Dirty Little Secrets Of Government Funding Programs

Every small business owner and startup entrepreneurs wants to get their small business funded through government funding programs. Who wouldn’t want to? Free money from government grants that are non repayable, low interest to no interest government guaranteed loans, tax credits on monies already spent; a dream come true for any small business owner in need of funding.

But one thing that nobody tells you about is the dirty little secret of government funding programs and what funding agencies don’t tell you.

So what exactly is this dirty little secret?

Since the Australian government, in terms of government funding programs is scattered all over the country with nearly 1,000 funding programs which consists of various forms of funding; the funding agencies that offer the money to small business owners don’t work together; they don’t promote nor do they know about other programs other then their own. In fact if you call a local government agency and ask about funding for small businesses, you are nearly guaranteed to hear “No, there is no funding available”.

How do we know?

We’ve tried this ourselves and over the years have hear the same from hundreds of members.  The same members who have contacted local MP’s; heard “No, there is no funding available”, and yet managed to find funding for their own businesses. So what is it? A dirty little secret? Or is it just that the government funding sector is so immense with information that nobody knows?

You can think about it all day and let it get to you or if you’re actually starting a small business and/or have a business that’s currently operational, you can spend your time searching for the funding programs and applying to them. Help is non existent unless you know exactly where to look and who to speak to – but to find these people in charge; nearly impossible.

Does funding actually exist?

There are nearly a thousand funding programs available to small business owners across australia. These funding programs are offered through various levels of the Australian government; Federal, state and Local. To find the programs, it’s fairly difficult as a average person simply doesn’t know what to look for.

Government funding programs exist for many funding purposes such as:

• To hire and train staff
• To pay for marketing and advertising
• To startup or expand
• To conduct research and development
• To pay for leasehold improvements or renovations
• To purchase tools/equipment and supplies
• To improve cash flow
• …and more

These funding programs come in many different forms such as government grants, government loans, tax breaks, tax credits, incentives and consulting assistance. To find the programs which may be right for you, you have to search with some filters in mind. These filters include your location, your industry and your funding needs. As each funding program has different set of rules that you must meet before you qualify; be sure to review those before you apply.

One important thing to remember is to always be prepared and to have a professional business plan ready so that you can apply before funding program deadlines are up.

To get a head start with your government funding search and to beat out the dirty little secret that these funding agencies have, we here at australiastartups.org have a Funding Database prepared to help you access all available funding programs (nearly 1,000 of them) so you don’t need to spend 4 to 6 weeks researching though endless information. It’s all here, ready and waiting for you.