead you to believe. Basically, the government and private foundations are not in the business of creating unfair competition, which would be the result of grant financing if it was offered to a business that is entering, or already in, a competitive marketplace.
The following is a list of useful, real links to web sites that will help you become familiar with what government grants are all about. I will also add these links to the Work-One.org web site.
- Small Business Development Centers,
- U.S. Small Business Administration
- Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)
- A common source for grant funds for for-profit businesses. Keep in mind that the key word here is "innovation". This means not just on the edge of innovation but the bleeding edge of innovation.
- www.sbir.gov
- www.Grants.gov
- This web site has a listing of every federal and government grant out there that is available
- Public Library
- Your local library will a list of all private foundations in your county.
The Small Business Development Center strongly recommends that you have a specific grant in mind before paying for assistance in achieving a grant for your business. Many grant clearing houses charge large fees for information that is already accessible for free to the general public through a little bit of basic reasearch.
Do you have a question about how Patents really work? Don't call the number on your screen underneath the caveman animation until you read my article next week!
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Tracy Dishman is the marketing director for WorkOne and Eastern Indiana Regional Workforce Board (EIRWB). Readers may write to Dishman at P.O. Box 1856, Muncie, Indiana 47308-1856 or tdishman@work-one.org.
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