Business Grants for Women - a Grant FAQ Section Page 3

Answer: A small business grant is actually a business plan.  There is a specific formula for putting together a small business plan, but remember that your business plan needs to be specific to your business.  Think of your business plan as a living, breathing roadmap that gets you from where you are now, to where you want to be.  Although the format may change a little bit based on the type of business, whether you are selling products or services, whether you’re going to be working from home or need a retail location, the framework is going to be the same. 

Before you get started, don’t forget to check out the wonderful resources available on the Digital Women Website, with links to the Small Business Administration (SBA) and more.  The SBA even has several plans that you can look at for inspiration.  Basically, your business plan needs the following elements:

1.Cover Sheet
2.Statement of Purpose or Concept
3.Table of Contents

I.The Business
  A.Description of business
  B.Market Research
  C.Competition
  D.Operating Procedures
  E.Personnel
  F.Business Insurance
II.Financial Data
  A.Loan Applications
  B.Capital Equipment and supply list
  C.Balance Sheet
  D.Breakeven Analysis
  E.Pro-forma income projections (profit and loss statements)
    Three year summary
    Detail by month, for the first year
    Detail by quarters, for the second and third year
    Assumptions upon which projections were based
  F.Pro-forma cash flow

III.Supporting Documents
  A.Tax returns of principals for last three years
  B.Personal financial statement (all banks have these forms)
  C.In the case of a franchised business, a copy of the franchise contract and all supporting documents provided by the franchiser
  D.Copy of the proposed lease or purchase agreement for building space
  E.Copy of licenses and all other legal documents
  F.Copy of resumes of all principals
  G.Copies of letters of intent from suppliers, etc.
 

That's why some of the grant packages and programs are very valuable. They have found those resources that you will have a hard time finding on your own. The grant packages listed below have done all the work for you.
A few are:
 

Mathew Lesko

Free Government Money

American Grant Provider

Although billions of dollars are given away annually by Government Agencies and 30,000 + grant-making Foundations in the United States, Most Americans do not even know these Agencies and Foundations exist, or how to contact them!

Depending on your business, you may not need all of this information. For example, if you are running your business from home, you won’t need to have a lease agreement.  If you have any questions, feel free to email me, and I’ll do my best to answer you individually, or I may include your question in one of the upcoming newsletters.

Question: I know there is a lot of information available from the government, but I don’t know how to access it.  Where do I start? 

Answer: You’re right, there is a treasure trove of information available from our government today, and thanks to the Internet, you can access most of it without ever leaving your home. You can find statistics, market and demographic information, grant money, training and business information and so much more!  If you’re going to go on a treasure hunt, I suggest you do the following: 
 

1.Get organized.  Create some folders on your hard drive, based on what you’re going to be looking for, so that you can download the information you find.  For example, you could break your information into the type of government agencies (executive, legislative or judicial), by the type of information you’re looking for (business, grants, education, home ownership), by geographic region (local, state, region, federal or international) or you can get even more specific.  Think about what you need, and create some kind of list or database if you need to, to help you stay focused. 

2.Create similar folders in your “My Favorites” folder, so that you don’t have to read everything all at once.  Get the general information, save it, and you can go back to the page at your convenience. 

3. You may also need one or more of the following (free) tools to download and view most government information: 
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/  (Adobe Reader) 
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=95E24C87-8732-48D5-8689-AB826E7B8FDF&displaylang=en  (Microsoft Reader) 

4.Now think about the type of information you’re looking for. (I always try to imagine what sources of information I could find at my local public library, and then use the Web to find it, as much as possible.) For example: Catalogs, Research Guides, Databases, Reference Books or Materials, Specific Government Information. As an example, let’s play with “Catalogs” shall we?  Here’s what you can find on the net, by typing in catalogs on Google. (By the way, I’ve only listed a few of the resources you can find – I’ve only got so much room for this column every month!) 
http://www.libdex.com/  (This is an index of libraries) 
http://draweb.library.phila.gov/ (The free library of Philadelphia Public Catalog) 
http://catalog.loc.gov/  (The library of Congress online Catalog) 
http://locatorplus.gov/  (The National Library of Medicine) 
http://drseuss.lib.uidaho.edu/govdoc/otherdep.html  (The U. S. Depository Libraries) 
http://12.46.245.173/cfda/cfda.html  (The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance – this is the one that lists available grants from the Feds) 
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cgp/index.html  (Catalog of U.S. Government Publications) 

SEE PAGE 1 of Grants for women Grant Faq's HERE
SEE PAGE 2 of Grants for women Grant Faq's HERE
SEE PAGE 4 of Grants for women Grant Faq's HERE
SEE PAGE 5 of Grants for women Grant Faq's HERE

SEE Also:

Grants for women
Grant site reviews for women
Grants for Women - the scoop
Get Grant Funding for Your Nonprofit Organization
Small Business Grants - Tips from the Pros
Loans for women!

Don't miss any of Cheryl's Business Grant FAQ's! Subscribe to our FREE business newsletter, sent in text only, every two weeks featuring Grant questions and answers!

About Cheryl: Cheryl Antier is the president of "Dream Weaver Enterprises" a business and fundraising consultancy firm that specializes in helping you to "weave your dreams into reality".  She recently married for the second time, has three children at home and lives bi-continentally in Southern France and Southeast Utah.

See also grants for women here.