Business Grants

Disabled Veteran Business Grants for Startups in 2024

Many veterans have the expertise and leadership skills required to start profitable new businesses thanks to their time in the armed forces. Fortunately, disabled veteran entrepreneurs have a wide range of financial choices available to them in 2023. This includes grants and the encouragement and support of the business community. Learning about the disabled veteran business grants programs currently accessible to veterans and their families is the first step in launching a successful veteran-owned business. Keep reading to get started!

Grant proposals face fierce competition. As a disabled veteran, the prospects of acceptance, however, may be higher than they would be for other kinds of business funding because fewer veterans are applying for these business grants. Here are the top 3 business grants for injured veterans.

READ MORE: Financing Options For Startups and How To Get It

Types of disabled veteran business grants for startups

1. Warrior Rising Small Business Grants

You might want to look into the Warrior Rising Small Business Grants program if you’re a disabled veteran trying to start a business or extend an existing one. This Utah-based nonprofit was founded in 2015 to provide professional advice and financial help to veteran business entrepreneurs.

2. Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) Program

Veterans with disabilities who served in the military may be eligible for a program called the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) Program. The program’s stated goal is to help handicapped veteran company owners obtain at least 3% of all grants for annual government contracts. In actuality, some federal contract funds are exclusively accessible by SDVOSBs.

3. SBA

This program exclusively applies to small enterprises that are entirely or partially owned by veterans, in contrast to other grants for veterans’ businesses on this list. To be eligible, a veteran must own at least 51% of the company and have complete authority over management and decision-making. Moreover, you should take a look at the SBA guidelines for small businesses because if your company doesn’t meet their requirements, it won’t be eligible for the award.

4. Institute for veterans and military families

Veterans who are interested in a business startup can receive training and assistance from Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF). Boots to Business, IGNITE, the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities, and the Veteran Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship program are just a few of the training opportunities offered by the institution.

In addition, the IVMF provides access to an alumni network and a resource library to assist new and existing business owners in finding the assistance they require.

READ MORE: How to get best Jobs without a college degree

Other disabled veteran business grants types include

Grants.gov

Grants.gov is not a grant; rather, it provides a list of federal awards for veteran-owned businesses that may be useful to your company. You can look for and find grants on this site. You can also check on the status of awards that are already exist, and apply for grants from the federal government.

The website instructs you on how to apply for grants, track your application, and display the many available grants. It makes sense to learn how to use the Grants.gov website if you want to apply for veteran business grants for your company in 2023.

Although the platform is largely a website, it is easily accessed from mobile devices thanks to apps available on both the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. In addition, you can follow the website’s official social media accounts to stay up to date on new grants without constantly visiting the website.

Veterans Small Business Development Center

They offer veterans who are launching new businesses support. Although this office doesn’t award grants, it does assist veteran-owned businesses in applying for and obtaining grants and other types of financial aid.

Veteran Women Entrepreneur grants

Female veteran business owners or those who want to launch a new firm are the target audience for the Veteran Woman Entrepreneur Grant. It is one of many awards the Texas Woman’s University offers to disabled female veteran residents of the state, however, it is only available to Texans.

You must not be a member of the Texas Woman’s University staff to be eligible for the grant. Even if they meet all the other criteria for the veterans business grants, members of the immediate family of university staff or employees are ineligible to apply.

How to apply disabled veteran business grants

 

Verify your eligibility

Grant applications can be difficult and time-consuming to submit. You shouldn’t waste your time applying for grants for which you are ineligible. When applying for startup grants for disabled veterans, always examine the requirements. Certain veteran benefits may only be granted to those who meet certain criteria, such as being disabled, receiving an honorable discharge, etc.

Comply with the guide

Your grant application must be as thorough as possible if you want to be considered. Fill out the application completely, and include any needed supplementary documentation. Make sure you satisfy deadlines for both the initial proposal and any following submissions to avoid losing out on prospective financing opportunities.

Consider who will be reviewing your application

Consider the reviewers of your grant proposal and what they will be searching for. The reviewer may not be familiar with your business or your suggested concept. Hence, be as clear as you can about your business and how you want to use the grant money to promote it.

Proofread

Before submitting your grant application, spend some time editing it completely (perhaps multiple times). Some reviewers may become discouraged by grammatical errors or the lack of important information. In the same vein, you ought to do every effort to distinguish your business from the opposition.

Disabled veterans deserve support in anything they do after leaving the military because they are heroes who sacrificed themselves for the country. The disabled veteran business grants discussed above are empowering and inspiring disabled veteran entrepreneurs. This is all in a bid to help and integrate them back into society while giving them a sense of responsibility. 

About the author

Zainab Olatunji

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