Making Something Out of Nothing: Business Grants Can Make Your Business Grow

Money. Most people need some, others need a lot. For the very few, they can never have too much money. And for these people, business is the way to their pursuit of happiness and success.

But as you all may already know, much like the pursuit of any dream, the road to success is paved with rough terrain and unexpected detours. But all that comes later on in your journey. The old adage remains true here — taking the first step is the very first step.

In business, that first step often translates to whether or not you’re able to generate funds for the business i.e. capital. And that, my friends, is often when many would-be entrepreneurs become disheartened. Because, whether you want it or not, setting up a business is going to require a significant amount of money, something that not everybody has access to.

Unless, of course, you’re able to secure money from a different source.

Raising Capital

There are many ways to raise money, but crowdsourcing and business grants seem to be the most popular method as of late. And it’s only rightly so. But between the two, business grants are more secure, and they are also more predictable.

With crowdsourced funds, you’re banking a lot on how well people are going to react to your proposal. You’re going to have to convince a lot of people to get the money you need. With business grants, you only need to convince the grantor that your idea has merit — this is not as easy a task as it seems!

What Is a Business Grant?

According to the Balance.com article, “small business grants are small amounts of seed money that further the goals of federal, state, or non-profit organizations.” The main difference between a business grant and a loan is that those who are given small business grants are not required to repay the amount of the business grant.

However, while this may seem like free money to the uninitiated, the difficulty lies in being able to convince grantors to entrust money to you.

This is because grantors are more careful in awarding their grants. For reference, the Federal Government does not award grants to help businesses start or expand. The only companies that are awarded Government grants are those that yield the most success and in specific industries like medical research, science or environment.

Furthermore, there are many types of grants for specific business types.

Exactly How Important Is A Business Grant?

For a lot of businesses, a grant can mean the difference between success and failure. You may have the most brilliant idea, but if you don’t have the resources to make that idea come into fruition, it won’t mean much. This rings true even when you’re sure that you’re going to have a very profitable business venture.

A prime example of a business that could quite possibly benefit from a small business grant is Alte. This company seeks to retrofit existing public transportation fleets with hybrid drivetrains which are more efficient as you put more miles on your vehicle.

Approximately 62 billion dollars are spent on new vehicles every year. Alte’s hybrid power trains could provide a better alternative to fleet owners as these hybrid drive trains would preserve the longevity of their cars.

Not only would fleet owners be able to get more use out of their vehicles, but the company would also be earning about 2 billion dollars of revenue every year. The only problem is that the company needs 130 million dollars to start production, a venture capital amount that could be easily solved by a business grant.

So, as you can already tell, business grants have the power to alter the fortunes of a startup. There are many ways to secure a business grant, and sometimes you can even get one through a contest, such as this Fedex small business grant contest.