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NGExpert financial copywriter
Page written by Chris Godfrey. Last reviewed on June 28, 2024. Next review due October 1, 2025.
Business grants are effectively free money – there’s no need to repay the funds if you use them as you said you would – and they’re a great way for Californians to launch or finance a business or create opportunities to support their community.
Provided by Government departments, corporations, foundations and other organizations, business grants can be used to support business opportunities, or initiatives in the arts, education, research and more. However, Californians seeking a business grant should expect a lengthy application process, typically needing to meet strict guidelines, timelines and other qualifying criteria. Competition for this type of funding is often fierce and even if you qualify, the award sum may be small requiring you to seek additional finance.
Be aware that many business grants are tied to specific goals – entrepreneurial, educational, creative and motivational – and selection committees have full control of the award process and the sums distributed. To succeed, you will usually need a strong business plan that includes a feasibility study and an indication of how you intend to keep the venture going in the post-grant period.
Lastly, if you receive an award, the money may come to you all at once, but more usually, it will come in stages – either based on a set calendar or on your venture achieving fixed objectives. Unlike business loans, grants do not need to be repaid, making them a critical financial resource for ventures that cannot sustain a large financial burden.
If you’re in California and you’re looking for grant funding, you’re in a good place. The Golden State has many small business grants available.
Environment and water, education, health services, agriculture, parks and recreation – the list of grant categories goes on and on. If you can’t find what you need here, you may not find it anywhere. Overseen by The California State Library, the California Grants Portal is your one-stop destination to find all grants and loans offered on a competitive or first-come, first-served basis by California state agencies.
It doesn’t get any more California than this. The Route 66 Extraordinary Women Micro-Grant program is designed to help the women who live, work, and travel this iconic road. Through private fund-raising efforts and a major gift from the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Preserve Route 66 Initiative, the program will award up to $60,000 in 2024 to help businesses and individuals achieve the following goals:
The Restaurants Care Resilience Fund supports California-based Independent restaurants and commercial caterers, helping them build resilience into their business by funding technology upgrades, equipment upgrades, employee training/retention programs, and by eliminating unforeseen hardship for restaurant employees. The program expects to award $5,000 grants for up to 278 small businesses in 2024.
The San Francisco Women’s Entrepreneurship Fund provides mini-grants of up to $5,000 to San Francisco women-owned small businesses to pay for projects and upgrades that will have a transformative impact on their business’ ability to grow.
Projects eligible for funding consideration must entail investments in one of the following:
MORE: Other grants for women.
Founders First CDC offers a number of regional and national grant programs. Total grant awards vary from $100,000 to $25,000 shared across multiple winners. Participants must identify as one of the following to apply for these programs: Asian, Black or Latinx women, LGBTQ+, military veterans.
Southern California Job Creators Grant
The Southern California Job Creators Grant provides $100,000 in funding for 25 small businesses per year. To be eligible, your business must be based in Southern California with a founder who identifies as either Black, Asian, female, LGBTQIA+, Military Veteran, or located in a low to moderate Income area. Your business must also be for-profit, have revenues of between $100,000 and $5 million, and more than 2 employees. You will also need to show that you can create an additional 1 or 2 premium minimum-wage jobs in the next 12 months.
If you can’t find the type of grant you need locally, these national grant programs also provide support for Californian entrepreneurs:
Grants.gov is a one-stop shop for businesses and individuals seeking federal grants and the federal agencies that manage the grant funds. Inside the store you’ll find twenty-six federal grant-making agencies and more than 900 grant programs that award more than $400 billion in grants per year.
If you’ve got a tech business or a scientific and engineering venture needing funds, America’s Seed Fund could be your solution. This grant program focuses on technology and scientific products and services that promise high commercial and societal impact. The program awards $200+ million in research and development (R&D) funding to about 400 startups across the United States every year. America’s Seed Fund is a program within the National Science Foundation and housed within the Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships.
