A Government Grant "Scam" Alert!

As someone that does grant research and consultations for a living, it pains me to have to read articles about companies and / or other businesses that are not operating on the up and up! I read an online article about one such company and I will be providing a link to it below the blog post.

It seems that this "government grant" business asks you to pay something like $1 or $2 plus shipping and handling for sending you their government grant cd. BUT you might also be billed monthly on your credit card account! It's supposed to be in the fine print. They are currently advertising on the popular Facebook site(s).

Here is a link to the article. The article itself provides a lot of good information about this company including mentioning how one can get that monthly charge to their credit card canceled.

Like I said I do grant research for a living (you can visit my Grant Basics 101 Blog to find out more information about what I do and if you would like to find out more information about government grant programs that you may be eligible for.)

I'm sure that basically if you are curious about government grant programs one of the most frequently asked question has got to be "Are there any government grant programs to help start a business" and the answer to that is Yes! You can go to my Grant Basics 101 website to see examples of grant recipients who have received money to start their own businesses!

Another popular frequently asked question is about government grants and starting a daycare business - again the answer is yes there are government (and other) grant programs that can help you start your own daycare business! As a matter of fact I sent one daycare-related client over 10 pages of information concerning grant programs that her for-profit daycare center may be eligible for - so yes there are grant programs to help start a for-profit daycare business. You can find out more information about that by going to my Grant Basics 101 - Daycare website and blog. You can also listen to my Grant Basics 101 Podcast in which the first caller asks about government (and other) grant programs for their for-profit daycare business.

As far as working from home is concerned it really depends on the kind of work that you want to do. There are grant programs for writers, artists and even musicians too! There is even a grant program for comic book artists as well!

Dream Job - A Baby Sitter?

Someone recently sent me an email saying that their dream job was to be a babysitter in their own home.

Well there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with that!

As a Dream Job consultant I would have a lot of advice and tips for this person.

• First of all I would advise them to check out their own state's website to find out what the criteria is for people being able to take care of children in their own home. Sure you can provide babysitting services for a certain number of children without being considered illegal
  
  
• Secondly I would advise that this person look into operating as a official and licenced daycare business. Many grant recipients have received money to start their own daycare business. And some have even received grant funding to start their own daycare business in their home! I had one previous client who was looking for grant funding for her already licensed daycare business and I was able to find her over 10 pages worth of information about grant programs that her for-profit daycare business could apply for!
  
  
• There are so many other things that can be associated with operating a babysitting service that could generate additional revenues of income. You could start a babysitting blog or website and have a newsletter as well. Accept advertisers and sponsors who will pay to advertise on your online and offline sites! Join Adsense so that you can put ads on your online sites and start earning money when visitors to your online sites click on the adsense ads that appear on your site.

It's just like those wise old sages have said:

You are only limited by your imagination!

Grants For Starting A Daycare? Is It Just A Myth?

Unfortunately no it is not and the reason why I say "unfortunately" is because finding the answer doesn't seem to come to easily to those that want to start a daycare and are looking for funding for it. I get a very good idea of just how many people are looking for information about funding to start their own daycare business. I also get a very good idea of just how many people are looking for this type of information from the number of emails that I get! Most of them ask the same questions "Where can I get grant money for my daycare" or "How do I start my own daycare?"

Where can I get grant money for my daycare? - First of all let's make one thing perfectly clear - you don't automatically get a grant! You have to apply for it. The next thing that has to made clear is that you just can't apply for a grant just because you want to start a daycare. It will depend on the kind of daycare it is you want to start. Do you want to start a daycare in your home? First you should see if your state has any daycare-related grant programs that you can apply for. I have seen many home daycares get grant money just because they were providing daycare in an area that needed it so badly.

How Do I Start My Own Daycare? - Well that is going to depend on you. If you're wanting to start your daycare at home and want it to be a licensed daycare then you should check your state's webpage to find out the requirements that have to be met in order for you to operate as a licensed daycare. With that being said what do you think you will need to start your own daycare? Getting the license part out of the way you are going to need a plan. Where will you look after the children, what kind of activities are you going to provide, what kind of food are you going to serve them, what kind of plans do you have for a medical emergency. There is also the question of getting the children and how you do that is the same as how any other business operates and that is to let them know that you are open for business.

Even if you want to start your daycare in a separate facility the above advice still applies but you have the added pressures of paying for your overhead which will include rent/lease, utilities and paying for staff.

Almost everything that you need to know about starting a daycare can be found online and that's including everything from having a daycare-related business plan all the way to different forums and websites from others that operate their own daycare.

While you can't be prepared for everything you will have at least enough to get you started going in the right direction.