DIY: A Simple Guide To Funding Your Business With Government Money

When it comes to your small business (whether you have one or are planning on starting up), most of the time you think about funding your business. Right?

Do you have enough? Will you make money? Is the investment worth it?

The risk is always there, especially for new startups who need to watch every nickle (since pennies are no longer in existence).

Most people when they are running out of money think of the alternatives such as borrowing from family and friends, or using personal credit cards and lines of credit; those with a better credit score end up going to apply for loans from banks but what if we told you that there is a way you can get money straight from the government of Canada?

Some of you may already know this; maybe you read about it, heard about it somewhere, have had an accountant tell you about it but did you know that there is a way you can get it on our own?

Continue reading to find out how the government of Canada can help you fund your small business.

Here is a DIY (do it yourself) guide to funding your business by the government of Canada:

Government as a Source for Funding Your Business?

The obvious action for you to take is to visit the government of Canada website, right? Well here it is.

But if you’ve had any dealings with the government in the past, you know how difficult it may be to get anything. Don’t get me wrong, you will get it the information you need, but in my opinion your time is better spent working on your small business than researching for days and weeks on the government website.

To start and plan for funding your business, you need to start by answering the questions presented below:

What do I need money for?

• to cover startup costs
• to help pay my salary as i start my business
• to help me hire employees
• to help train staff
• to help with research and development
• to help with advertising and marketing
• to help me buy equipment and tools needed

Depending on what you need money for in order to fund your small business, there are many different government agencies that provide different types of funding programs. There are grants, loans, financial assistance, consulting, tax breaks and much more the government can do for you.

Your next question to answer is, How much do you really need?

Knowing what you need money for is great, but how much do you need? When you have an approximate figure, you will better be able to present your case to the funding agency who would provide you with the funding. Certain government programs have limits as to how much they can provide for different funding needs.

For example: if you are a cleaning business starting up in Red Deer, Alberta and you are looking to purchase a new car to help you get around town, you most likely will look for a grant or a low interest loan in the amount of $15k to $35k (which is the average price of a vehicle). You don’t want to ask for $100,000, as this just doesn’t make sense. What is even better in the eyes of a funding agency is that if you need to purchase a work vehicle for $15k, that you show that you only need $10k, and the rest will be invested by you.

Once you’ve answered these questions, the best thing to do is to go to a 3rd party source to get help finding government funding programs which may be available to match your needs.

Why 3rd party?

The government of Canada is great, but not all programs are available or actively promoted on the government of Canada’s website. While a third party (such as CanadaStartups) has a team dedicated to researching and finding programs that help small business owners. All information is in one place, and as a busy entrepreneur you can spend a hour instead of a week researching.

After finding the source of funding information such as the one available in the Funding Database on CanadaStartups you would be able to conduct your funding search and pin point the grants, loans and tax breaks which may be helpful to you. Not to mention, gain access to the funding programs offered by private investors.

The DIY steps in finding government funding and funding your business include:

1. Find the Sources of Funding (use the Funding Database)
2. Answer the above mentioned questions
3. Create a Business Plan (use the Business Plan Builder Tool)
4. Create a Investor Presentation (use the Pitch Deck Tool)
5. Send your Business Plan/Presentation along with your applications to government programs and private investors
6. Wait for a response.

Typically a government agency would reply (with a response) within 30 days. You can always feel free to follow up with the funding agency or the funding program coordinator.

Let us know of your results and how you were able to find funding and for what?