The Canadian government hands out billions of dollars each year to small business owners all across the country. This is considered government funding, which many small busienss owners can utilize to better their businesses.

While there are hundreds of different govenrment funding programs available from the various levels of the Canadian government, they are extremely difficult to find on our own.

Most small business owners give up before they even begin the process.

In most cases there are numerous government funding misconceptions that keep the regular entrepreneur from applying.

Don’t let this stop you.

Government funding is available and comes in the form of government grants, government loans, tax breaks/tax credits..etc

5 must haves to get government funding

When you decide to apply for Canadian government funding for your small busienss, there are certain must haves in order to ensure your success.

These will include the following 5:

1. A detailed business plan

2. Your financials or financial projections

3. A powerful PitchDeck presentation

4. Assistance in finding the available government funding

5. Guidance though the entire process

Entrepreneurs are busy and if you’re a business onwer or considering starting a small business, time is one of the most important factors in ensuring success of your business.

It’s extra hard if you’re trying to start your own business and you still are keeping your job, having to work it all around your family, and life in general.

However those who stick though, make it happen.

So let’s look at the 5 must haves to get government funding for your small business.

#1: Your business plan

This is a no brainier – you need a business plan to apply for funding.

Most, if not all government agencies will ask to see a detailed business plan before they provide you any funding.

Makes sense, doesn’t it. Would you give anyone money for a “business” without knowing what it is?

A properly developed business plan will explain your entire business model, your market/industry, the potential customers, the potential growth you could have, will explain your financials and funding needs and will tell the reader all they need to know about you so that they can make a good decision to invest in your business or not.

While there are many different ways of creating a business plan, it is important to note the purpose of the plan (why ti’s being written). If it’s t obtain funding, it’s important to outline the objective as “to obtain funding”.

Funding search specific business plans are slightly different then traditional plans and you could benefit from speaking with an expert Canada Startups to learn more – 1-800-288-9691

#2: The financials

Closely tied to the business plan, the financials are a big must have when seeking funding with your business plan.

In order to apply and get any government funding for your business, the various agencies you apply to will want to see your financials.

This means showing your balance sheet, profit/loss statement and a cash flow document.

It’s important to be able to put this together as it will show the various government funding agencies the level of investment/time investment and research investment you put into ensuring success of your business on paper.

As an exiting business, you may be able to show your financials much easier than a startup which has to predict the numbers, but either way, financials are a must.

In most cases, financials needed would show 3 years of figures, or a 3 year projection plan.

If you’re not familiar how to prepare financials, or if you have questions about your financials and how they will impact the governmetn funding search, speak to a expert at Canada Startups.

#3: Your  pitch

You’ve most likely hear about an elevator pitch; a 60 second pitch; or perhaps the tv show Shark Tank?

If so, this is what a pitch is.

A presentation that shows your busienss model, in a visually appealing format for the various condign agencies or investors to see.

Proper PitchDecks will explain the business model, show the potential, explain the funding needs in a 10 to 15 slide presentation that governmetn agencies or investors can quickly review to better understand your business.

While PitchDecks are not a new concept, more and more govenrment funding agencies are looking to see the pitch before the full plan – in order to save time!

Two of the most important tools when seeking government funding is to combine your business plan document along with the visually appealing pitchdeck for best results.

#4: Funding search help

One of the most difficult things to do when looking for government funding programs to apply to is to actually find them.

While there are hundreds, as mentioned they are extremely hard to find.

The reason for this is that the government finding programs are scattered across the various levels of the Canadian government (local, provincial and federal).

In most cases, each program has it’s own website, it’s offered by a different agency and to find these programs you need A LOT of time.

In a recent survey that Canada Startups did, without getting help (from experts) only about 5% of the individuals looking for government funding were able to find programs on their own in 1 to 2 weeks.

That’s a lot of time to spend “just looking”.

You can see the results of the survey here.

As a small busienss owner, time is limited and again in this survey, 50% of the individuals took 7 to 10 weeks to find programs!

If you have the time to invest, do so – if not, expert help is always best.

An example would be using the Canada Startups funding experts to do a search for you; where the experts take all of the programs available in the Funding Database; and pull the best results for your specific needs in no time.

That makes sense – it speeds things up and you know you got the best results.

The Funding Database offered by Canada startups is the # 1 rated business funding database in Google!

#5: Guidance and step by step assistance

Much like getting help with the funding search, the next step after finding the programs to apply for is to get help applying!

The application process is different from program to program and often can be the number one reason why busienss owners get denied funding – by filling out the applications wrong.

Many factors are at play in ensuring your governmetn funding applications are done right, and the experts at Canada Startups help with this.

Consider getting expert help, guidance and one on one support to ensure that the applications are done right, reviewed and that you’re not wasting your time.