Do you dream of being your own boss? Do you have the next big idea? Yes, the economy is rough, but the worst times often come just before the best of times. Now is the best time to take advantage of government grants to be an entrepreneur and start your own business. Being successful in business involves having the courage to take a chance.

The first steps to starting your own business is to believe in yourself and then do your homework. Do not be intimidated. To start, understand the kind of financial assistance your business will require. Simply figure out what costs are associated with your business and list them out. Once you have an estimated figure, then it is easier to figure out the kinds of financial assistance you will need for your new business.

The U.S. Small Business Administration is a great place to start if you plan to own and grow a small business. Check out Grants.com for more information. This government entity can help you achieve your goals with guaranteed loan programs such as the Special Purpose Loans Program or the Rural Lender Advantage Program. The SBA is a great resource for loans.

Small business owners can typically find grants for their businesses through the state-level form of government rather than at the federal level. Be sure to check out the website for your state to learn more about these opportunities. For example, if you are a small business owner in Michigan, then now is the time to take advantage of government grants. Back in 2004, Governor Granholm introduced the Emerging Business Fund, a pool of money used to support small business innovation and research. Michigan residents can receive up to $15,000 matched from federal funds received through this program. Florida is also another great state literally handing out government grants to help business owners with their start-ups. The program to further research in Florida is called “Enterprise Florida.” Do a quick online search of “Enterprise Florida” and you will find yourself in a very good position to make your business dreams come true.

Other people to ask for financial assistance in the beginning stages of your business are family and friends. Obviously, these will be some of your best resources and will typically be the most encouraging of your desire to become a business owner.

Be sure to check out the grants.com for more resources, and remember, don’t give up! Even though the economy is rough, it will bounce back and businesses will thrive. You don’t want to miss your chance to be part of what could be a great revival of the economy.

Small business has always been the engine that drives the economy in ways Too Big Too Fail Corporations can’t: Small Businesses provide economic stability with less risk than corporations tied to investment funds and wide-scale investment transactions that often involve global as well as national influence. Small businesses are not beholden to the kinds of risks that result in financial meltdown. Instead, small businesses plod along methodically embedding themselves deeply into the business landscape.

The Insurance of Small Business Diversity
The volume of small, entrepreneurial businesses is economic insurance hedging itself against big businesses that grow too big too quickly or become a vehicle for the insecurity of venture capital eventually. Instead, small business can afford to grow at a leisurely pace over a span of decades without the concern for massive debt incurred by corporate compensation. With each year, a new business is assured a place in the business world by simple virtue of initiative, ambition and a desire to be in control of one’s financial stability.

New Initiative To Push Small Business Loans
The US Small Business Administration (SBA) has been making loans available to small businesses for decades. In the case of a new start-up, the amount of an SBA loan is sufficient for most small business needs. When operational costs accelerate, it becomes necessary to increase access to small business loans to compensate for a sluggish economy fraught with pitfalls that erode even the most successful small business stability. Thus, the current administration has taken steps to insure that small businesses will have access to small business loans that encourage hiring and increasing salaries of staff.

Analyzing The Initiative
It makes perfect sense to offer wider access to small business loans when the most reliable banking institutions are wary of approving such loans. By stabilizing the small business sector, it has a ripple effect of helping individual small businesses move forward positively as well as regain former market strength. Forward movement in business is always marked by increased employment and by association, increased consumerism. Key to all of this is creating projected business movement through access to business loans.

A Landscape of Successful Small Businesses
Small businesses require smaller loans than big conglomerate corporations. With a string of new businesses and recuperation of existing small businesses, a landscape of success for small business enterprise is assured with the infusion of a tiny jolt of loans that will show a healthy return on investment. Many of these new businesses will become the stellar performers that will host the next phase of investing.

A Return To Small Business Mentality
The small business mentality has always been more comfortable with business that is easily controllable from sales and marketing to operations. Small business loans that are approved for existing businesses are manageable and reliable. With the wealth of information from the SBA, start-up businesses also have the advantage of support and expertise to help create a stable, enduring business. When it is no longer possible to feel confident with the corporate community, it is certain consumers will return to their local small businesses for products and services. Thus, the new initiative to push small business loans has an extensive reach far beyond the local shop around the corner or new businesses in the malls.

In his State of the Union address, President Obama stated, “jobs must be our number-one focus in 2010.” He mentioned “small business” 14 times and proposed a range of measures aimed at spurring job creation.

