Any financial assistance available for women starting a business?

Question

Any financial assistance available for women starting a business?

Answer 1

The assistance offered by the SBA Office of Women's Business Ownership http://www.sba.gov/aboutsba/sbaprograms/... is more towards education, mentorship and counseling. They can help with your business plan preparation and give you advice on how to properly apply for a loan or financing.

SBA does NOT give out grants. From the SBA website http://www.sba.gov/mostrequesteditems/CO...

"The U.S. Small Business Administration does not offer grants to start or expand small businesses, although it does offer a wide variety of loan programs. (See http://www.sba.gov/financing for more information) While SBA does offer some grant programs, these are generally designed to expand and enhance organizations that provide small business management, technical, or financial assistance. These grants generally support non-profit organizations, intermediary lending institutions, and state and local governments."

Check your state if they offer grant programs for women. Or check with non profit organizations, particularly women organizations if they offer grants. Examples include

Iowa Women's Foundation http://www.iawf.org/

New Mexico Women's Foundation http://www.nmwf.org/guidelines.html

One example of available grant for women from Grants.gov http://www.grants.gov is grant 59.043 Women's Business Ownership Assistance, which are given to those who will create women's business center that will train women entrepreneurs. But not for funding a specific business of an individual