Curious about small business grants? Our experts are here to tell you everything!
Are you curious about small business grants? Perhaps you are wondering what they are. Or maybe you want to know who can help you win them. Maybe you want to know what it takes to win funding. There is a lot of help for small businesses out there. Whatever your reason for being here, we are confident we can help you.
We have over 60 years of experience and a success rate of 87%. So, we know a thing or two about small business grants. Our professional Grant Writers are here to offer you support and explain everything you need to know. We will cover everything from what small business grants are, to how to win them. Plus, who can help you through the grant funding process.
So, get your notepad ready and let’s learn about small business grants.
What are small business grants?
Starting at the very beginning, what are small business grants? Grants are a type of funding awarded to a business or individual to support them with their goals. For example, artists can apply for arts funding grants. This can help them pay for supplies, rent, food, and so on. This funding allows them to focus on their project rather than having to juggle it with a fulltime job.
This funding does not need to be paid back and is awarded to help businesses develop.
Some grants can be small, and others can be worth a lot! It all depends on the projects and the needs of the applicants, as well as the sector. So, a grant for sectors such as green investment and security and defence will be significantly more, for example.
A grant for a small business will likely be less than those stated above. However, it can be a massive help. Small business grants are awarded to companies that fit the criteria and have produced a worthy .
So, if you are a small business and you’re in need of funding, it is certainly worth exploring this option. This could be used to hire more staff, to develop a product or project, and so on.
How can small business grants benefit your business?
Small business grants can be a huge benefit to businesses. Often times, it can be that push that helps the company develop into something even greater. As stated above, the funding can be used in a variety of ways. Maybe you need more staff to carry out your growing workload to meet demands. Perhaps you want to supply your workforce with more up to date technology and software. This can help with productivity, creativity, and it can help your employees get work done faster. It could even be to help fund securing a new office for more space for your staff.
However you choose to spend it, it is without a doubt going to help your business. Since they don’t usually have to be repaid, it is even more suitable than a loan. The last thing you want is to be struggling to payback a loan. Not to mention this will often be with added interest!
Where to find small business grants
So, we have covered what small business grants are and how they can help your business. Now, let’s discuss where can you find them.
Small business grants are available in various places on the internet. You can search for them via a search engine such as Google. You’ll be met with thousands of websites which will all feature a variety of grant opportunities.
Having access to so many is great, of course, but having to scour countless sites for hours can get tedious. Some sites may not feature all the important information. You may have to look through lengthy documents to discover whether you’re actually eligible for certain funding. Spending so much time simply searching for these opportunities can take its toll. This can especially be the case when you’re busy and short on time. Many business owners don’t have the time or resources to spend hours upon hours going through hundreds of websites.
What if there was a streamlined method of searching for grant opportunities? Fortunately, there is! Read our next section to learn more…
How Discover Grants can help you find small business grants
Our grant tracking portal here at Discover Grants streamlines the process of finding funding opportunities. We make it simple and easy by uploading grant opportunities to our portal. This way, users can find them all in one place without having to look on hundreds of websites. Our Opportunity Trackers do all that and upload opportunities to our portal daily. So, there are always new grants available to be viewed by our users.
The Discover Grants portal features a filter system so that users can narrow down their searches. You can search for funding based on keywords, location, sector, and type. This gives them an idea of what can be available at any given time.
Our filters allow users to get straight to the relevant opportunities. So, when searching for small business grants, you can use keywords such as ‘small business’ or ‘SME’. Our results list will feature the deadline date which is clearly visible. This means you don’t waste any time seeing whether or not you can apply for the funding. For example, you will need a few days to complete the grant application and for it to be of a high standard.
Why choose Discover Grants?
When we are sourcing opportunities, our Opportunity Trackers don’t use any algorithms or CPV codes. This means we manually search for and upload grants without the risk of them being missed. This could be due to the wrong CPV code, for example. It would be frustrating to miss out on a great opportunity purely for this reason!
Did we mention our Grant Tracking Service is FREE? Many services out there will charge users. However, our aim is to help businesses grow and have easier access to development opportunities.