Small Business and Job Creation
President Obama proposed redirecting $30 billion in TARP funds to be used to “help community banks give small businesses the credit they need to stay afloat.” Small businesses are the engine of job growth, creating 64% of net new jobs over the last 15 years, according to the Small Business Administration. “Financing remains difficult for small business owners,” even those that are profitable, Obama noted. Freeing up lending for them would allow businesses to create these new jobs, as would his proposal to “eliminate all capital gains taxes on small business investment.”

Jobs Bill AKA Second Stimulus
The President urged Congress to pass a second stimulus that incorporates his proposals, what he is calling a jobs bill. He noted that the House passed a bill in late 2009 and called on the Senate to follow suit. But the Senate wants to move quickly on a smaller, $81 billion measure which includes proposals like exempting companies from paying new workers’ 2010 Social Security payroll tax if the new worker was previously unemployed. If the company keeps that employee for a year, it would get a $5,000 tax credit. Both of these measures encourage companies to hire unemployed workers and keep them on long-term.

The bill would likely also extend unemployment and COBRA benefits to the unemployed and may extend tax breaks for things like research and development. Another proposal is an accelerated depreciation provision that would allow companies to write off job-creating investments of up to $250,000 over one year’s time. These proposals may change, however, as the bill takes shape in Senate. And anything passed would have to be reconciled with the House bill.

National Export Initiative
Obama proposed his National Export Initiative which would help small businesses and farmers enter overseas markets. His goal: “We will double our exports over the next five years, an increase that will support two million jobs in America.” He wants to strengthen trade relations to open more markets, especially those in Asia, but specifically with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama. Access to new markets would allow companies to grow and thus, spur the creation of more jobs.

Other Proposals
Obama offered a range of other job creation proposals. He touted the infrastructure spending of the first stimulus, noting that it’s still creating new jobs as we build “the infrastructure of tomorrow.” He proposed putting “more Americans to work building clean energy facilities” and offering rebates for making homes energy-efficient. This would spur job creation in the energy-efficient market. He also proposed getting rid of tax breaks for companies that “ship our jobs overseas,” instead giving them to companies that create jobs in the US.

President Obama affirmed his commitment to job creation in his State of the Union address; Congressional Democrats have echoed his sentiments. Paired with new bipartisan overtures – especially in the Senate – their focus on jobs will hopefully lift the economy for everyone.

The Obama administration has begun the effort of overhauling the Bush-era school reform, No Child Left Behind. The White House wants to change the school accountability system that has failed in over one-third of schools, including some schools that made gains but did not meet annual targets.

The administration envisions great changes. No Child Left Behind encourages schools to better their test scores every year so that all students can read and do math on their particular grade level. Obama wants to see more competitive grants with his Race to the Top proposal . Changing the long-standing funding formulas, of how money is distributed based on the number of poor students may be challenging to get passed through Congress.

Re-authorization may be difficult; given how argumentative negotiations will become and the fact this is an election year. If Congress does happen to reauthorize No Child Left Behind, Obama has committed to asking for an additional $1 billion in competitive grants.

The latest budget suggested by Obama called for a freeze on a lot of non-defense spending with education being the major exception. The proposed increase of six percent shows the importance of education to the administration and how the president as well as the Secretary of Education hopes to get it changed.

Overall, Obama wants federal education spending to be competitive so it will drive schools and states to be better, rather than rely on formulas that give them a certain amount of funds regardless of how well the kids are educated. The White House insists the projected budget will make the spending of K-12 more competitive and plans to have the Race to the Top carved out from the economic stimulus.

As the President outlines new proposals for spending leftover TARP money, many are pointing to small banking institutions as the key to success. Local banks have a greater interest in seeing nearby businesses succeed, while larger institutions often judge assets by quarterly reports alone. In the most recent proposals, nearly $30 billion will be distributed to banks with $10 billion or less in assets. There are about 8,000 small community banks that fall under that heading, and all have the potential to receive the stimulus.

Representative Gary Peters noted that “lack of access to credit is one of the largest impediments to creating jobs.” He is right, as many small business owners will confirm. To create a job and hire an employee requires capital, the capital to go through the hiring and training processes and the capital to pay the employee until his or her contribution balances out the expenditure. Expanding a business to make room for a new job takes capital. Relocation requires capital. All of these things and more require startup funds, but they are investments that pay off in the end. Unfortunately, in the wake of economic difficulty, banks are tightening holds on loan money for fear of losing it to a failing business.

Are Things Getting Better?
The Small Business Administration (SBA) recently announced expansion of some of its programs. These programs are aimed at increasing credit for small businesses. The SBA has focused on creating loans and grants for struggling businesses to help bring them afloat.

