While starting and growing a small business can be a challenging venture, there are a number of resources that the government provides in an effort to help support small businesses. Many of these resources are free government grant programs that small businesses can take advantage of to help grow their businesses.
What is a grant? A grant is a sum of money that is awarded to a person, business, or organization for a specific purpose, and it does not need to be paid back. Grants can come from the federal government, state governments, or non-governmental organizations such as non-profits, corporations, etc. Common grants include educational grants, research grants, community development grants, and business grants!
In addition to grants, the federal government also has a multitude of free or low-cost educational and training programs, consulting services, etc.
In this article, we will cover some of the grant programs, assistance, and other free resources offered to small businesses by the federal government, as well as some of the best places to search for government grants. These are some of the grant programs and free resources and opportunities from the federal government that is designed to help develop small businesses.
- U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)
- America's Small Business Development Centers Office
- Your United States Congressman's/Congresswoman's and US Senators' Offices
- CareerOneStop Business Center
- Government Contracts
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US Small Business Administration (SBA)
The US Small Business Administration, or SBA, is the only agency within the federal government that is dedicated to small businesses and can also provide some funding to them as well. The SBA does offer some small business grants on behalf of the federal government. In addition to these grant opportunities, the SBA also provides educational and training programs, among many other programs, including assistance in where to find other grant opportunities. The SBA also offers loans (some of these are "forgivable loans," and if utilized properly, they can work like grants and won't have to be paid back). The SBA is also involved in issuing government contracts to small businesses to work directly for the government through their small business providing their services to the government. The SBA is a great resource with a multitude of programs that are applicable to a wide variety of industries.
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America's Small Business Development Centers Office
America's SBDC Office is the central point of a network of Small Business Development Centers across the country that assist small businesses in virtually every aspect of running a business. They provide these services absolutely for free or at a low cost. SBDCs are partially funded by the United States Congress through a collaboration with the SBA and are typically hosted by state economic development agencies, universities, colleges, and private entities. There are close to 1,000 SBDC local offices in the country.
Whether you are just starting a business and need help getting things going or if you are an experienced business person but want to grow your business, SBDCs have many relevant resources. These resources include consulting, training, and information resources, to assist you in meeting your goals. In addition, America's SBDC Office offers its own grants and can also help you get grants and loans from other sources and assist in other areas such as accounting, taxes, etc.
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Call or Email your United States Congressman's/Congresswoman's and US Senators' Offices
Many people are unaware that their US Congressman's/Congresswoman's or US Senators' offices can actually help them successfully navigate or deal with a multitude of governmental systems and complicated bureaucratic systems or provide useful assistance in many areas of life in our complex society. Your US Congressman's/Congresswoman's and Senators' offices have access to many resources, know how to navigate these types of systems and can assist you in many areas you may have a hard time with. They can also point you towards programs and resources you may have otherwise not known about. This assistance can cover a wide range of areas and can include helping you find government grant programs and other resources that are available to help small businesses.
By calling or emailing your Congressman's/Congresswoman's and Senators' offices and explaining what type of business you have, your particular situation, and that you are searching for applicable grants and resources, they can point you in the right direction revealing many government grant programs you may have otherwise not discovered.
here are paid services that claim to help you find grants, and what many of these services actually do is call your US Congressman/Congresswoman and Senators and get the information from them and then pass this information along to you for a fee. So you can access this information by yourself for free by simply calling or emailing your US Congressman's/Congresswoman's and Senators' offices. All that is needed is to know which US Congressman/Congresswoman represents the district you live in your state and who your two US Senators are. From there, you can reach out to their offices, and they can provide you with information regarding grants and other resources relevant to your business that your small business may qualify for.
Your US Congressman's/Congresswoman's and US Senators' offices are great resources of information, assistance, and guidance; learning how to utilize their offices to your advantage is an important skill to have. In addition, building a relationship with your US Congressman's/Congresswoman's and Senators' offices can also help your small business in the future if your business needs or wants to collaborate with the government or if there are any other areas you may need assistance with.
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CareerOneStop Business Center
CareerOneStop Business Center is sponsored by the US Department of Labor and can help you get funding to pay for training in important and valuable skills for yourself or your employees. CareerOneStop can help you get up to $250,000 to help with the cost of training or educational programs. This program is applicable to business owners and individuals who would like to participate in training programs to enhance their skills. CareerOneStop also has a breadth of information regarding various career data, emerging careers, etc. They also offer a comprehensive interest assessment that can help you determine your strengths and the types of careers, trades, and types of businesses that would help provide you with career satisfaction and utilize your strengths. This program is designed to help stimulate economic activity and help promote the nation's business, industrial, and innovation sectors while helping citizens find careers, trades, and businesses suitable for them.
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Government Contracts
While government contracts are not grants, they do offer a lot of potential for small business owners. Government contracts are agreements that lay out business transactions and relationships between businesses (contractors) and governmental bodies that need goods or services provided. The federal government aims to spend 23% of its contracting money each year to specifically hire out small businesses for some of its contracting work. Government spending accounts for 1/3 of all spending in the United States, and the government spends this money on a wide variety of goods and services.
This government spending and the goods and services purchased by the federal government could be relevant to the goods and services provided by your business, and you may be eligible to receive government contracts. Additionally, the government "sets aside" a certain amount of its budget to exclusively hire women-owned, minority-owned, and veteran-owned businesses. These are called "set-aside contracts." There are also government contracts set aside specifically for disadvantaged businesses or businesses that are located in underdeveloped or underutilized areas.
The SBA is a great place to start in order to learn more about getting government contracts. You can reach out to the SBA for more guidance or explore their website for more information on what it takes to get government contracts. The Procurement and Technical Assistance Program (PTAP) and the Association of Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (APTAC) are also two good programs in regard to government contracts. PTAP and APTAC are designed to help small businesses navigate and secure government contracts, and they provide consulting services to show you how to do so for free.
Government contracts can be dependable and highly lucrative streams of income for small businesses. When compared to getting a grant, the same amount of effort applied to receive a one-time grant can be applied to receiving a government contract that could be of a significantly larger amount of money. Also, once you receive a government contract from a government agency, it is likely that you will receive more contracts from that same government agency as you develop a relationship with them. If you think that your business may not be relevant to the government's needs, remember that the government does buy a wide range of goods and services, and government spending makes up 1/3 of our economy. These government contracts are applicable to businesses that supply physical goods or digital products such as software, construction services, consulting services, translation services, etc.
All of the programs and agencies that are mentioned in this article are either part of the federal government or work in conjunction with the federal government. These programs and agencies are designed to provide services that help you develop your small business entirely for free or at a very low cost. There are grant opportunities, free consulting services, free educational and training programs, government contract opportunities, etc. These are great resources to take advantage of in order to help you advance your small business. While many business owners will pay a lot of money for these types of services, the federal government has programs that can provide them to you completely free or at a low cost.