Here’s how to win business grants and how the experts can help you…
Got questions about business grants? Here at Discover Grants, we have over 60 years of experience and an 87% success rate. So, we are confident in our ability to support you and your business.
In this blog, we will answer several common questions people have about business grants. We will discuss what they are, where to find them, and how to win. We will also cover who can support you through the grant funding process! Keep reading to learn more about business grants…
What are business grants?
Business grants are a type of funding awarded to businesses to help with their development. This funding does not need to be repaid in comparison to a loan, for example. So, there is no pressure attached to it.
You could be an artist looking for funding for a project. Grants for artists could help with the costs of supplies, as well as rent, bills, and food! There are much larger grants available for companies, such as those within the technology sector. You may use the funding to hire more staff, or to provide better equipment for your employees. You could be a technology start-up looking for support. How you spend the funding is up to you.
Whatever the business, there’s no doubt that being awarded funding will be a massive help. It can be the push you need to develop your business into what you’ve always dreamed it would be!
To apply for a business grant, you must produce a proposal. Your grant proposal is your way of showing the funding authority why you should be awarded the funding. You can find out more about winning grants in the ‘how to win business grants’ section!
Where can you find business grants?
Search engines such as Google should be your first port of call when searching for business grants. You’ll be able to find plenty of opportunities across a variety of websites. However, it can take a long time to go through so many. Especially when you’re looking for specific opportunities. Many websites will not feature all the key information you need. Therefore, you’ll likely have to scour through the various documents to find the information you’re looking for. This could be the deadline date, for example, or to check your eligibility. Thankfully, there is a way to streamline the process…
At Discover Grants, we have a FREE grant tracking portal. We have Opportunity Trackers that upload opportunities to the portal daily. They don’t use algorithms or CPV codes. This means they find grants manually, which erases the risk of missing an opportunity. This could be due to the wrong CPV code, for example. The last thing you want is to miss the perfect opportunity for your business because of something such as this!
With our grant tracking portal, you can see hundreds of business grants opportunities. We list grants in a way that shows you the key information. So, you don’t have to read through hefty documents to see if it’s suitable for you. We display the deadline and location of each grant and have filter options. This means it couldn’t be easier to find the perfect grant for you. Or could it?
Discover Grants Elite
You could upgrade to Discover Grants Elite for our advanced services. These packages include being assigned a dedicated Account Manager who will find grants for you! They’ll call you weekly to discuss opportunities they think may be suitable for your business. Plus, they can give you breakdowns of the cost of using our Grant Writing services for these opportunities.
Our Elite service comes in two versions:
- The Ultimate Time Saving Tool
- Grant Master Package.
The Ultimate Time Saving Tool
- Dedicated Account Manager
- Up to five grant application breakdowns per month
- Funding portal management including registration, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your application strategy
- Weekly phone calls to discuss viable funding opportunities
- 24/7 access to the Discover Grants tracking portal, sourcing all the UK’s commercial grant & funding opportunities.
Grant Master Package
- Grant strategy delivered by a Senior Grant Writer
- Dedicated Account Manager
- Maximum of seven grant breakdowns per month
- Funding portal management including registration, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your application strategy
- Weekly phone calls to discuss viable funding opportunities
- 24/7 access to the Discover Grants tracking portal, sourcing all the UK’s commercial grant & funding opportunities.
Examples of the business grants featured on our portal
Coalfield Recovery & Resilience Fund – The Coalfields Regeneration Trust – UK Wide
Up to £10k is available for organisations supporting low-income individuals who are challenged with issues including mental health problems.
Get Exporting 2 – Department for International Trade – UK Wide
Financial assistance up to £3000 is available, alongside professional advice for businesses wishing to initiate trade abroad.
Niemann Pick Research Foundation Grant – Niemann Pick Research Foundation – UK Wide
Lab-based research to cure the Niemann Pick disease will be financially funded.
Business Hothouse – Government – UK Wide
Free workshops, business mentoring, networking, and grant funding (up to £170k) for people starting or growing a business.
Hertfordshire Start-Up Programme – Wenta – UK Wide
Professional workshop worth £1,400 in starting your business.
Funding for Manufacturers – GC Business Growth Hub – North West
Funders are looking to support projects with manufacturers, contributing to a grant of 36%.
£1K Revenue Grants Available – Staffordshire Moorlands District Council – West Midlands
Staffordshire Council are helping Staffordshire business grow with grants up to £1000 available.
