What’s So Great About Grants?

So maybe we started off a bit hot and sweaty in Part 1 of the series 🥵.  The world of grant funding can be both rewarding and exhausting and so let’s slow down and take a few warm-up stretches. Remember, #stamina is essential if you’re trying to go the distance in securing grant funding to grow your business.

There are a lot of options for small businesses to access funding to meet their strategic goals. You can access capital through commercial banks, equity financing and even venture-capital funding 🏦. Hey, maybe you could even WhatsApp your friendly neighborhood flower pyramid admin for a little help out (yuh know what? Let’s not do that last one! Definitely NOT. LOL).

Now what makes grant funding stand out? Grant funding is literally financial awards provided by governments, intergovernmental organizations and state entities for specific purpose linked to public benefit.

Here’s why most companies are eager to get down with grant life: 🤑

There are ‘no’ strings attached– Grants are essentially gifted $$$ 🎁💵. Although some grants have conditions and requirements attached, pre and post-application, most of them really are just focused on ensuring that the donor is part of a great success story. There is no payback required and no interest rates attached.

They’re everywhere– if you keep yourself tapped into the biz matrix, there are a host of state agencies, as well as regional and international donor agencies that have a lot of money to help you achieve your goals. 🥇

Imagine that! All that dough just to help you grow! So be sure to set your Google Alerts and join the mailing lists of the top donor agencies in the region like the Inter-American Development Bank and Caribbean Export.

They come in all shapes and sizes – depending on where you are in your journey and where you want to go, there is likely to be a grant fund opportunity that’s right for you. Grants can be competitive or formula type focused on promoting growth in specific sectors or activities. There are even those that just want to help you, for instance, on your quest to ‘go green’♻️or support your success if you’re a woman-owned enterprise. 👩🏿‍🏫  Trust me, as your grandmother might say, it have grant fuh’ so!

So what may seem like a lot of work to put together an application, may actually have a big payoff. If you’re in, let’s pick up the pace because we have some serious ground to cover in upcoming articles to get you Grant Fit and Ready.