Small business grants for women are a hot topic at the moment. Particularly in the UK and Ireland. Small businesses are starting at a rapid rate all over the world especially in the UK, America and Australia. The majority of these though are by men. The local powers that be on many of these continents are well aware of the imbalance and are actively doing something about it. As a result many female business owners are successfully applying for small business grants for women and getting them.

If you are a female owned business it is worth taking time to work out your strategy on application for funding. For instance exactly what would be the best use of your resource? Who could you get it for? What will give you the best return on your investment? All logical questions that sometimes as female entrepreneurs we don’t always remember to get the answer to, or at least get straight in our own minds.

A beautiful website might be all well and good. Yet if you have no marketing and sales skills or at least access to advice it could prove to be an albatross around your neck. The result being something pretty and expensive that delivers nothing to your cash flow or bottom line.

Let’s assume though that you are different and have a clear and well defined strategy. So what next? If you live in the UK one of your first ports of call should be your local authority and the business link advisor for your area.

There are many pots of funding available. From leadership development through to marketing, training and website development. In the North West of England there is even funding available to help with improving your marketing and sales skills which for new business owners is vital.

The key thing is make no assumptions decide first what you want and then research if it is available. Join some local networking groups. As women business owners we love to share our resources and help. The other hot tip is to head over to Google and type in exactly what you are looking for on perhaps with a local spin on the term depending where you live. This is probably how you found this article anyway. So in summary what are your best first steps?

Decide what you want and need and why

Research what is available from all your trusted sources

Work out your strategy on how you will approach different organisations

Find out the exact criteria e.g. If you apply and get funding X now does that mean funding Y that you will need next year you can’t apply for?

At the end of the day small business owners want to grow their business. Think how the available funding can help you do that. The saying about teaching a man to fish is so relevant. If you can access funding. Focus on your skills development as this is a cost effective way that reaps rewards long after your new printer.

And now to learn more about getting your business in front of more customers get your FREE access to our secrets of online success series when you visit http://www.Najedaonlinemarketing.com

From Denise Oyston – Demystifying Small Business Marketing through Education and Training For Small Business Owners

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