Woman Owned Business - Starting up

SBA, Women Business Grants and Women Owned Business.

Written May 28, 2009, read 1897 times since then.

No matter what you hear in the media or what you may read in the newspapers, finding funding is time consuming and difficult and not very abundant.

The SBA can assist you with paperwork and where to find a lender they work with but there are not many grants out there for “women owned businesses”. Many grants are for education based or science based programs. The SBA refers you to The Office of Women's Business Ownership (OWBO), still I had not found many grants for women owned small business that could be used for my area.

One site that may be helpful is http://www.womensbusinessgrants.com/ a very resourceful site for me; it has many leads and guidance for women looking to fund their venture.

www.seattlescore.org is another helpful site for local grant information regarding small businesses. What can you expect to find at the Seattle SCORE office:

· Free pre-business and existing business counseling by appointment

Free mentoring for long-term business advising sessions
Low-cost, local workshops on a variety of business subjects
Free staffed Business Resource Center containing reference and marketing research materials, Mac and IBM PCs with high-speed Internet connections, business programs and CD-ROM reference material. No appointment needed.
Access to counseling in other locations outside downtown Seattle

Google search for samples on business plans, making your business an LLC, Articles of Incorporation (Certificate of Formation), partner dissolution of business and such has been greatly helpful and saved me a lot of time and money trying to figure it all out.

Maybe we can talk Steven MacDonald and his panel of experts into having a workshop session of women owned business, funding and all the mess to get that going …….

-Patricia

Learn more about the author, Patricia WoodEchabarne.

Posted by Victoria Fann, Seattle, Washington | Jun 11, 2009

Thanks for writing this article and highlighting these resources. Another resource I recommend is the Washington Community Alliance for Self-Help (CASH). CASH provides the business training, supportive community and capital to help enterprising individuals with limited financial resources gain self-sufficiency through small business ownership. http://www.washingtoncash.org/
Posted by kevin kemper, phoenix, Arizona | Jun 19, 2009

only non-profits get grants. Profit seeking biz's procure funding when they have been awarded an RFP.

Please show me one profit seeking woman owned business that has procured one penny of grant $. I have searched for 45 yrs and found none.
Posted by Patricia WoodEchabarne, Brier, Washington | Jun 19, 2009

Agreed. Haven't seen it yet, even though all the hype is "you too can get into this funding program" etc...

I too would be interested if someone has found that niche.....
Posted by Henry Staffa, Calhan, Colorado | Dec 02, 2010

I managed a woman owned business for nearly 10 years and was very profitable in the DOD Space. Was awarded a GSA Schedule Contract, an AFWAY (Air Force 5 year + Contract) countless BPA's and IDIQ's. I would be happy to help anyone with questions