How To Get Funding For Your Small Business in Ontario

When deciding to start a small business, be it in Ontario or anywhere else in Canada, it’s important to know the appropriate steps required to launch a successful small business.

Currently, there are approximately 389,116 registered small businesses in Ontario.

If you think that you have what it takes to start a small business in Ontario be sure that you don’t fall into the common pitfalls of small business failures.

One of the main reasons why small businesses in Ontario fail is due to the lack of funding, or improper allocation of funding.

So we are going to explain to you how to get funding for your small business in Ontario.

First of all lets just get out there that funding does in fact exist, both from the government of Ontario and the government of Canada. This funding can come in the form of government grants, government loans, tax breaks and incentives. However if you open up your self to other funding options you can start looking into private investors, family and friends, potential business partners as well as your own personal savings.

To start a small business in Ontario is no easy task. You must be dedicated, have the knowledge and the desire to be your own boss. But what good is that if you have no money to startup, launch and operate.

So the first thing that as a small business owner in Ontario you have to do is create a business plan. Sure you have heard it before a million times that every business needs a business plan, but do you know why? Do you know how a business plan can help you with funding?

If you have a properly developed business plan you are able to figure out exactly how much your startup costs are going to be, how much you will need to have in funding, what you will need the funding for and how it will benefit you – as well as preparing you for what’s up ahead for when you are operating and have on-going costs.

Any funding is good funding!

Don’t believe that line.

As a small business owner you may think that any funding is good funding, but that can vary based on your business. As much as it is good to have a lot of money, it can hurt you just as much.

Think of it this way…

If you have $10,000 to spend on your business you will watch every penny because you know that you only have $10,000. You must startup, rent a location, purchase equipment, do marketing/advertising, pay staff..etc

But if you have $100,000 and you still have to do the same, you may not think about every penny, but start thinking about every dollar, or every $10.

When looking for funding to start a small business in Ontario, be sure to only seek the funding that you calculated as needed. The funding needed to get you started, to cover the costs that otherwise you wouldn’t be able to cover and always plan ahead.

To get the funding, once you have a business plan in place you could consider using our Funding Database to look for government grant and loan programs that can help your small business get funded, as well as contact over 800 private investors who may be interested in funding small businesses in Ontario.

To get started with our Funding Database and register to be a member of CanadaStartups, simply check out our Membership page.

Otherwise the fastest way to funding is to reach out to your family, your friends, potential business partners, start a crowdfunding campaign, contact your local, provincial and federal government agencies and try to connect with private investors. As much as all of these tactics to get funding are effective if you spend enough time and effort, they are very time consuming. This is why services such as our Funding Database can really save you time by providing you access to over 1,500 funding sources all in one place.