Community Building Fund – East Devon District Council – South West
East Devon District Council has funding of up to £5,000. Available to help businesses refurbish, improve or build community buildings in rural areas.
The Big House CDI Grant – NBV Enterprise Solutions Ltd – East Midlands
The Big House CDI Grant supports businesses in the Creative and Digital industries in the East Midlands to start/grow.
Grant Funding – Business Energy Efficiency – Eastern
BEE Anglia has grants of up to £10,000 available for businesses to reduce their carbon footprint via implementing carbon-saving technologies.
How to win business grants
To win business grant funding, there are certain skills required. Here are just a few ways you can up your chances of securing funding for your business:
1. Writing and communication skills
As you may have guessed, it is important to have excellent writing and communication skills. These are essential for clearly explaining your ideas and goals to the funding authority. The last thing you want is to confuse them and for them not to understand your proposal. This will put your chances of success as risk! It is crucial to be as clear as possible.
Top tip from our Grant Writers: Don’t use technical jargon!
Since being clear and concise is so important, it is a good idea not to use technical jargon. Since the funding authority will not be an expert in your field, they are unlikely to know industry terms. As mentioned, you need to be as clear as possible, so this is a great way of doing so.
2. Proofreading and editing abilities
One point that is often overlooked is that your business grant proposal must be proofed and edited. This ensures it’s of the highest standard and is as error-free as possible.
3. Management abilities
Management skills are essential for breaking down the workload and getting it done on time. This helps you to avoid stressful rushes at the last minute. These can easily result in mistakes. Plus, you may have technical difficulties if you are submitting at the last minute. So, being organised and managing the workload is really important!
Who can help you win business grants?
Are you worried that you don’t have the skills or the time to spare? Don’t fret! Help and support is available. You can turn to a professional Grant Writer if you need help writing a grant proposal. They can take care of the whole grant funding process and even submit it on your behalf. This is perfect for businesses who want to apply for grants but don’t have the time to write proposals.
Since Grant Writers are experts at their job, they know how to do it well. There are a lot of benefits to this. Here are just a few:
1. Grant Writers increase your chances of success
Since they are experts, it goes without saying that Grant Writers increase your chances of success. Many will have years of experience in writing proposals for clients, and so they’ll be well-versed in their craft. This means they know what works and what doesn’t, so there’s less risk of mistakes. They know how high the standards are and what the funders want to see. So, they’ll ensure your proposal is of this standard to increase your chances of winning.
2. They have the skills required to create high quality proposals
As briefly mentioned in the last point, Grant Writers have the skills required for producing winning proposals. This isn’t just writing skills either, but project management abilities and more.
Often times, there is a lot of work required to produce a grant proposal. This is where management skills come into play. Those without experience may feel overwhelmed and unsure of how to process the workload. Grant Writers are able to thoroughly break down documents and the workload to ensure everything is completed. This also means no small detail will be missed that may only show up briefly in the funder’s documents.
Professional Grant Writers break the workload down into manageable chunks, so they aren’t overwhelmed. This way, they know exactly what needs to be done and by which date. It allows for plenty of time to be left before the deadline date. In turn, this means there is no last-minute rushes to get the proposal submitted. This can be incredibly stressful and often will result in mistakes that could otherwise be avoided.
Summary
Now, let’s recap everything we covered so no important details are forgotten!
Business grants are a form of funding awarded to businesses to help with their development. Grant opportunities can be found online, but to streamline the process, you should use a portal. We have a FREE portal to sign up to and can offer Grant Writing services if required.
To win business grants you need to be able to showcase:
- Excellent writing and communication skills
- Proofreading and editing abilities
- Management abilities.
If you need help with your business grant proposal, you can turn to expert Grant Writers. They have the skills needed to produce winning proposals and can increase your chances of success.
If you still have questions about business grants, feel free to contact us! We are always happy to help.
Our Services
Grant Writing
Our Grant Writing Service is for businesses who want to start applying for grants, but don’t know where to begin. They can also help businesses who have been applying for grants but aren’t seeing success.
Our Grant Writing Consultants have over 60 years of experience in bidding for funding and grants. From start-up business grants to self-employed business grants. They can take care of the whole thing for you – they’ll even submit it on your behalf.
Get in touch to find out how we can help your business grow!
Grant Tracker
You can find this grant and others like it on our Business Grant Tracker. Currently, we have over 1,700 live business grant and funding opportunities. Our team have manually tracked 1,500+ data streams searching for business grant opportunities. Each one is then uploaded to one central system, streamlining the process.
All you need to do to gain access is sign up for free.
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