One expansion is in the 504 Program, which secures loans for fixed assets (real estate). Nearly $19 billion is slated for the budget, and it will be available to businesses that need to refinance loans on their locations or structures. In the wake of the real estate boom and crash, this can be an incredible boon to a business trying to meet its rent expenses.

The other expansion is in the SBA’s Express programs, which offer guaranteed credit for businesses. The maximum credit amount was nearly tripled to $1 million, which can be used for streamlining, development and increases in manpower, just to name a few uses.

These are just two examples of program expansion that can strengthen small businesses with the credit they need to get running smoothly.

How do I find more? How do I apply?
Applications and information can be found on the SBA’s website, but to really aid small businesses and communities, the proposed use of TARP funds has focused on small banks. If the SBA website is unhelpful or unclear, business owners are encouraged to visit local banks for more information. With greater federal backing, these local institutions may find it easier to issue loans to the businesses that need them.

One of the little known secrets of the financial world is that there are lots of personal grants out there for people who will use them. You would think that people would be lining up to get the free money to start their own businesses or pay for their education, but this is not the case. Most people don’t understand the vast number of grants that you can get if you will only look. This is good for everyone else, though, because it leaves much less competition for grants if you do apply. So what can you get grants for? Where do you get them? These are valid questions that should be answered for people seeking this money.

Federal and private funding sources
When talking about grants, it is important to understand that there are federal grants and grants that are privately funded. The federal grants are handed out by the government for a host of different things. With the government trying to pump money into the hands of consumers to help the economy, the opportunity for more grants is there at the current time.

Some of the most popular federal grants are the education grants, including the often used Pell Grant for undergraduate education. These grants can be had on a need basis, so if you are having trouble paying for college, filling out a Federal Application for Student Financial Aid (FASFA) will give you a chance to get those. Likewise, federal grants exist for getting out of debt and for starting a small business, among other things.

Visiting the government website www.grants.gov will give you a chance to see all of the grants. From there, you can search using a keyword that pertains to you, or you can peruse the site. Narrowing down the grants that you are eligible for is one of the most time consuming parts of the entire process.

Private grants are typically provided by a charitable foundation or by an individual. These are specialty items that might be used to go towards a certain type of person or a certain purpose. More private grants are available for education than anything else, but there are some local, private grants for the purpose of promoting economic growth within a community.

Who gets these grants?
With federal grants, applicants have to show that they have some need. For instance, if you are going to get a debt relief grant, you have to show that there is no way for you to possibly pay off the loan the way things stand for you today. If you are going to get an education grant, you have to show the inability to afford college on your own.

When you visit the government grant site, you will see that there is a “synopsis” section where you can see all of the details for qualification. Under synopsis, you will be able to see the total amount of the grant, as well as the things you need in order to get the grant. For instance, if you ran an infant day care center and you wanted to find a specific grant, you might search for “infant day care”, then you would read that this particular government grant is only available to those who have more than 50 kids under their care. Though that is a rough example, it’s true of how the process plays out.

With privately funded grants, the money will usually go to someone who falls in a certain category. For instance, some of the private college grants are for people who have worked at a certain company in high school or for someone who plays a certain sport or instrument.

How do you apply?
A quick search on the federal government’s websites will reveal the forms that you need in order to apply for federal grants. With student aid, this happens with the previously mentioned FASFA form. For the other grants, an individual application must be filled out and mailed to them with all of the adjoining information. Someone will review your case and if you meet the qualifications, they will notify you about a grant.

An important part of the process is the grant proposal, which will have to be molded to suit the needs of each individual grant. The proposal needs to include information and proof on how you meet each of the qualifications and you will want to show any special circumstances that make you a better candidate than the next guy who is applying. Putting together these grants in a way that is effective and persuasive is a huge part of the equation.

Getting a grant can be an excellent way to jump start your financial life, either through debt relief, a new business, or your continuing education. With so much money out there, it only makes sense to pursue it for your own personal benefit.

August 2005 represents one of the most devastating times for many of us along the Gulf Coast. Hurricane Katrina showed no mercy as she roared through Louisiana and south Mississippi. While many adults were, at least to some degree, familiar with the potential damage these storms can wreak, it was our little ones who were frightened, confused and even angry. Their daily routines were forever changed and the fear could be seen on their faces.

