5. Grants
A grant is an amount of money given to an individual or business for a specific project or purpose.
You can apply for a grant from the government, the European Union, local councils and charities.
You won’t need to pay a grant back, but there’s a lot of competition and they are almost always awarded for a specific purpose or project.
Advantages
Advantages include:
- you won’t have to pay a grant back or pay interest on it
- you won’t lose any control over your business
Disadvantages
Disadvantages include:
- you’ll have to find a grant that suits your specific project, which can be difficult
- there’s a lot of competition for grants
- you’ll usually be expected to match the funds you’re awarded, eg a grant might cover part of the cost of a project but you’ll have to fund some of it yourself
- grants are usually awarded for proposed projects, not ones that have already started
- the application process can be time-consuming
Find funding
You can look for either:
- private finance providers (eg banks)
- public funding (eg government schemes)
