Is Your Small Business Prepared To Search For Government Funding?

Is your small business in Canada prepared and ready to start the search for government funding?

This is a very important question because answering it correctly or not could mean the difference between success and failure of your small business funding applications through the government.

Now, we all know that the government of Canada has a ton of government funding programs (or at least we hope you know by now). These funding programs are all considered government funding and come in many forms such as:

• Government Grants
• Government Loans
• Tax Breaks or Credits
• Incentives..etc

Other then finding the hundreds of available funding programs (which on your own is extremely painful), the other challenge is applying for the funding and being denied because your small business was not prepared to even search for government funding programs in the first place.

How do you know if you are prepared you ask?

Well, searching for government funding programs is not a simply task to do in one sitting. It’s actually a process that takes between 3 to 4 weeks on your own, depending on how much you already have and what you already know.

A quick guide to help get you ready to figure if you are ready to start your funding search is to follow these questions below:

Do you know what you need funding for?

If you are thinking of jumping into the search for government funding because “you need funding to startup or to expand your business”, stop.

While you need funding, searching for funding to “startup” or to “expand” is not good enough and you will most likely waste a ton of time on nothing.

In order to be prepared for your funding search, you need to be able to break down your funding needs to be as specific as possible. Not specific to the point where you list out each of the items on your shopping list for your business, but a general idea such as:

• To pay for advertising and marketing
• To help you hire and train your staff
• To pay for tools, equipment, suppies
• To improve cash flow..etc

If you know what you need funding for because you’ve done the research require to figure it all out, the next questions should be a piece of cake and you will probably be ready to start your search for government funding.

Do you know how much you need?

Answering this question, the same logic as the previous question applies. If you know you need funding, don’t say “I need $200,000 to startup”. This won’t get you anywhere.

Instead, you want to break down your funding needs to the specific activities that you need to have funded. Just as explained above, if you require funding to help you pay for tools and equipment, describe them and show approximate figures. This way, you will be able to search and apply to multiple programs and not just one funding program.

Keep in mind that when searching for government funding, there is not one program that covers all funding needs. So you may have to get creative and know how to break down your needs in order to benefit you in your funding search.

Do you have your business plan ready?

This is probably one of the first things you should do before deciding to search for government funding – start and have a business plan ready.

By having a completed business plan you will prepare yourself for your funding search. It will tell you what you need funding for, how much you need and by when you need it. A business plan is also one of the most critical tools you will need to have when searching and applying for government funding.

Do you know where to start the search for funding programs?

You may be in need of government funding and you may want it but where do you search for government funding?

There are hundreds of government funding programs available from various levels of the Canadian government, though various funding agencies. Where do you begin?

It’s been shown that searching for government funding on your own it can typically take between 3 to 4 weeks. That’s a lot of work!

A lot of business startups and existing business owners turn to expert help such as the one available via CanadaStartups.org to speed up the search for government funding process, or even personalized funding report companies such as MyFundingReport.ca

Now that you know what’s required to prepare you to start your own funding search for government grants, loans and tax breaks – are you ready?