Business Starting Grants

Does anyone have any tips on starting a new business?

I am trying to start a new business, and i am pretty much clueless. I am planning on a gov. grant, and paying that off little by little, but i need some starting advice, and any good sites, or any kind of things i could do to get help on it.

Public Comments

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2. Check out Score.org and SBA.gov Score is a non profit organization that helps small business owners and inspiring entrepreneurs. Score will connect you with a mentor in a similar business that can give you tips and advice free. They also have templates for business plans, financial statements, and other useful business tools. The SBA will give you similar info and you can look for grants available. Make sure you do your research before you make that jump. Operating your own business can be exciting and rewarding, but it can also be a disaster. Good luck with your adventure.
3. Working for yourself is great but you have to have something to offer and enough people to pay you for what you do, to enable you to make a living. I don't know what kind of work you would like to be doing, but one of the most important things to do would be to get to know people who are running their own businesses, and find ways to team up with them. These people can advise you about things like tax, premises, sales and marketing, and if you gain their trust, you can also make use of their networks of contacts. If you enjoy networking, like meeting people, are hard working, able to take stress and are well organised, then you will have a good chance of succeeding with your own business. Hope this helps! Katy Ortega http;//www.biz247.biz
4. First off, you need to reconsider where you will get the money as government grants are very difficult to get for a for-profit venture Unlike the myths that some perpetuate, federal government and even private foundations hardly give grant money for starting a for-profit business. One possible exception is for companies developing or exporting agricultural goods, including food and forest product. Another exception could be the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs http://www.sba.gov/aboutsba/sbaprograms/sbir/index.html , which fund the research and development of technological innovation that meets specific government needs. Your best bet actually will be from the states if they offer grant programs for women (or any other special interest groups -- minorities, women, disabled, veterans, etc). Or check with non profit organizations, particularly women organizations if they offer grants. Examples include Iowa Women's Foundation http://www.iawf.org/ New Mexico Women's Foundation http://www.nmwf.org/guidelines.html Even SBA does NOT give out grants. From the SBA website http://www.sba.gov/mostrequesteditems/CON_FAQ2.html "The U.S. Small Business Administration does not offer grants to start or expand small businesses, although it does offer a wide variety of loan programs. (See http://www.sba.gov/financing for more information) While SBA does offer some grant programs, these are generally designed to expand and enhance organizations that provide small business management, technical, or financial assistance. These grants generally support non-profit organizations, intermediary lending institutions, and state and local governments." Nonetheless, you can go to the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) http://www.cfda.gov and Grants.gov http://www.grants.gov - these are two sites created by the federal government to provide transparency and information on grants. Browse through the listings and see if you can find any grant that would support a for-profit venture. Here is a listing of federal grants for small businesses. See if there is any available for individuals for starting a business -- THERE'S NONE. http://12.46.245.173/pls/portal30/CATALOG.BROWSE_BENEF_RPT.show Most of the federal grants are given to specific target groups with specific requirements (e.g. minority business owners involved in transportation related contracts emanating from DOT - Grant#20.905 Disadvantaged Business Enterprises Short Term Lending Program Grants are also often given to non profit groups or organizations involved in training or other similar activities (grant 59.043 Women's Business Ownership Assistance that are given to those who will create women's business center that will train women entrepreneurs