Are Grants, gov. or personal for real. I am being charged $4000 to write a grant for my business. Is this odd?

Question

The fee assures me a grant anywhere from $50-500K. It sounds too good to be true. I know there is free money out there. But is it really in this volume to start a business?

Answer 1

I would be EXTREMELY WARY of companies that claim you can get grants for whatever purpose you want because that is absolutely false and not how federal grants work. And I would be SCARED all the more that this company wants you to apply for grants through them and ask you to pay $4,000 because that is definitely not going to get you any results.

I suggest you check out warnings the Federal Trade Commission FTC has issued against these "grant" companies:

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/03/grantresources.htm
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt134.htm

Here is also one of the warnings issued by the Better Business Bureau http://www.concord.bbb.org/tips_timesharescams.html

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.

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 SBA does NOT give out grants. From the SBA website http://www.sba.gov/mostrequesteditems/CON_FAQ2.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."

Here is a listing of federal grants for small businesses. See if there is any available for individuals for starting a business -- THERE'S NONE.
http://12.46.245.173/pls/portal30/CATALOG.BROWSE_BENEF_RPT.show

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

Answer 2

That does sound too good to be true. Grants are always given through the government so if you are not getting it from there I would be suspicious. I also doubt the government would charge you to apply for a grant as grants are given free of charge. Check with the http://www.usa.gov/index.shtml and see if you can find more information there. Hope it helps!

Answer 3

If they are so good, are they willing to take their share out of the grant monies you are going to get?

If not I think that you should write the grant yourself. If you fail 10 times, you save $4,000.

Answer 4

I would take any "guarantee" of being awarded a grant with a grain of salt. It sounds to me like the main focus of the company is to get your $4,000 fee.

Answer 5

I think you should tell them to take a hike! Go to the SBA yourself, look at their web site and you will see that there is NO MONEY for start up's