Grants For Female Entrepreneurs

Grants For Female Entrepreneurs

Does anyone know where I can apply for a small business grant for a female entrepreneur in a rural area?

Hi, I am a 35 year old woman, I live in a rural area outside the city of Lafayette, LA. I would like to open a small restaurant in my area, and I am looking to apply for a grant to help with start up expenses. Could someone point me in the right direction, and provide some information on where to find and apply for a small business grant for a rural community?

Restaurants are not something that can be funded through grants

It is hard to find grants to start a business. Unlike the myths that some perpetuate, federal government and even private foundations hardly give grant money for starting a for-profit business.

One possible exception is for companies developing or exporting agricultural goods, including food and forest product. Another exception could be the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs http://www.sba.gov/aboutsba/sbaprograms/sbir/index.html , which fund the research and development of technological innovation that meets specific government needs.

Your best bet actually will be from the states if they offer grant programs for business startups (or any other special interest groups -- minorities, women, disabled, veterans, etc). Or check with non profit organizations, particularly women organizations (if you're a woman) if they offer grants.

Even SBA does NOT give out grants. From the SBA website http://www.sba.gov/category/navigation-structure/starting-managing-business/starting-business/loans-grants-funding/grants

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" The federal government does NOT provide grants for starting and expanding a business. Government grants are funded by your tax dollars and therefore require very stringent compliance and reporting measures to ensure the money is well spent. As you can imagine, grants are not given away indiscriminately.
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Grants from the federal government are only available to non-commercial organizations, such as non-profits and educational institutions in areas such as, medicine, education, scientific research and technology development. The federal government also provides grants to state and local governments to assist them with economic development."

Nonetheless, you can go to the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) http://www.cfda.gov and Grants.gov http://www.grants.gov - these are two sites created by the federal government to provide transparency and information on grants. Browse through the listings and see if you can find any grant that would support a for-profit venture (you'd barely see any).

Most of the federal grants are given to specific target groups with specific requirements (e.g. minority business owners involved in transportation related contracts emanating from DOT - Grant#20.905 Disadvantaged Business Enterprises Short Term Lending Program

For private grants, you may want to check the Foundation Center's Foundation Grants for Individuals Online http://gtionline.fdncenter.org . It's a subscription based website ($9.95 per month) but their opening blurb only says that the database is ideal for "students, artists, academic researchers, libraries and financial aid offices." Entrepreneurs are apparently not one of them, so I take it they also don't have listings of private foundations who give grants to would-be entrepreneurs.

Another option for you that can help you raise funds (though I doubt the full capitalization) is through crowd funding sites, where other people can give you funds for your business. Some supports creative endeavors while some are for businesses. Make sure to make your story compelling. Some examples of these sites are (for the complete list, see in the source)

- Kickstarter http://www.kickstarter.com/
- Indiegogo http://www.indiegogo.com/
- Chipin http://www.chipin.com/
- Citizen Effect http://www.citizeneffect.org
- Cofundit http://www.cofundit.com/

Grants For Female Entrepreneurs
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