There are several companies, individuals and websites dedicated to telling everyone that there are millions of dollars available to small businesses if you just know where to look.  To make a long story short, I know where to look and have not found their claims to be totally forthright.

For example, one well-known "Free business grants" marketer says that the U.S. Small Business Administration has free grants for every entrepreneur.  Sounds great, but...

This indivudal considers the free one-on-one consultations with SBA staffers and SCORE (Service Core of Retired Executives) staffers as tangible and therefore as grants, because those staffers are paid by the U.S. Treasury.  More specifically, the marketer says that if you receive 40 hours of assistance (one week) from those same staffers that it's the equivelant of you receiveing the advice from a paid business consultant who could charge about $125 per hour.  He goes on to say that you've just received a grant from the U.S. government totalling $5,000. 

I don't know about you, but I usually need cold, hard cash, either through a loan, grant or gift.

There are too many "stories" to tell about the truth behind free money for businesses from the government the space of this article and website.  In short:

• Small business grants do exist, but usually through business plan competitions or major corporations.
• If the government has a grant that your business qualifies for, it will take a lot of time, patience and effort, not prepare and submit a proposal.  And if you don't get it, amongst your competitors from around the country and the world, what then?
• If you happen to find a small business grant program, the money will usually be very limited and split amongst several recipients.   
• The time you spend looking for free money or something for nothing, you could spend building your business the old fashion way- through work (remember Faith. Perseverance. Fortitude on our home page?).

Do not spend a dime on a book, website download, seminar or conference promising to get you your share of the government's free giveaways.  Whatever information they provide will not be as accurate and up-to-date as the information contained on the U.S. governements FREE grants website: www.grants.gov.  Every governement grant program is listed on this site.

If your're willing to build your business the old fashioned way and need a "heads-up" about where to find money to start or expand your business in Louisiana, select the link below to download a list of Louisiana's (New Orleans especially) loan, grant and business incentive programs.

Good Luck

Download Loan, Grant and Incentive Programs now.

Norman D. Roussell, MBA