If you think that you’ll be able to get a grant to start your for-profit small business from the federal government or even from a private foundation, think again. Even with all of the billions of dollars floating around under the American Recovery and Re-investment Act, you still can’t find grants for your small business start-up.
Now, you may be lucky if you are planning to develop or export agricultural goods, including food and forest products. Another exception could be if your business is part of the the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, which fund the research and development of technological innovation that meets specific government needs.
If you are a woman or minority owned business, you may be lucky if your state offers programs for women (or any other special interest groups — minorities, women, disabled, veterans, indian tribes, etc). Also check with non profit organizations, particularly women organizations to see whether they offer grants.
Note that the SBA specifically states: “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. 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.”
If you perform a search under the American Recovery and Re-investment Act you’ll find that there are grants but those grants again do not cover for-profit ventures except as stated above for certain minorities (Indian Tribes) and research and the arts.
You can check out private grants at Grants to Individuals Online, an online database of close to 8,300 foundation and public charity programs that fund students, artists, researchers, and other individual grant seekers. It is a subscription based web site with low monthly, three-month, and yearly subscription rates. It does not appear to cover entrepreneurs starting a for-profit small business.