Writing a good business plan can mean the difference between succeeding and failing with your new business. Here are 3 tips for writing a winning business plan:

1. Spend extra time working on the executive summary. 

Because bankers, government funding programs, and professional investors receive so many business plans, they usually do directly to the executive summary to get a big-picture idea of what your plan is all about. Make sure the Executive Summary catches peoples interest, and inspires them to read on.

2. Complete your business plan in full.
Many business plans are submitted with incomplete or missing information. Go over the plan a few times and make sure you haven’t omitted anything of importance. Even some business planning software will skip sections. Don’t leave anything to chance. A well-written and complete business plan maximizes your chance of success and improves the odds of getting the private or government financing you’re seeking.

3. Be able to provide more info or context as required.

Your business plan should have all the obvious answers the reviewer may ask. Remember that the person reviewing your business plan will ask questions and some may not be answered in the plan directly. Try to expect the unexpected, and be prepared for any curve balls thrown your way.

Grants are one of the major governmental funding streams for start-ups and active small to medium sized businesses. The biggest benefit of business grants, is that the do not need to be paid back in any way. Why they may be technically “free”, you will need to have a sound business case to be approved for one.

Why should you apply for a grant?

The 5 main reasons why you should apply for a small business grant.

1. Marketing Initiatives

You can get funding for your marketing initiatives. The money can be used to pay for paper advertising, digital advertising, trade shows, or TV advertising. It can go into developing the marketing material, pay for the distribution, create logos, hire a sales force to pitch your product and pay for ancillary expenses (Marketing travel for instance)….

2. Expansion Initiatives

Funds can also be used to expand your current business, physical office/storage expansion and resources. Money can be applied to increase your factory size, your office space, your assembly line and it can also be used to hire human capital, including building new departments for your business like a shipping department or support.

3. Research and Development

One of the main usages for government grants today, is to drive research and development. You can use the grant money to fund new technological research that can be a new product or increase your own business efficiency, to be more environmental friendly or come up with industry wide solutions.

4. Incremental Improvements

You can also use government grants to improve your existing product line by providing more added values to your current offerings. Change packaging, bundles with internal or external products, and revisions, are all incremental improvements you can get a grant for.

5. Start-Up Capital

Another major usage for government grants is start up capital for a great business idea. Need funding for your new business? Come up with a proper business case and look for a grant that meets your niche and apply for it. The Canadian government allocates millions a year in government funding to start-ups that can provide value to the Canadian economy with their presence.

Canadian Business Publishers can help you find the funding that meets your needs. Contact us today. 1-888-707-3222

If you’re in the market to buy a business, you may already some sort of experience in the industry your looking to buy your business in. But as always, there may be a few things you can do to start your small business on the ground running.

1. Use your existing network. Your current Industry network and business contacts can you help you uncover a viable business opportunity. Many sellers like to maintain confidentiality and will not advertise that they are for sale. But through word of mouth, someone in your network may know of a business for sale.

2. Increase your credit and your worth. If you have any outstanding balances either personal or business, try to make sure these are taken care of before you start searching for a business to purchase. Cleaning up any outstanding issues improves your chances.

3. Explore consulting opportunities, these opportunities in your industry may lead you to acquire the skills needed to succeed in your new business and secure valuable networking connections. The right consulting opportunity sometimes may lead to the proper business purchase opportunity. Worse, case consulting will give you time to raise any funds needed to purchase a business.

4. Reach out to Canadian Business Publishers for financing resources for small business owners. You will learn of any loan or government grant programs for small business operations.

5. Build contacts with other business owners or entrepreneurs that can give you credibility with client bases and your market niche.

With these tips, patience is a virtue. Patience is key when purchasing a business, take your time and try to understand whatever issues you are unsure of.

When you are ready to apply for government funding, Canadian Business Publishers can help.

We can be reached Toll-Free at 1-888-707-3222.

In simplest terms, business capital is money in any form, either liquid or non-tangible. As a business, this money is used to not only buy goods or services, but is used to maintain or improve operations or purchase assets in any form.

Business Capital can come in multiple forms. The forms that it usually takes within the business domain are debt and equity. A business debt incurs either a loan or other types of credit that must be repaid at a point in time with interest, either paid in a lump sum or installments. Business Equity on the other hand, may not have any pre-requisites or obligations to pay back. What equity usually means is that the business investments traded for business ownership or stocks. Other forms of Equity can come in the form of government or institutional grants. These usually do not have to be paid back, but require certain criteria that are applied to the expenditure of the fund.

