Small Business Grants for Women

Summary: It is a daunting task to sanction a business loan when you are particularly women but you must know there is a special grant quota from US government towards women entrepreneurs. Are you looking forward to have a small business grant for your venturing plan? Why not to opt one loan from government funding?

Here is a complete layout of possible business grants from government and some other sources along few statistical reports on small business grants for women.

"One culprit in untapped small-business funding is lack of awareness," according to Liz Wiedemann in her article "Small Businesses Take Advantage of Valuable Resources" in CIO Today.

Jeff Schuman of Home Biz Tools supports the observation that many funding intended for small businesses are often left untapped. He says that most people do not know there are millions of dollars in grants available from the government and other little-known organizations.

Ms. Wiedemann's article states that in 2007, $360 billion was available for women-owned businesses nationally. However, less than 15 percent of qualified businesses applied for a grant, according to the Web site grants.gov, a resource for locating and applying for federal government grants.

In launching a small business, obtaining a loan often appears as the only choice for many people. Other potential resources are overlooked, however, says an article in the Web site Womanowned.com. The U.S. government supports small business startups and some qualifications -- being more than 65 years of age, a minority or even having bad credit -- sometimes helps, Mr. Schuman says.

On June 4, the U.S. Senate passed a Budget Resolution that supports $101 million in additional funding for small business programs, including Women's Business Centers, which is intended to benefit America's entrepreneurs.

A woman-owned business is such that a woman owns 51% of such business, according to Andrew Bicknell in Ezone articles. It is recognized that women are beginning to enter into the business world, and own more and more businesses everyday. According to an article by Arlene Schneider in Ezone articles, more than half of all small businesses are owned by women. And the increase in the number of small businesses is increasing every year as a result of rampant downsizing of larger companies. People are looking for alternative sources of income to cope up with realities in the world of employment.

But how does one find the money? According to Ms. Schneider, one wouldn't find the government advertising; one has to go for the money, and learn how to search for it.

According to Mr. Schuman, one can pay a hefty sum to hire somebody to get a grant, but one can also find Web sites that provide it, although the latter is a more time-consuming process. He acknowledges that it could be difficult for one to find a grant, more so, to find the right grant, and the source of the funding, but it could be done, nonetheless -- using the Internet.

Even if one does not qualify for a government grant, there are organizations Online that offer low interest business loans or venture capital.

There is also an idea to make the process of getting grants easier: create a workable business plan. I consider this the most important part of any new business start-up. A business plan would allow grantors to make informed decisions in making grants. What makes the grants attractive, according to Mr. Bicknell says, is "the simple fact that business grants do not need to be repaid."