Today, I'm going to show you my go-to places to find easy-to-get, small-scale funding for you or your business.  

If you're new to the world of funding for your business, you might be surprised by what I'm about to share with you. For others, I'm confident you will have heard about one or two of my favourites and will be pleasantly surprised by the rest!

Before jumping into the good stuff, I could waffle on about the life of a woman trying to juggle all the important things in life, showing up to support everyone whilst also trying to grow a business but I'm not going to.

Let's not waste precious time, and instead jump straight into it. 

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🚀  My No.1 Favourite Place - Government Business Incentive Grants

Government agencies understand the importance of entrepreneurs, and thank goodness, they are also beginning to acknowledge the untapped power of women entrepreneurs. 

When looking for easy money, I look for Business Incentive grants or programs that seek to advance women in business or in leadership roles. Such as those provided by key agencies like the Office for Women, the Women's Bureau, and the United Nations Women. 

At a local level, I always look for programs that either:

1. Help businesses take on more in-need employees

2. Help businesses through catastrophic periods i.e. pandemics, natural disasters

3. Help businesses from industries known to be in decline, to re-skill, retool or innovate

4. Help businesses in specific locations known to be in economic decline

5. Help businesses ready to scale into global markets

In case you missed the underlying message, incentives are available to help businesses become stronger, more innovative, and profitable, which in turn helps them to employ more people and become larger contributors to economic outcomes.

Do you know that small businesses collectively employ more people and are larger contributors to economies, than large businesses? They are also known to be leading-edge innovators, actively delivering solutions to some of the world's problems. Governments and non-government agencies alike, are aware of the power that resides in small businesses, especially businesses founded and led by women.

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"What you do everyday makes a difference. Every small act can set something big in motion. What you spend time on. How you lead. What you do in your business. Start today by making a positive change."

 

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🚀  My No.2 Favourite Place - Innovation Grants

Innovation grants will differ from business incentives in this way. They help businesses complete more research and development, or to become more competitive in local and global markets. 

Innovation grants are about doing things differently. 

The places I look include:

1. Industry modernisation funds often provide co-funded support to complete pilot programs or to kick-start a phase of expansion
2. Sustainability programs that subsidise the cost of engaging consultants or researchers to assist with implementing new business processes or operational models
3. Research councils are armed with significant funding budgets for the advancement of key priority areas in society such as health, education, and food production

Innovation grants generally attract larger funding amounts, but if you look, I'm confident you'll also find support ranging from $5,000, to $30,000. If you begin to look for larger amounts, then the process quickly moves beyond easy, to complex.

 The purpose of this post is a focus on the easy!

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Creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing new things!

Theodore Levitt

 

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🚀  My No.3 Favourite Place - Competitions & Awards

Yup. That's right. Competitions and awards that acknowledge outstanding entrepreneurs.  

You might not know this, but there are awards and competitions in every town, attached to numerous business networks and most industry associations. Peak bodies love to throw a good annual gala dinner where they announce the 'winners' of chosen categories.

Large corporations (think telecommunications companies or banks) will often sponsor an award or competition for naming rights and to build brand credibility. Being recognised as a finalist, and then an award recipient opens doors to the possibility of new partnerships or collaborations.

Some even come with cash prizes.

1. The Cartier Women's Initiative where $100,000 is given to 8 recipients, and just quietly, can you imagine the swag you'd also receive!!
2. Verve Clicquot Bold Woman Award is a program to increase the visibility of women entrepreneurs and offers amazing opportunities to expand global networks
3. Women's Agenda Leadership Awards acknowledge the achievements of women in business in the following categories
   • Small Business Leader of the Year
   • Emerging Leader in STEM
   • Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year

So... not all awards will come with $ but the profile you build and the connections you make can easily translate into an increase in revenue or funding via different channels.  

Be sure to know what is available. You might not be ready to apply for one (or all) of the incentives available, but knowing about them will help you to make informed decisions when the time is right. If you don't already have a list of available opportunities, I encourage you to allocate a few hours to research, keeping your notes and findings in a safe place for future actions. 

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“If you are not in the arena getting your ass kicked on occasion, I am not interested in or open to your feedback. There are a million cheap seats in the world today filled with people who will never be brave with their own lives, but will spend every ounce of energy they have hurling advice and judgement at those of us trying to dare greatly. Their only contributions are criticism, cynicism, and fear-mongering. If you're criticizing from a place where you're not also putting yourself on the line, I'm not interested in your feedback.”

Brené Brown

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I think Brené sums it up nicely but I'll also add my flavour to the quote, by saying, if you're not in the arena, getting your ass kicked on occasion, you're not taking the steps forward you need to grow your business. 

As I've demonstrated in this article, there is money literally everywhere! 

But little good does that money if you haven't made the effort to make sure your business is a strong candidate for the funding. Create your vision for what the legacy of your business will be, define your impact (and collect the data to support it), and then step forward with a belief that you've got this. And... what you don't got, you'll work out along the way!

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Authored by Lisa Erhart
Funding Specialist helping women entrepreneurs to secure the funding they need to grow their businesses in a financially sustainable way.