how do i find free government grants to start a small business?

Answer 1

There are essentially only 4 sources for grants. A little known fact it that you do NOT have to be a non-profit to get a grant, regardless of what others tell you ... I've helped for-profits apply for grants.

Federal grants are called Small Business Innovation Research grants. These are given primarily for some new innovation. You can find out what's available at:
http://www.sbirworld.com
There is also info on this site about how to apply.

Some cities offer grants to small businesses if they will locate in the downtown area, for the purposes of building up downtown traffic. Check with City Hall.

There are some governemnt grants for minority businesses. You can find info at:
http://www.mbda.gov

Finally, private foundations offer grants. You can get a list of most US Foundations and private grant sources at http://www.foundations.org/grantmakers.html.

Answer 2

The best place to research any grants or loans available to small business is the Small Business Association. They have lots of great information on their website.

Answer 3

No such thing as grant money from the gov. to start a biz.
No such thing as free biz loans from the gov.
No such thing as free money from any dept. of any type of any form of gov.

ALL MYTH!! The small business group is just a group of people who assist you in questions and all. They are not bankers, people or loan nor anything like that. If you ask them for a loan, they will guide you to your bank.

Money for a business comes from the following sources:

investors
bank loan
your family/friends
your back pocket

Answer 4

Here is some information on finding grants - http://www.government-supply.com/grants.htm

but your best bet if you are in the US is the SBA or SCORE - the SBA (Small Business Administration) has a number of funded programs for small businesses including courses, advise and co-signing loans http://www.sba.gov/

SCORE is a group of retired business people (volunteers) that provide business counseling and more http://www.score.org/