Our 87% success rate and over 60 years of experience put us in a prime position to offer support. So, if you need help with finding funding, or writing your grant proposal, don’t hesitate to contact us. We are always happy to help and want to build lasting relationships with clients.
Discover Grants Elite
Want to make the process even easier? Upgrade to Discover Grants Elite and have opportunities sent straight to you. When you upgrade, you will be assigned a dedicated Account Manager. They will search for funding opportunities on your behalf and send them to you. They are also available for weekly phone calls to discuss opportunities. They’ll even offer breakdowns on workloads if you are considering our Grant Writing Service. This can be either 5 or 7 breakdowns a month depending on your Elite package.
Our Elite services 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 small business grants found on our portal
Below are a hand-full of various opportunities that have appeared on our Discover Grants portal. Sign up to get access to more and to find the perfect opportunity for your business.
Hardship Grant Funding – The Edward Gostling Foundation – UK Wide
Up to £25k is available for charities supporting low-income individuals who are challenged with a long-term illness or disability.
Biodiversity Grant – Veolia Trust – UK Wide – 06-09-2022
A maximum of £75k is open for charities that are running improvement projects for the natural environment.
Tech Fund – UCL – UK Wide
A maximum of £1million is available for innovations in the sciences that have prospects for outstanding market impact.
Business Support Grant – Invest4 – UK Wide
Up to 40% of eligible costs in business growth projects can be claimed, reaching a maximum of £170k.
SME Export Advice & Financial Funding – Department for International Trade – UK Wide
An upper limit of £3k alongside tailored financial advice is open to SMEs interested in trading abroad.
Grant Funding – Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation – UK Wide – 28-02-2022
Grants of up to £25k per year are available for 3 years for organisations and projects that: increase diversity in the arts and heritage, provide specialist training and workplace experience and apprenticeships for emerging artists/graduates, or unlock access to high-quality training and education.
Connected Futures – Youth Futures Foundation – UK Wide – 17-01-2022
A £6.1 million fund is available to support young people to get good jobs through pioneering local partnerships.
Develop Technology Ideas for Commercial Application – UKRI & STFC – UK Wide – 24-02-2022
Research and technology grants are available with a maximum of £450k for projects to develop technology ideas for commercial application.
LIFE Programme – European Commission – UK Wide
Funding is available to those who will address the challenges of environmental degradation, climate change, and a clean energy transition.
Grant – Trust for London – London – 01-02-2022
A maximum of £150k is available for organisations tackling the root causes of poverty and inequality via seven funding programmes.
How to win small business grants
Now that you know what small business grants are, let’s talk about how to win them.
Winning funding isn’t easy, and it takes a lot of time and resources to dedicate to writing a winning grant proposal. Here’s what you need to be able to do in order to win funding:
1. Excellent writing and communication skills
As you may expect, writing skills are essential for writing a winning grant proposal. The funding authority need to be convinced that you are worthy of the funding and will make use of it. So, your writing skills need to show that you are professional and capable of expressing ideas.
Communicating your ideas and concepts are important in convincing the funder that you deserve the funding. If they are confused or unsure of what you mean, they will be less likely to award you the grant. Using writing and communication skills to be clear and concise is vital for success.
2. Management skills
Having good management skills is important when applying for small business grants. You should note down any important dates, particularly the deadline date. When you know how long until the deadline, you can organise the workload.
Grant applications can be tedious so it’s important to be able to dedicate the time to completing it fully. Plus, it should never be rushed. As we stated in our last point, you’re trying to showcase why you should be awarded the funding. If you rush your grant proposal or submit it late, you’re very unlikely to win.
Manage the workload by breaking it down into manageable chunks. This way, you won’t feel overwhelmed, and the quality of the proposal will likely be much better.
3. Don’t use technical jargon
When writing your proposals for small business grants, you should avoid using technical jargon. The funding authority may not be too well-versed in your industry. So, if they don’t know what you mean, they are less likely to award you the funding. Similar to our first point, your proposal needs to be clear and concise.
4. Proofread and edit small business grant proposals
Similar to our first point but still a crucial step that is often overlooked. You need to proofread and edit your proposal. Even the best of writers can miss an error or two. Especially when they’ve worked on a piece for a long time.
