There are a few items you need to know before you apply for small business grants. There are many scams out there, so here are a few things you need to know:

1. Small business grants are not usually given out by the federal government.
2. Just because you have a small business, it doesn’t mean you will qualify. Many grants are only available to specific minorities such as African Americans for instance, or women, or even African American Women. Many people mistakenly believe that anyone can get a grant, or multiple grants, just by applying. But you need to follow the application rules and guidelines. A small business owned solely by a man is not going to get a grant which is just available to women owned businesses.
3. Grants are offered by a variety of organizations. Many grants are offered by private foundations for instance, while others may be offered by corporations.
4. Small business grants take time. Most grants have a detailed, step-by-step application process that must be completed. And that application can take time to complete. A lot of time. Depending on the source of the small business grant, there may be other requirements that have to be met before they’ll even look at your application too. And once the application is accepted, it could be a year or more before the organization decides who will get the limited number of small business grants they have available.
5. Small business grants are plentiful yet scarce. There are literally thousands of places to apply for small business grants, but each place usually has a very limited number of grants to give. It’s not uncommon for there to be only one grant available from a given organization each year, and in some cases there’s just one grant every five years or so.
6. Small business grants may not help a start up. This is another common misconception about small business grants. Many people who are ready to start a business, think that getting a business grant is the best way to get started. The problem though, is that many small business grants will only be awarded to existing or established businesses.