While the outpouring of support in every aspect renewed our faith, there were still these young people who were trapped, literally, due to parents not wanting their children to venture too far out and away from them. The risk of stepping on rusty nails, the possibility of a live downed power line and sadly, the potential for discovering one who did not survive was rather high in those days following the storm’s landfall. Parents kept their children close at all times.

It wasn’t until we received an announcement our small school would be receiving a community grant that things began to shift. Suddenly, our school that housed four foot of water almost a week after Katrina’s landfall would be receiving a lot of attention and tender loving care, courtesy of a development grant from a private donor. To see the faith restored in the children’s eyes was priceless. There was purpose and because of a brilliant principal, the kids were invited to play a role in the rebuilding process; after, of course, the area was cleared of potential hazards such as broken glass, loose nails, etc.

It’s important to note the school is located less than one mile from the beach and for all intents and purposes, all that remained was a shell of a building which was damaged due to the sheer force of the 130 mph winds. Still, there’s nothing so magical than to see determination in a ten year old’s face. Overnight, they became decision makers in the future of their school and what would become the school for thousands more as time progressed. They were even given a voice in color choices of the chairs, window blinds and floor tile. They took pride in their new responsibilities and each looked forward to showing up for “work” each day. And then it got even better.

A few weeks into the rebuilding efforts, we received word the community grant would be extended to cover new computers for the school. It was a true blessing. Even as parents were meeting together in an effort to pool what little funds we had between us at that point (no electricity meant no way to withdraw cash from an ATM, no fuel for a hundred miles meant vehicles served no purpose and no physical buildings to report to for work meant no jobs at least temporarily), we had already realized it was going to be difficult if not impossible to provide computers for these kids once school resumed.

Almost five years later, our ten year olds are now teens in high school. You can be sure, though, the bad memories they have of Hurricane Katrina are tempered with the blessing of a community grant that allowed them to take control in a time when control over anything was a rare find.

With the economy in its current state, one option for people who are either struggling with their current business or looking to start a new business is grant money. This grant money might come from a local, private source or it might come as a part of a federal grant program. Whatever the case, this can be a really good place to start if you are not sure just how you are going to get things off the ground. Grant money is much more readily available at the current time, as the government itself is looking to give the economy an infusion of new energy. This can come from motivated, capable individuals who want to start something new.

When looking for a business grant, the first place to start is with the government. These grants are likely to be bigger and they are more available right now than local grants in most communities. With the stimulus money being passed out all over the place, the small business owners and prospective small business owners with the know how and gumption to apply for these loans are getting lucky right now. How you score one of these loans ultimately depends upon whether you run an existing business or you are starting out.

For start up business owners
So you have a new, exciting idea for a small business to grow your community’s economy, but you don’t have the seed money to get it off the ground? This is a pretty common problem. Most people fail to get grant funding because they cannot put their idea down on paper in a convincing way. What you have to do is put your business plan down in terms that are realistic. How much will it cost to start the business? What is your expected revenue? What are businesses in the same market doing right now? More importantly, how much will your business help the local economy in your area?

All of these questions are important, because when you apply for a federal grant, they will be taken into account. The government is looking for businesses that have a chance to succeed. By finding the government application online and supplying this type of business plan, you can get the ball rolling on some start-up funding.

The government’s grant website is located at http://www.grants.gov and that is a good place to start. You will find that there are hundreds of grants available for all different kinds of businesses. One way to make the search go more quickly is to perform a keyword search on that page for the type of business that you want to start. For instance, a job training center might use the keyword “vocational training” to find grants specific to that business.

From there, you should read the qualifications for the grant and how much money the grant is worth. If you don’t exactly meet the qualifications, then you have two options. You can either tweak your business proposal to suit their needs or you can look for another grant.

Start up business owners have a better chance of getting money from private grants, as well. Depending upon your community, you might want to look into Chamber of Commerce grants and things of that ilk. These organizations will usually look to promote new businesses in the area, but they probably will not be able to provide complete funding for a project.

Grants for existing businesses
If you currently own a small business and it is struggling, then you are not alone. Most folks don’t understand that the government is bailing out the small companies, too, though. You will have to apply for a business relief grant from the government, citing your business’s inability to survive without the grant. This money is typically given out only to those companies with extreme need, so you will need to both have that extreme need and be able to demonstrate that in your application. If you can do those things, then the government may be inclined to throw some money your way in order to keep you afloat. As with the grant application for starting businesses, you will need to state your case in a convincing fashion for the officer reviewing the situation.

The same process applies for these grant seekers, as they will have to explore the possibilities online and go from there. Once you have found a grant that seems suitable, you will need to focus on writing a solid grant proposal.