Once you have written your grant proposal, you should reread it and make any edits. It can be even more beneficial to have it proofread by someone else. They are more likely to catch something that you may have missed. They’ll also notice issues such as grammar when they read it for the first time. Any sentences that don’t read too well will be easier to notice.
Another tip from our own Grant Writers is to have your device read the proposal to you, if possible. This can be a great way of noticing errors as the device will pick up on it more than a person would. For example, they may pronounce a word in an odd manner which will help you notice mistakes.
How a Grant Writer can help you win small business grants
If you’ve read the last section and you’re worried you can’t produce a grant proposal, where do you go now? Well, plenty of support is available!
If you don’t have the time, skills, or resources to dedicate to writing a grant proposal, you can hire professionals. There are many benefits to this approach, and it is why a lot of businesses choose it. What are those benefits? Keep reading to find out…
1. Say goodbye to the stress – Grant Writers handle the process for you
Perhaps the biggest benefit of hiring a professional Grant Writer is that they handle the process for you. In turn, this means you don’t have to worry about it. They can do everything from the initial breakdown of the workload to submitting the application on your behalf.
Some companies may choose to hire an in-house Grant Writer, but this will no doubt be more expensive. Since it is unlikely that they will be consistently applying for funding, it could be considered nonessential. So, in the long run, turning to a professional Grant Writer saves you a lot of energy and stress.
2. Grant Writers have excellent management skills
As mentioned in our section about what it takes to win small business grants, management skills are crucial. Professional Grant Writers are experts, so they know exactly how to break down the workload. They’ll be able to manage exactly what needs to be done and have it completed with time to spare. We aim for this as we know technical issues can arise. The last thing we want is for an application to be submitted late. So, if we have plenty of time to spare, we can submit the application early and then there’s no stress!
Rushing at the last minute to get it done and submitted can be incredibly stressful. In turn, this can result in easy mistakes being made.
3. Grant Writers write for a living – they have expert skills
Just as they are experts in management, they are also highly skilled with writing and communicating. They know exactly how to write proposals that are clear, precise, well-written and persuasive.
The point of the grant proposal is to persuade the funder that you are worthy. So, expressing your abilities, needs, and showcasing your talent are all important. Grant Writers can do this to an incredibly high standard that will help you get recognised.
4. Grant Writers understand the importance of proofreading
As previously mentioned, proofreading is often a stage that is overlooked. However, it is one of the most important parts of writing a grant proposal. If your proposal is littered with mistakes, it gives off the impression that you are unprofessional and lazy. In turn, the funding authority are not likely to award you the money. Afterall, why should they if you cannot dedicate enough effort into making your proposal worthy in the first place?
Grant Writers will thoroughly check the proposal multiple times. This ensures all spelling mistakes, errors and inconsistencies are fixed.
How much do Grant Writers cost?
If you have decided to turn to a Grant Writer, then you may wonder how much a Grant Writer costs. It all depends on the grant writing services you go for.
Our services at Discover Grants are based on a daily rate of £450+VAT. We are perfectly positioned to improve your chances of success as we have over 60 years of experience. Every opportunity we get to improve another business is an exciting challenge for us, and we will never back down. So, if you want experts willing to do all they can to help you, give us a call!
Summary
By now you should know everything you need to about small business grants. Here’s a recap of everything we covered so you don’t forget any important parts!
Grants are a type of funding awarded to a business or individual to support them with their goals. This funding does not need to be paid back and is awarded to help businesses develop. Often times, it can be that push that helps the company develop into something even greater. To find them, you can use the FREE Discover Grants portal to find funding opportunities.
If you want to write your own grant proposal, you may wonder what it takes to win. Here are just a few key elements that go into writing winning grants.
- Excellent writing and communication skills
- Management skills
- Don’t use technical jargon
- Proofread and edit small business grant.
If you’re considering turning to a Grant Writer for help, here’s what you should know:
- Say goodbye to the stress – Grant Writers handle the process for you
- Grant Writers have excellent management skills
- They write for a living and have expert skills
- Grant Writers understand the importance of proofreading.
Still got questions about small business grants? Contact us to speak with one of our experts and see how we can help you!
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.
