So you want a business grant?

Many new business owners look for grants to fund their businesses, especially because of a certain late night commercial or the National Grants Conference - a one day seminar they attended which told them about free grants they could pay $600 - $1,000 to get more information about.  Typically, grants are dedicated to non-profit firms that are touching a community of people. If you must look, great resources to find grants is through grants.gov and the Foundation Center. You can also do an online search on foundations and grants. Sorry to say, if you are a start-up business, you will likely be ineligible for a business grant. That said, there are plenty of resources for "free" money that businesses can work to pursue.

Business Plan/Venture Capital Competitions
Several business schools and organizations produce competitions throughout the year. Many are eligible for students only although student teams may have non-students on them. Entrepreneur.com and the New York Times each put together great summaries of many business plan competitions. Some listed do not require student status. There are others in which student status is not a requirement including:

• CleanTech Open, Prize: $250,000 and/or $50,000
  
• MillerCoors' Urban Entrepreneurs' Series, Prize: $100,000 or $25,000 
• New York StartUp! (for NYC residents only), Prize: $15,000
  
• Social Impact  (for non-profits), Prize: up to $100,000 in financial and consulting awards
• William James Foundation (socially responsible firm, application fee), Prize: more than $100,000 in cash and prizes
• Qualcomm QPrize (technology firms), Prize: over $500,000

As you can see, there are many competitions out there for all types - local, regional, national, global, social, techie... anything. Just conduct an online search for your preferred industry and "business plan competition" to see what pops up most relevant for you. Even if the highlighted competitions have already taken place, you can note the dates for next time since they typically take place around the same time each year. The most valuable piece of taking part in these competitions is not the prize but the feedback you receive about your business plan and its viability.


You can find tips for winning business plan competitions in this NY Times article.

Business Contests 
Different from business plan competitions, these contests usually include comprehensive prizes or awards that may include mentoring, financing, free PR, etc:

• Dell Small Business Excellence Awards
  
• Inc. 500
• Entrepreneur Magazine's Entrepreneur of the Year
  
• Love A Local Business
  
• Make Mine a Million (ownership must be at least 50% woman)
• Small Business Administration Awards
  

 A comprehensive, consistently updated list of business contests is located at Small Business Trends.
 
Federal Programs

• Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) - this is a federal program that offers funding to firms to encourage high-risk innovation, particularly related to existing federal needs. Funding comes through various federal agencies and provides up to $850,000 for research and development over two and a half years. Awardees must be for-profit, US Citizen owned, and have 500 or less employees . Chances are better if an employee or project partner has a Ph.D. You can find more great tips from Utah's Governor's Office of Economic Development.
• Small Technology Transfer Research (STTR) - this federal program funds very similarly to the SBIR except it is for small businesses partnering with universities.

 Although these programs are usually titled "grants", they really are contracts with government agencies.


State Programs
From tax credits to job creation grants, your state's department of commerce likely has several programs to attract and retain businesses in the state. Although much of it seems geared to larger organizations, you never know what you are eligible for. Incentives for a few of my favorite states:

• Georgia
• Illinois
• Missouri
• North Carolina

For information about a different state, just check the Department of Commerce or Economic Development for any state you are interested in conducting business in.

Local Programs
Usually local money is matched to money you already have or have been approved for. This can be in the form of a very low interest loan, or an actual grant. Same as with the state, check the economic development department of the city you plan to conduct business in to see if there are any incentives that are relevant for your business.

Let us know your success stories in acquiring free resources to build your business.