Putting together the grant proposal
The most important single part of the grant application is your proposal. For small business start-ups, this will need to detail business plans both now and long term. The idea with this proposal is to show that you meet the stated qualifications as found on the granting organization’s website (either the government or private grants). The more convincing your case, the more likely you are to score that business grant.

For current businesses needing a boost, the focus here will be on showing that your business is struggling to the point of devastation. Be honest with the numbers, but frame them in a way that is highly provocative for those reviewing your case.

College tuition has continued to skyrocket significantly over the past decade. To help ease this financial strain college can place on a student or their parents, options such as Pell Grants and Stafford Loans are readily available. Please read below to understand the differences between these two types of college funding options.

Pell Grants
The Federal Pell Grant program provides financial aid money to students on a need-basis. These grants do not have to be repaid. These grants are available to low income undergraduates and some graduate students. Grant money can be used at over 5,400 universities and colleges that participate in the Pell Grant program. For the 2010-11 award year, the maximum awarded amount for a Pell Grant will be $5,550.

To determine if a student is eligible for a Pell Grant, the student will need to complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FAFSA. This form helps the United States Government determine the financial need of a student. A student can apply for student aid independently or as a dependent of their parents. After the government has received the FAFSA, the student or the university will receive a Student Aid Report which will notify the student if they are eligible for a Federal Pell Grant and the amount they will receive.

Pell Grants can be awarded directly to the student or to the university or college. Payment will come from the government once a term.

Stafford Loans
Federal Stafford Loans are government issued student loans that are not based on need. These loans are available to university and college students and nearly all students can qualify for these loans. Stafford Loans are also available to graduate, professional and medical students. Students are required to repay Stafford Loans. These loans generally have a very low interest rate, which is fixed. Currently, Stafford Loans have around a 5.60% interest rate. A student does not have to begin repaying these loans until after they have left school.

To be eligible for a Stafford Loan, a student must be a U.S. citizen, National permanent resident or an eligible non-citizen. A student must be registered at a university or college that accepts Stafford Loans. Students must be enrolled at least part time at school.

Stafford Loans have two variations. These variations are the Federal Family Education Loan Program and the Federal Direct Student Loan Program. The difference between these variations is that the first type is provided by private lenders and is guaranteed by the federal government. The second type of loan is a direct loan, which is given directly from the United States Government to the student or their parents.

Stafford Loans can either be subsidized or unsubsidized. For subsidized loans, the US Government pays the interest while a student is in college. For unsubsidized loans, the students pays all of the interest accrued for the loans once they have left school.

The economy is tight right now, but there’s something you can do about it. There are federally funded job training grants available, and they can help people get back on their feet. They jump start the local economy in a way some other types of help just can’t. In my town, there were a lot of people out of work. Not only did they not have jobs to go back to, but they also didn’t have the skills they needed to get other jobs. Most of them had worked in their jobs for a very long time, and that put them at a disadvantage when they lost those jobs. Fortunately for them, they were able to get a federally funded job training grant. These are used to learn new skills and go back to school, and it doesn’t cost the people anything. Overall, there are a lot of things that these kinds of grants can do for a town.

When a town gets a job training grant, it helps the entire town and the people as individuals. No one has to pay that grant back, either, so there isn’t any accumulated debt to worry about. Debt was a big problem for a lot of the people in my town in the first place. Because so many of them were out of jobs, they were already using up their savings and living off of their credit cards. They were struggling, plain and simple. Some of them filed for bankruptcy, and people were losing their houses and their vehicles because they couldn’t keep up with the payments. That was not only unfortunate, but scary, as well. The grant allowed them to start getting out of the debt that they’d accumulated, and it didn’t cost them more.

Another thing that the federally funded job training grant did for the town was to help people get new job skills. Most of those people stayed in the town after they learned these new skills, so they didn’t take what they learned somewhere else and use those new skills to benefit a new town. Because they didn’t leave, they benefited the town with their new skills and abilities, and they were able to get jobs that companies had trouble finding qualified people for in the past. The economy was hurting the business owners, as well, but now it’s better because of the grant.

A lot of times, you don’t really think about the businesses themselves. you just think about the people who used to work there and who don’t have a job anymore. On the other side of that, though, are businesses that are struggling and other businesses that can’t find people they need for certain jobs. There are jobs out there, but they aren’t the ones the jobless people need. Because it hurts everybody in a town when this happens, it was clear that something had to be done about it. If it wasn’t for the grant, there would still be a lot of problems. The whole town is grateful.