Joe Crawford,"Retrieve a book", 2004, via Flickr
Trying to find resources to help grow your budding business can be daunting—you probably know that such resources exist, but don’t know where to start in terms of finding them. This article will highlight everything from the specific state and local organizations that provide grants to small businesses, to platforms that work to help connect business-owners with relevant opportunities. For information about organizations that you as a business owner should be aware of, knowledge of how to find a grant, skills to write a great grant application, and educational resources for your business, look no further.
Big Picture: State Resources for Small Businesses
Starting with the big picture: a good place to begin your search for state resources is by going to your state’s small business bureau website. Once you page through some of the bureaucratic info that may clutter these websites, they often have extremely comprehensive lists of opportunities in your state. For example, New York state’s business development website showcases not only grant opportunities within the state but also educational events in both English and Spanish throughout the state.
Another example of a state website that provides easily accessible resources is Minnesota’s Employment and Economic Development website, which highlights Minnesota’s Emerging Entrepreneur Loan Program. This program supplies funding to nonprofit organizations to support Minnesota start-ups that are “owned and operated by minorities, low-income persons, women, veterans and/or persons with disabilities,” (MN Employment and Economic Development.) The site also provides information on how to apply for these loans, a map of local businesses that have received this funding, and a list of participating nonprofit partners. While New York and Minnesota are simply examples of U.S. states with particularly comprehensive websites/programs, beginning your search for resources at your state’s business bureau website is a good place to start no matter where you’re located.
Smaller, Local Resources for Small Businesses
There are also many agencies that can help you find more specific, local opportunities. The Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), while being a federal agency, has local offices throughout the country. These business centers provide resources for local minority-run businesses. They provide many services for small businesses—including but not limited to— help with bookkeeping, contracts, marketing, and accounting. MBDA’s national website has a list of all of their local business centers, with links to each center’s specific website.
Educational Resources for Small Businesses
If you’re looking for more educational services as opposed to financial opportunities, expanding your search to include community-based nonprofits that don’t necessarily focus solely on small businesses can be a surprising asset. Many community-based nonprofits offer educational courses or seminars in finance and accounting. For example, Neighborhood of Affordable Housing is an organization based in East Boston that generally focuses on safe housing for the community. However, they also offer in-person and online finance education courses with experts, through their Financial Capability program. Opportunities like these can be helpful because they are tailored to the financial reality of the specific neighborhood that your business is in, as opposed to being more general and big-picture. Neighborhood of Affordable Housing is simply an example; searching for small, community-based nonprofits in your area may yield similar results.
Conclusion and Other Resources
While this article included a few specific agencies that provide opportunities for small businesses and start-ups, we hope that you will use these examples as a road-map to begin your search for similar organizations that are more local to you. Pitch Labs also has several articles that get more specific about grant applications, so that once you’ve found the right opportunity for your business, we can help you with the next step. Check out our articles ‘What is a Grant?’ and ‘When is the best time to apply for grants or sponsorships?’ for more helpful info from Pitch Labs. If you’re interested in expanding your search past state and local resources, Pitch Labs articles ‘What is the Small Business Administration and how does it benefit your business?’ and ‘How to fund a startup’ provide more information on other opportunities such as federal agencies, crowdfunding, and venture capital investment. There are resources out there that are right for your business, you just need to know where to look.
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