Offering a total of $435,000 in awards per year, this is one the most generous grants programs. The WomensNet Amber Grants awards multiple grants per year, with $10,000 being offered monthly in three separate categories (total of $30,000 per month available). Participants who win a monthly prize also automatically qualify for the draw for an annual $25,000 award – with three prizes available, one for each award category.
You can apply for any of these grants by completing an online application and paying a $15 entrance fee.
Californians who work for themselves may be eligible for a National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE) business growth grant of up to $4,000. Since 2006, nearly $1 million has been awarded through the program, with grants used for marketing, advertising, hiring employees, expanding facilities and other specific business needs. Note that you must be a member of NASE to apply for a grant. (Membership fees may be applicable).
To help address the needs of America’s smallest businesses, the Small Business Administration (SBA) operates the Program for Investment in Microentrepreneurs (PRIME). The SBA annually awards PRIME grants to pay for training and technical support for microenterprises, or businesses with fewer than five employees and that generally lack access to conventional loans, equity, or other banking services. In 2023, the program provided grants to 32 businesses for a total value of $8 million.
FedEx operates an annual prize competition for small business owners. All you need is a US-based business that’s been in operation for six months plus a FedEx business account that’s also at least six months old. Program participants must produce a presentation that reveals how a grant award could boost their business. Ten winners share a total prize pool of $230,000 – with a $50k first prize and nine x $20k prizes for the runners-up. All ten winners also get free access to a range of FedEx small business services.
California business owners and entrepreneurs can improve their chances of winning a small business grant by preparing in advance. Key tasks to take care of include:
Business loans may provide an alternative source of funding for your business or new venture. Online lenders will typically be the best option for this type of financing, but you may pay higher interest rates and fees than you would with traditional banks. Credit checks are standard with most commercial financing, but depending on the type of loan you choose, you may not need to provide collateral:
Term loans are the most common type of commercial loan. You receive a single, lump-sum cash injection and then pay it back in regular installments over a fixed period of up to 25 years. Collateral may be required.
A business line of credit is a business loan that functions like a high-value credit card. Borrowers can withdraw as much as they want when they want from a loan facility up to the limit of their borrowing. You only pay interest on the sums you withdraw, not the whole credit line. This can significantly reduce your borrowing costs. Collateral may be required.
Also known as account receivables financing. Borrow against the value of your unpaid invoices. The lender will usually provide up to 95% of the invoice value within a few days or even hours of the bill being raised. Your invoices act as security for the loan, no added collateral required.
Equipment loans use the asset you’re financing as security – no added collateral is required. You use the equipment as you pay for it and the lender maintains a lien on the machinery. Once you pay the loan back, the lender releases the lien, and you own the equipment outright.
Merchant cash advances are designed for businesses that accept customer payments by credit and debit card. You borrow against the value of your card sales. As your card sales increase, your borrowing limit goes up. Pay the loan back with a fixed percentage of your card sales on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Your sales act as security for the loan, no added collateral is required.
Revenue-based financing functions like a merchant cash advance but with higher borrowing limits. Based on the size and regularity of their total revenues, (not just their credit card sales), businesses may receive a lump sum and pay it back over a short-term schedule, typically by small deductions from their daily sales. This type of loan can usually be secured quickly as qualification rules are less intensive and credit scores are not so critical. No added collateral is required.
Nonprofit and community-based lenders can provide SBA Microloans to business owners who may struggle to secure standard business financing. Available up to $50,000, SBA microloans also come with more relaxed qualifying rules and can usually be secured with FICO scores as low as 500, or even with no credit score at all. Be aware that these types of business loans often require a personal guarantee that makes you personally responsible for the debt.
Working with business finance experts can make all the difference when applying for grant funding. Contact Swoop to discuss your borrowing needs, get help with your application and compare top quality small business grants and business loans from a choice of providers. Give your business the chance it deserves. Register with Swoop today.
Written by
Chris is a freelance copywriter and content creator. He has been active in the marketing, advertising, and publishing industries for more than twenty-five years. Writing for Wells Fargo Bank, Visa, Experian, Ebay, Flywire, insurers and pension funds, his words have appeared online and in print to inform, entertain and explain the complex world of US consumer and business finance.
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