Business Grants for Minorities

The Small Business Administration (SBA) offers business grants for minorities. The SBA is a government agency that was started to track small businesses and to encourage the American spirit of entrepreneurship. The SBA works with small businesses to provide advice, funding and to ensure that there is no discrimination for government contracts.

Business grants for minorities are one of the ways that the SBA helps to insure that there is diversity in the business world. These grants may or may not come from the SBA, in some cases they come from private organizations that are focused on furthering the advancements of a particular group.

Free Money

A grant is basically free money, it may not be a lot of money, but it can bridge a gap nicely between capital that is had and additional capital that is needed. There is typically certain criterion other than being a minority that has to be met to get this free money, and usually there is a lengthy application package that has to be filled out.

The Process

The first step in the process is usually to contact the SBA either by phone or through their website. The folks at the SBA can point you to other groups that will offer these types of grants. Funding through the SBA is usually limited, but they will assist you in filling out their application.

The application for most any organization or group including the SBA will require that there is a business plan in place. A business plan is just that, it is a plan that discloses what you plan on doing about your business. Things like market tests will be asked about, your level of experience in the field, how many like businesses are in your area and other relevant information will be collected as well.

The Criteria

Obviously the first criteria for business grants for minorities, is that the business is minority owned. Credit worthiness might also be a consideration even though it is a grant, whether you pay your bills or not is a good indicator whether you follow through with things. Your business plan will also be reviewed in most cases to see if you are a viable risk, because funds are so limited which ever organization is giving the grant wants to make sure they are giving it to a business that will succeed.

Each organization may focus on a specific business type, like a technology business that is owned or being started by a minority, or it may be that only a specific type of business is eligible, this will largely be connected to the type of group that is offering the money. A lot of trade organizations will offer grants to a minority owned business that is within that field, so a restraint organization is probably not going to offer a grant to a minority owned dry cleaning or day care business. Sometimes the criterion can be very narrow and restrictive and very hard to fit into.

Business grants for minorities are a great opportunity for minority owned businesses, to expand and to start up.