Kickstarting Your Business: Exploring Sources for Small Business Grants to Launch Your Venture - timscotty/timscotty GitHub Wiki

Starting a business can be an exciting yet daunting endeavor. One of the biggest obstacles for many aspiring entrepreneurs is figuring out how to fund their startup. While loans are an option, they come with a lot of interest and the need to make many payments. Grants are an very attractive alternative as they provide money that generally doesn't need to be paid back. Here are some of the top places where you can get small business grants to start a business.

Government Grants

One of the best sources of grants is the government agencies. At the federal level, the Small Business Administration (SBA) offers a variety of grants to the support entrepreneurs. Some popular options include the Small Business Innovation Research and the Small Business Technology Transfer grant programs which provide funding to startup aiming to commercialize innovative technology. The SBA also oversees the State Trade Expansion Program which awards grants to the small businesses seeking to export their products. Additionally, individual states and many local municipalities offer many area-specific grants to promote economic development so be sure to check what's available in your area.

Non-Profit and Foundation Grants

Beyond the government agencies, many non-profit organizations and private foundations provide small business grants. For instance, FedEx has the Small Business Grant Contest which awards $50,000 grants to 100 entrepreneurs annually. Hello Alice is an online platform that matches with the relevant grant opportunities from their network of the foundations and philanthropic institutions. Non-profits like Pathstone provide many grants through their business development programs as well. Do your research as there are many programs out there if you dig a little deeper.

Accelerator and Startup Competitions

In recent years, the accelerator programs and also startup pitch competitions have become a very popular avenue for securing startup funding as well. Many awards now come in the form of on equity-free grants. MassChallenge and GEN Accelerator are two established organizations that offer many grants up to $100k through their accelerator programs focused on the high-growth startups. Additionally, the state governments and also local economic development agencies run pitch competitions with prize grants too. The advantage with these programs is that they often provide helpful guidance and training alongside the capital.

Crowdfunding Grants

Finally, crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter, Indiegogo and Kiva are a newer way for the startups to raise money. By creating a campaign page with many details about your business and also from the funding needs, you can get grants through the donations from the crowd. While getting fully funded is very difficult, many find some success in at least generating a portion of their goal amount. The benefit here is you can validate the demand for your product or service while also securing the essential startup funds.

Starting and growing a small business is no simple task, but grants are out there if you do your homework. Take time to explore which government agencies, nonprofit organizations and also competitions have grants that align with your business goals. Getting free money for your startup this way so you avoid getting high-interest loans or giving up a lot of ownership is very worthy of the effort. With creativity and persistence, you can find many ways to fund your entrepreneurial endeavor.