Why this matters
Founders waste weeks chasing "free government money" that doesn't exist — and skip real support that does. The honest map: loans are common, grants are rare and specific, tax credits reward things you were doing anyway, and expert advice is genuinely free. Learning the map first saves the rest of this checklist.
What "done" looks like
- You can name the four buckets: loans, grants, tax credits, free advising
- You know the SBA guarantees loans through banks — it doesn't hand out startup grants
- You have a shortlist of 2–3 programs worth real application time
- You've stopped listening to anyone promising "guaranteed grants"
How to do it
- Start at sba.gov — it plainly states it does not provide grants for starting a business; the core offer is loan guarantees and free advising.
- Treat grants as rare and targeted — federal grants exist mainly for R&D, exporting, and nonprofits; corporate grants are competitions, not entitlements.
- List state and local incentives — tax credits, enterprise zones, façade grants (later in this checklist).
- Book free advising with SCORE or an SBDC (next step) before paying any consultant.
Common mistakes
- Believing ads for "free government grant money" — a scam pattern the SBA explicitly warns about
- Spending 40 hours on a long-shot grant while a fundable loan application sits unwritten
- Ignoring free advisors because "free" sounds low-quality
Real-world examples
- The SBA states directly that it does not provide grants for starting or expanding a business — its main tools are guaranteed loans (7(a), up to $5 million) and resource partners.
- SCORE and Small Business Development Centers, SBA resource partners, provide mentoring and advising at no cost nationwide.
From a founder's point of view
Public support rewards founders who read the actual rules, not the headlines. The realistic prize is a guaranteed loan, a tax credit, and free expert advice — grants are a bonus, never the plan.
Rule of thumb
Loans are probable, advice is free, credits are paperwork, grants are lottery tickets — allocate your hours in that order.