How To Tell If Your Small Business is Eligible For Government Funding 

When it comes to your small business, extra money coming in never hurts anybody. But to make money, your small business has to spend money – and to spend money, you need to have the money. This is where government funding plays a major role in getting you up and running.

The Canadian government has hundreds of government funding programs that come from a variety of sources, including those of local governments, provincial level governments as well as the federal government of Canada.

These government funding programs often come in the form of government grants, government loans, tax breaks and credits – and best of all, most small businesses in Canada can apply to some of them.

While there are approximately 1,500 different government funding programs across the country, not everyone is eligible to all. Knowing if your small business is eligible for government funding is what will help narrow down that search field to the few specific funding options you can actually benefit from.

But how do you narrow down?

Is your small business eligible for government funding?

There are over 1,500 funding programs. 

These funding programs open and close regularly and what is available today, may not be available tomorrow. This makes the government funding scene a very busy and confusing one.

To ensure that your small business can benefit and get some government funding, it is important to be on top of it – regularly checking and ensuring no option is missed.

To find out if you are eligible for government funding and to ensure that you have the best options at hand, there are a few steps you have to take first:

1. Ensure you have a solid business plan
2. Have a detailed breakdown of your funding needs
3. Be on-top of the funding options (checking daily).

As funding programs are announced, the good ones (that offer the best funds) often don’t stay available long. Most business owners jump in and take advantage as soon as the programs are announced – meaning its first come first serve.

The good thing is that most government funding programs don’t just fund a business or two; but a larger number. Generally speaking a typical program will have a budget of $500,000 to $2,500,000, depending on the purpose it wants to solve within a particular industry.

With these funds being available, most often the agency will set a rule that no business will be able to take more than a certain amount of money. The typical low-level government funding amount varies but is from $25,000 to $50,000; meaning that a specific funding option with such a budget is able to fund quite a lot of business owners.

To be in line to apply to these options as they come out, you do have to ensure you have all that you need beforehand (ready to go). This often means your business plan.

Your Business Plan

A proper business plan will cover the detailed information about your business model; what it is, what you do, what you need; what your potential is..etc; and will explain how the funds you are seeking will help you further grow and benefit the economy as well as your business.

If you don’t have a business plan as of yet, you can use the Business Plan Builder Tool to develop one that will be up to par with what the various government funding agencies may want to see from you.

Once you have your business plan ready, it is important to focus on what you need funding for.

The more specific you are, the more likely you are to obtain government funding from various agencies to cover the needs you have.

Breaking down your funding needs

Each government funding agency may focus on a different location, industry or funding requirement.

In order for your business to benefit the most, it is a good idea to break down your funding needs to the very specifics that you may want funding for. 

The more of a breakdown you are able to provide and shows an allocation of how much funding you need per each of those requirements, the more likely you are to get all of the needs funded.

Remember that each funding agency may be able to fund a specific need and rarely do they all fund everything; so asking for multiple “smaller” amounts will help you become more eligible for the various government funding options.

Once all of this is sorted and you know exactly what you need funding for, to be eligible for the best government funding options, checking regularly is a good idea.

Funding programs change daily at times and it’s very easy to miss an important update via the various government agencies – working with an expert to help you with a search, or using tools such as the Funding Database can be of value.

Keeping up with the government funding

Now that you are ready to determine what your small business may be eligible for, it is a good idea to first be aware of how often the programs change.

1st; start by looking at programs locally. Local funding programs often have the best eligibility requirements; and are often the easiest to obtain.

From there, move towards the provincial and federal levels as well.

2nd; to ensure eligibility, be sure to check the program requirements as many programs only fund specific industries; or focus their funds on a specific goal, which align with what you may need funding for.

Keep in mind that not all programs are for everyone and you do have to follow the strict requirements that each agency has to see if you are eligible based on your specific needs.

3rd; once you find a program, be aware of their deadlines. Are they closing soon? If so; be sure to submit your application before the deadline. Not too early; but not too late – you want to be somewhere in the middle. Generally give yourself 3-4 weeks prior to the deadline to submit your info/application.

It is never a bad idea to ask for help, be it with your business plan, the funding breakdown, or figuring out what you may be eligible for. When money is involved, ensuring that you can get funding for your business can mean the difference between success and failure.