Government funding exists to help small business owners across Canada startup or to expand their businesses. It’s a benefit that entrepreneurs have by being Canadian. While funding is available from various funding programs and different funding agencies, not everyone should be applying for government funding.

Deciding who can apply for small business funding and who shouldn’t apply is not too difficult to decide between.

Who should apply to government funding programs?

If you are a Canadian citizen and are thinking of getting into business and starting up, or if you already have a business that’s running, applying for government funding support may be right for you.

To break it down even further, if you are a small business owner who needs government funding support for any of the below funding needs, applying to funding programs is the right move:

• Funding to cover hiring and training costs
• Money to help you pay for tools, supplies and equipment
• Funds to help you startup or to expand
• To improve cash flow
• Conduct R&D
• Pay for advertising and marketing
• and similar

Funding may be the right option for you to consider, but it’s always a good idea to get in touch with funding experts here at CanadaStartups.org to learn what may be covered and what not; to get in touch with us, simply give us a call at 1-800-288-9691.

While government funding programs exist, not every person who applies will get funded.

Funding agencies controlling these funding programs have strict criteria as to who can get funding, and funding programs are broken down by these 3 factors:

• Your Location
• The Industry You Are In
• Specific Funding Needs You Have

Since each funding program is different, before you apply to the funding program be sure to know the criteria, qualifications and the factors which make an applicant the right one.

Who should NOT be applying for government funding?

Chances are that if you’re starting a business or already have one, you may benefit from government funding programs.

While many people apply for funding and get their businesses funded, there are still a large number of applicants that get denied funding. Much of the time is because they simply shouldn’t have applies for funding in the first place.

For example:

If you’re not a Canadian citizen, do not apply for funding from the Canadian government.

Applying for funding to help you with your business implies that you have a business (starting one or already have one), if however you don’t have a business and are looking for money to get started, before the business is registered – do not do it.

Lacking a business plan? This will not get you very far since most government funding agencies require that you have a business plan before you apply for government funding support.

Seems simple right? Well the problem is that thousands of people apply for funding every single day, and many don’t follow the simple rules – and get denied.

As a small business owner if you’re unsure what you need funding for and your business plan doesn’t clearly explain it, avoid applying for funding. Most funding agencies only fund those individuals and businesses who have a clear decision as to what funding is needed for and how it will benefit them.

And lastly, if you just apply for anything and everything in hopes to get something – don’t do it.

Since each funding program has a different criteria and qualification requirements, only those who meet the eligibility criteria may get funded – so applying in bulk to all potential programs will simply not work.

To see if you may be eligible for any funding programs for your own small business you can always try our Funding Calculator Tool and see how much you may be able to get. Try it now.