Grant ?

October 22, 2020 5:55 PM

Are there Gov't or Private Grants available for people to buy a business? Or lists of angel investors that are looking for places to invest their money? Thank you.
posted by longhaultrucker to Grab Bag (4 answers total)

The SBA (Small Business Administration) works with different organizations to provide grants for small businesses - but there may be hurdles to qualify, such as being a veteran for example.

There are frequently businesses for sale where the current owner is willing to finance the new owner. The search term for these is "seller-financed". In addition to searching online, you could contact your local business brokers and see if they have any of those in their portfolio.

As for angel investors, there are numerous national databases as well as state-specific databases. If you search for "angel investor database" you will see a lot of links. In a similar vein, there are "crowdfunding" sites where people will invest if they find your proposition compelling.
posted by cyberian at 6:46 PM on October 22, 2020

please read analyses about all of the pros and cons of these approaches before signing on the dotted line. ideally you should have a lawyer - familiar with this particular domain e.g. SBA/angel investors - to help you do ANY of this stuff.
posted by lalochezia at 8:45 PM on October 22, 2020

A lot of business schools (especially at smaller and/or state universities) have small business clinics or small business development centers where you can get advice on this kind of thing - what funding sources exist for your types of business, how to make yourself attractive to these funders, and just a general kind of sanity check as to whether your business plan is viable. A lot of this will be local or regional so getting local advice us really helpful.
posted by mskyle at 5:00 AM on October 23, 2020

Register your company on Angel List.

But please keep in mind, angel investors will be looking for a 10x return on investment within 5 years. It's not like a grant, and it definitely not 'money for nothing.' You will have to be able to prove to their satisfaction that you can provide that kind of return. And yes you will 100% need a lawyer to handle the contract if you do find one.
posted by ananci at 7:43 AM on October 23, 2020