Business Capital is the framework for any success in any business. If a business has remotely easy access to it has a leg up on the competition and a great overall advantage in the business world.

To learn more on how to obtain financing contact Canadian Business Publishers today.

What is the better choice for my business?

Small and Medium business owners have multiple ways to secure financing for their businesses, but the biggest hurdle is what venue should they venture down with. Both options have their positives and negatives and the final choice should be made based on not only your business needs but your financial well being.

Should I apply for a Loan?

Getting a Loan could possibly be easier to achieve than obtaining a grant. First, let’s talk about the negatives; a loan will need to be paid back and most likely with interest. If a payment is missed, there could be a penalty imposed on the owner or the business itself. Getting back to being easier to achieve, a loan can be given based on the owner’s finances and credit history. Some credit institutions will ask for a business plan before lending out the money especially if the loan is specifically tailored for businesses. Also, Loans usually have no restriction on how the capital can be spent or managed; the funds can be dispersed at the owner’s discretion.

Should I apply for a Grant?

Small Business Grants are quite possibly more difficult to obtain that a loan and have tighter restrictions on what the funds can be spent on. The best thing about grant’s, is that you do not have to pay it back in any way. The money is yours to be used based on the criteria you applied for. There is also a lot of competition  to obtain any of the multitudes of grants. Your business case in the grant application must be strong and appeal to the granter; it will need to be way above the rest of the applicants. You will need to show how the grant will be used to improve the local or provincial economy; this is one of the key aspects in winning the grant. Remember you can only spend your grant based on the criteria you are applying for, if you are applying for a R&D grant, the money can only be spent on research and development. If the money is spent anywhere else, the grant can be revoked.

What is the best solution for my business?

There is no wrong answer, you will need to sit down and do your homework on what road to go down. Canadian Business Publishers is here to help you in any questions you may have regarding your choice of funding. We are one of Canada’s leading government  funding experts, give us a call at:

1-888-707-3222

Canadian Business Publishers is a leading provider of information on government funding programs for small business.

If you are looking to start, or expand a business, our government funding guides can be of use to you. We publish the funding guides with the latest information on all the Government Grants, Government Loans and Subsidies for small business in Canada.

Canadian Business Publishers provides information to businesses across Canada. If you are located in Newfoundland, Alberta, The Yukon, or any other Canadian province, Canadian Business Publishers has the program details you need to maximize your funding opportunities.

You can reach us on our homepage at http://www.canadianbusinesspublishers.com

or call us toll-free at 1-888-707-3222

Our Offices are located in Ottawa, Ontario, and our staff is available from 9am-5pm Eastern Standard time to answer your questions.

What is grant writing or as some people call it funding underwriting?

Basically it’s the proper proposal to submit with your grant application to make you stand out from your fellow potential grantees.

After finding that perfect grant that meets your business, you will need to put together a pitch that will tell the funding administration that you deserve the funding more than others. This pitch should be clear about your business needs and objectives and how will you use the funding in positive ways. An effective pitch acts as a doorway to your businesses desires and milestones that you want to achieve. The more ellaboratet the proposal, the greater the chances are that you will be picked for the grant. When writing a grant pitch, please keep in mind these basic points:

Two types of documents will need to be included in your pitch.

The letter of intent is the first. A letter of intent is a condensed summary of your business projects and the goals that will be met through it. The needs of your business must be highlighted, with the positive impact your organization will have on the economy once you receive the funding.

The second document is the actual grant proposal that describes your project in full detail, with all milestones, requirements, planning, that will be met with the funding gained from the grant fund. This letter can be as long as ten pages, and include a cover letter. The body of the proposal should contain, objectives, goals, forecasts, with a proper legend/table of context and appendices.

All funding agencies, have a particular criteria set in what they would like to see in the grant applicant winner. The actual fund details will give you a better sense of how you should write your letter and what criteria you should highlight more.

After your application is submitted with your grant proposal, be prepared to be interviewed, or provide past company records for any financial items highlighted in your proposal. DO NOT LIE, you will get caught and most likely blacklisted for future applications.

Contact Canadian Business Publishers for Assistance with finding Government Funding Programs for your business.