Business Grants
Business grants for single mothers are definitely needed considering that raising children and sending them to school and keeping the home furnished with necessary materials can take a lot of financial resources that without businesswithout businesses, single moms would have hard time sustaining for everything. Even if single moms are employed but don’t run businesses, wages are not enough to support the kids’ needs especially if the fathers are not supporting or can be able to support sufficiently. However, not only the kids are greatly considered here. There are also the home loans or rents, the utility bills, maintenance cost and so on which are all burdens on single mothers’ shoulders. So if single mothers would not be able to put up their own businesses, there could be further dilemma which the common denominator is basically financial shortage.
What Are These Business Grants
Business grants are not actually loans but financial supports that are provided by various kinds of organizations. These organizations are composed of business corporations, private foundations and the federal government. However, because business grants are given out to help people who do not even have the capability to pay, there are guidelines that receivers of grants must dutifully follow. In this case, because financial assistance does serve as business grants, the organizations require that annual reports as well as financial statements should be submitted to their offices regularly. This is for the financier to know if the money are being used appropriately.
So where can single moms find grants that could best fit with their business plans? Here we name you the best sources.
- Federal Government Grants. For easy search, you can visit the site Grants.gov and find grants provided by the government. Within the page you can also find the lists of business opportunities in alphabetical order. Each grant provider also has written qualifications and requirements that applicants should comply.
- Corporation Grants. From the term itself, corporations especially the old companies are giving away grants to low income people including single mothers so that they can put up their own businesses. Examples of these corporations are the Home Depot, Bank of America and Levi Strauss Company.
- Private Foundation Grants. The ones that provide the grants here are group of private foundations or non-profit organizations that have pooled their money together in order that they can provide grants to individuals who want to set up their businesses. There is the Foundation Center which is a subscription-based search engine and known as the nation’s best authority in helping people connecting them to grant providers. Although one needs to subscribe and pay a little amount to the Foundation Center, this can provide you the best information for private foundation grants which business grants for single mothers are most possible.
Now, single moms should always be ready when applying for business grants because they will surely be asked with too many questions by the grantors. Things like the goals of the mothers for putting up their businesses, the size of their business if it would be only on the local industry or for international reach would likely be asked about. Also, the amount of money needed would surely be scrutinized, the number of employees (managers and the staff) and also about the short and long-term goals. So based from these questions, the single mothers should at least create their own feasibility studies and must do some research before coming up with the type of business proposals.
Business grants for single mothers can run up to more than $100,000. This amount can enable women to begin with small businesses and be economically independent. Divorced, widows and unmarried single mothers can really use this amount to run up their businesses. However, not all single mothers are given the opportunities for grants unless they meet the requirements.
Here we have summarized the general requirements single moms should be wary about when applying for business grants.
- At least 18 years of age and an American citizen
- Must present business proposal or feasibility study to the office of the grantors.
- Personal information or background to prove being a single mother.
- Birth certificate including the child o2 children’s certificate
So you see there are only basic and few requirements needed when applying for business grants for single mothers. But notice that the mother should be at least 18 years old. This is to ensure that the mother is already mature enough to handle the responsibilities of a business woman.
Business grants for single mothers are the best opportunities that women can choose and these are better than taking loans from banks or from private lenders. Such loans require payments and have interests alongside. And if the businesses would not be successful, single mothers can really be in greater trouble. So as an advice, for those who are thinking about putting up their businesskthrough grants, they must have clear ideas what business to put up and they must study the market comprehensively. They must also consult business people to get some ideas or can put their money in affiliation with the successful businesses. And that is how business grants for single mothers can be able to uplift the lives of single moms and provide their children the opportunities to have brighter future.
If you have further comments and suggestions regarding the way3 in sourcing out business grants for single mothers, you can share them to us here. We also welcome feedbacks so that we can also learn from your own ideas and experiences.