The independence that owning your own business provides is an excellent reason to create opportunities for yourself and your family that would otherwise not be available. As Ted Branson, owner of the Virgin conglomerate of companies says, "You won't get rich working for someone else." Starting your own business takes persistence, hard work and working the resources that are available, especially grants, to help you launch your enterprise.
Talk To the Pros
Talk about your business concept to as many business people as you can find. There are retired business counselors through SCORE (www.score.gov) who can give you free face-to-face advice, or you can take some of their online workshops.
Prepare Your Business Plan
Before you apply for funds you will need to sit down and develop a business plan that includes an extensive description of your product or service, a short and long term marketing plan and a management and projected budget of your financial management. These can be daunting challenges, but you can get free or low cost help from the Small Business Development Centers. The are located all across the country and you can find the closest one to you at their website: www.sba.gov/aboutsba/sbaprograms/sbdc/sbdclocator or try the Minority Business Development Center at mbda.gov.
Where to Find Grants - Private
There are two sources of grant funding: private and government. For private funding, many corporations like AT&T, Office Depot and Miller Beer offer entrepreneurship opportunities for minority entrepreneurs. AT&T sponsors a Tech Makeover Contest: http://smallbiz.att.com/OSB/Tech+Makeover+Contest.page. The Miller Coor Urban Entrepreneur Series is an annual competition that awards up to $100,000 to the top winners. The best place to learn about these grants and others like them is by subscribing to magazines like Black Enterprise, and Minorities Business Entrepreneur.
Where to Find Grants - Public
The federal government has created a one-stop location for all departments at www.grant.gov. You can search grants by subject, people you hire, industry and services. Your state government will also have a similar site or sites. To check your city, county and state governments, contact your local elected officials. Introduce your business and your goals, and ask for information on where to look for funding. The officials won't do it for you, but can help you with a letter of support to accompany those applications.
Nonprofit Loans
There is an old saying that finding money for your business usually comes from the three F's: friends, family and fools. If your business has a solid plan, with feasible return, don't limit yourself to just grant money, but pursue nonprofit loan funds like Accion, Jewish Free Loan and kiva.org. These organizations are often funded by banks because they have more lenient lending policies and can help you formulate a strong business plan.
