We are often asked about business grants. There are two very common misperceptions:
1. There are slews of them (there are not), and
2. There are no business grants (well, yes there are some).
The truth of the matter is that there are thousands of business grants available. Many are small. And virtually all of them are hard to get.
Here's what it takes to latch onto a business grant:
1. Make Sure You Can Meet the Requirements of The Grant
Once you determine grants that you want to target, you and your management team need to do the necessary research to determine how closely you will be able to match the requirements of the grant. Tasks include interviewing people within the company, talking with investors and partners, and doing research on the competition in your market, Farnsworth advises. If you've never applied for a grant before, this process could take up to a month.
It's also a good idea to make friends with the grant administrators, who will be happy to give you some feedback on your viability for their particular award.
2. Create A Business Plan To Knock Their Socks Off
While that may seem obvious, companies don't often update these documents and sometimes never have a good one from the beginning. Few things will demonstrate your financial capability and expertise as quickly as a well-constructed business plan. You can bet your booties that you won't get a business grant unless you have an exceptional business plan.
3. Give yourself time to be successful.
Business grants take time. Sometimes weeks. Sometimes months. If a grant is especially sought after, with lots of applicants, it can take a very long time. Don't assume you don't have the grant until you actually receive the letter from the granting agency. And, yes, in the meantime continue to submit for other grants as well.
4. Match Your Skills Item By Item
Go through the announcement of the grant very carefully. Make sure you have every skill that is requested, every bit of experience that is requested. And if you don't have it ...
5. Find a partner
Applying for a grant with a partner, such as a nonprofit or university, can increase your chances of not only winning the award but getting more money. Partners can fill in missing gaps in knowledge or background, and give your business plan real strength.
More and more companies are now applying for business grants. Hone your skills at this game, and it can prove to be a valuable source of funding and professional advancement for your firm.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Start Up Financing - Angel With Purse Strings
On the one hand start up financing is the toughest you will ever encounter as an entrepreneur. You've got no track record. Banks won't even talk to you. Angel investors and venture capital firms won't talk to 99% of the startups out there. So it's tough.
But on the other hand it is the easiest financing you will ever go after. First, you know the obstacles and don't expect a whole lot; and second, you're not bringing a lot of garbage to the table.
Existing companies tend to wait too long to look for financing, not realizing that it can take months, or even years, to tie down financing for expansion. In those months and years they have bills to pay, contracts to complete, employees to pay. By the time financing comes around, it is often too late.
Start up financing is a different keg of fish. You know it is going to take a long time. You either hunker down and slog on through, or you make alternate plans for starting smaller. Or starting differently. Or shifting the business to make it more appealing. But during these months and years, you are not logging up millions of dollars of debt like existing companies, which puts you way far ahead in the financing game.
Truth to be told, by the time you are able to latch onto "start up financing", odds are that you are no longer just a start up. You probably have made significant refinements to your business. You may even have a few clients. You've certainly refined your business plan. All of which makes you a much juicier prospect for any type of lender or investor.
It is the entrepreneur who sits on his proverbial duff, doing nothing, who doesn't get funded, can't get started, and rots away moping. You -- you, with the angel in your own purse strings -- you are the one who succeeds.
So take that time to do your homework and get started right. It will pay off handsomely in the long run.
But on the other hand it is the easiest financing you will ever go after. First, you know the obstacles and don't expect a whole lot; and second, you're not bringing a lot of garbage to the table.
Existing companies tend to wait too long to look for financing, not realizing that it can take months, or even years, to tie down financing for expansion. In those months and years they have bills to pay, contracts to complete, employees to pay. By the time financing comes around, it is often too late.
Start up financing is a different keg of fish. You know it is going to take a long time. You either hunker down and slog on through, or you make alternate plans for starting smaller. Or starting differently. Or shifting the business to make it more appealing. But during these months and years, you are not logging up millions of dollars of debt like existing companies, which puts you way far ahead in the financing game.
Truth to be told, by the time you are able to latch onto "start up financing", odds are that you are no longer just a start up. You probably have made significant refinements to your business. You may even have a few clients. You've certainly refined your business plan. All of which makes you a much juicier prospect for any type of lender or investor.
It is the entrepreneur who sits on his proverbial duff, doing nothing, who doesn't get funded, can't get started, and rots away moping. You -- you, with the angel in your own purse strings -- you are the one who succeeds.
So take that time to do your homework and get started right. It will pay off handsomely in the long run.
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