11/17/2009 3:08 PM (PST)

I came across a link to CAMEO, which is The California Association of Micro Enterprise Opportunity (www.microbiz.org). It's a statewide association of organizations, agencies, and individuals dedicated to furthering microenterprise development in California. You should be able to get some information from them that will be helpful. If you live outside CA try to find a similar association in your home state; in the meantime this site will still provide some good general info. Also, you said you were looking for a "grant", meaning money which does not have to be repaid. I would not go looking with the expectation that there is free money out there. It's especially tough now because of the credit crisis and the reluctance of banks to lend. Also, there are a lot of scams on "finding government grants", etc out there - don't fall for any of them.

I've heard there are private microfinance websites where people can post their needs in terms of loans, and where individuals or lenders and bid on the loans (I don't the names of any of these offhand though). Usually these aren't multimillion dollar deals; they tend to be fairly small amounts of money. Potentially though, they offer a source of funds for those without access to traditional loans. Do a Google search for micro loans, microfinance, etc.

There are all sorts of "instant personal loans" advertised on the internet - you should avoid these! Some nonprofit organizations provide small working capital loans for entrepreneurs, but note that the current economic climate may have reduced funding for these programs.