A friend and I want to start a steakhouse. How would I go about finding out if there was a grant for us?

Question

A friend and I want to start a steakhouse. How would I go about finding out if there was a grant for us?

Answer 1

Grants are almost always for non-profit organizations, or to help a non-profit organization.  Businesses can get loans, which have to be paid back.  

Before you go any further, I STRONGLY recommend you contact the Small Business Development Center (at your local community college) and talk to them; the counseling is free.  Then sign up for the NxLevel Entrepreneurial program...  it's a 12 session course that walks you through the ins and outs of starting or growing your business, and as part of that you will write a business plan.  At the end of the class your plan will be reviewed by a lending professional, and will be critiqued, telling you the strong points of your plan AND the weak points.  

Then you can work on the weak points and hopefully get it into shape to actually present to a lender and get the loan you need.  There is a cost for the NxLevel program ($375.00 last year at my SBDC), but it’s a lot cheaper than losing your investment.

Even if you hire a professional to write your plan, you should still take the NxLevel course.  It saved me from going into a business that would have failed within a year or so, taking my investment with it.  I realized by the third week of the class that I could not afford the business I was looking at and changed directions in the middle of the class. I ended up not going with the second business either, but for non-financial reasons.

Business plans may be a pain in the butt to prepare, but without one, your business is doomed to failure.  To start with, you won't know what your startup costs are going to be, what kind of income to expect, what your ongoing expenses are, who your competition is, and even whether or not you can make a profit.  Without a GOOD business plan, you will not be able to get a business loan to get your business off the ground.

Answer 2

There are no grants for private business.

Do you really think tax payers should pay to build restaurants?

Try sba.gov, there are loans you might qualify for.

Answer 3

Landlord is correct.  The SBA is a good choice for low interest loans.  You should also check State Economic Development Office to see they have a loan program.  If you are in a large city there might even be a city program.  

All of these are going to be loan programs, not grants;  a grant doesn't have to be paid back.  Also, don't spend money on the scam artists that say they can get you a grant if you just 1) buy my book, 2) attend my seminar, 3) hire me to write your proposal. Theses are ALL scams.