Small Business Grants

Small business grants are often a good way for a small business to raise much needed cash in order to carry out a specific project. Usually grants cover a certain percentage of the project costs, capped at a certain amount. For example, the government may make a small business grant available to match export development expenditure by a company dollar for dollar. On the other hand, there are some small business grants that are fixed in amount. Small business grants are available from a variety of sources:

Small business government grants are provided to companies by government at every level, including country, state and local government. These are often tied to specific conditions such as the creation of employment, development of environmentally friendly technologies or provision of specific services in areas where these services are not available at the time the small business grant is granted.

Charitable institutions may provide small business grants grants to companies with certain objectives that are in line with the charitable institutions goals. For example, a charitable institution for the blind may provide grants for companies developing brail texts or other products targeted at blind people.

Large companies sometimes provide grants for research and development. The grant may be provided under the condition that the corporation that provides the small business grant has the right to license or buy the resulting technology back from the grant recipient.

Educational institutions often provide grands and scholarships to qualified individual. If you are lucky enough, you may get a grant to study a small business course or undertake a business-related subject at a degree level. Educational institutions also sometimes make grants available to academics conducting specific research projects. While these grants are generally unavailable for small businesses, it is possible for individuals to apply and then commercialise the results of the project at a later date.

It is best to contact appropriate organisations and enquire about the existence of small business grants for which your company may qualify. Once you have identified suitable small business grants, you will normally required to hand in a proposal by a certain cut-off date. You do not have to write this proposal yourself. If you are inexperienced, you can hire a professional grant writer. There are many professional grant writers who specialise in writing proposals for small business grants.