Does anyone know how to write a grant for a small business?

My girlfriend is looking to open up a small business in designing floral arrangements. She is looking to ask the government for money but needs a sample of a proposal to ask for federal money. Can anyone one out there assist us?

Does anyone know how to write a grant for a small business?
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 a for-profit business.





And yes, grants mean PAPERWORK - lots and lots of it, that is why a cottage industry of grant writers was born. Instead of exerting futile effort in finding for grants and grant writers, I suggest you direct your activities to raising funds from friends, families or bank loans.





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.





Even if you buy books on "how to get grants" or list that supposedly has information on grants -- all of them are mere rehash of what CFDA has, albeit packaged differently. But still the info is the same - hardly any grants for starting a for profit business.





Even SBA does NOT give out grants. From the SBA website http://www.sba.gov/expanding/grants.html...





"The U.S. Small Business Administration does not offer grants to start or expand small businesses, although it does offer a wide variety of loan programs. (See http://www.sba.gov/financing for more information) While SBA does offer some grant programs, these are generally designed to expand and enhance organizations that provide small business management, technical, or financial assistance. These grants generally support non-profit organizations, intermediary lending institutions, and state and local governments."





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





Grants are also often given to non profit groups or organizations involved in training or other similar activities (grant 59.043 Women's Business Ownership Assistance that are given to those who will create women's business center that will train women entrepreneurs





For private grants, you may want to check the Foundation Center's Foundation Grants for Individuals Online. 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.





http://www.cfda.gov


http://www.grants.gov


http://gtionline.fdncenter.org


http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol66/grants...


http://www.sba.gov/expanding/grants.html
Reply:A place to start is to contact your county extension service. Most have access to small business and/or community development specialists that can point you in the right direction. In every state there is a land grant university that administers county extension centers. Check your yellow pages, they should be able and willing to help.





For example, I live in Missouri, the state program is through University of Missouri, so the website I would use to begin with would be:





extension.missouri.edu





Another agency that should help would be the Small Business Administration, which you may be able to find in your yellow pages, or online. (I opened a small business a few years ago.....)