When it comes to starting your own business, coming up with a lucrative idea and pinpointing your target market is only half the battle. Next, you will need to determine how you will fund your endeavor to actually get started.
However, this is where many promising entrepreneurs often fall short, because unless you know someone you can directly ask for the money, it can be a challenge knowing where else to look for help.
Fortunately, there are various start-up grants available to inspiring business owners, including both private company and government grants, but in the meantime, here are some things to consider before completing your grant application that can help increase your chances of getting approved.
5 Ways to Get Approved for Startup Grants
Get a Professional Mentor
Having professional insight enables you to provide impressive details on your application that help make it more credible over other applications, so you stand out.
Therefore, seek as much advice as you can from professionals in your field before applying for a grant to help increase your chances of approval.
Present a Business Plan That Demonstrates You Are More Worthy of the Grant
To increase your chance of approval, you will also need to develop a business plan that demonstrates how your goals and values match those of the grants, which helps show you are more worthy of the contribution than other startups.
Pre-Sale Your Product
Another effective way to help secure a start-up grant is to pre-sale your product to help create a demand for it. It can then help serve as proof to the grant officer that a need exists for your offerings, which will make them more likely to want to support it.
Seek Other Investors
Seeking a partner or perhaps even utilizing bootstrapping, crowdfunding, or other fundraising methods to help raise some of the proceeds can also help increase your chances of being rewarded a start-up grant.
In fact, According to the experts at Lantern Credit, “grants have high competition among businesses,” so applying for a smaller grant over other startups also helps make it more likely they will approve you.
It also helps demonstrate to the grant officer that others also believe in your business and are willing to put up their funds behind you, which also helps you appear more worthy.
Check in With the Loan Officer Periodically
Once you have applied for the grant, it is also a good idea to check in with the loan officer periodically to help clear up any follow-up questions they may have while processing the application.
It also enables you to keep tabs on your application and how close you are to getting approved.
In the end, whether you utilize Lantern’s options of grants to start a small business or other grant options, begin by getting to know the time limitations and information restrictions set by the loan officer and then be sure to stay within those guidelines when submitting your application to help make the approval process easier.