Top 5 Small Business Grants For Women Entrepreneurs

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the world has seen a massive push where women have been encouraged and empowered to take up bold and bigger places where men used to rule.

This initiative is to create equality between both genders and as a result, there have been many opportunities specifically created to support women. In the fields of politics, education, medicine, engineering, and even business, women have risen to the top and proven they can also do something tangible for themselves. 

Building a business to become an entrepreneur is not an easy task. You have to deal with finding the capital for your business and as time goes on, you would need more funds to reinvest in your business to enjoy the returns. Corporate bodies and well-to-do individuals have made it a point to support people who are interested in entrepreneurship, emphasizing women through grants. 

Grants offer a valuable source of financial support without the need for repayment. They are often given to people who are found deserving based on what they want to embark on, its long-term benefits, and the returns it would make for the receiver of the grants. 

Here are five prominent grants that are given to women entrepreneurs who own small businesses or would like to start a small business but have no funds to begin. 

1. Community Women Enterprise Network 

This is a Ugandan organization made up of women whose aim is to support women entrepreneurs to gain shelf space in leading and local regional stores, as stated on their website. They focus mainly on food, skin and hair products, and other products that are beneficial to humans. 

The Community Women Enterprise Network also offers training sessions for young and upcoming entrepreneurs to learn new skills and the best ways to market their products. They host annual meetups to bring together women entrepreneurs from different parts of the country to learn from one another and develop new methods to improve their business. 

The Community Women Enterprise Network does not have a fixed grant price given out but every year, they support small businesses owned by women to expand and operate as expected. 

2. The Avon Foundation For Women 

The Avon Foundation was founded in 1955 to promote women's progress. Most of the funds they have toward pushing women is gotten from the sales of Avon products ranging from cosmetics, skincare, and perfumes. 

They have stated their core purpose to be one that creates a better place in the world for women to thrive and grow with the right resources given to them. 

Avon's grants are given to Non-Profit organizations that serve women entrepreneurs around the globe. For more details, visit their website to learn more. 

3. The Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Program

According to Goldman Sachs, women entrepreneurs are critical to economic growth but they face many obstacles when it comes to accessing the right resources they need to grow their business. This is why they started this initiative to provide women entrepreneurs around the world with business management education, networking, mentoring, and access to funds. 

The Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Program offers a six-month business and leadership training program to women entrepreneurs and a grant of up to $10,000 to eligible participants. 

4. The Women's Center For Economic Opportunity 

This organization focuses on empowering women of color who are interested in entrepreneurship. They offer pieces of training in batches annually to educate and mentor women. Their sole aim is to equip and empower women of color to reach their economic potential. 

They  offer a variety of grant programs to support women entrepreneurs, ranging from grants for startups, business expansion and education. 

5. The Cartier Women's Initiative

This is a yearly program that seeks to drive a change through the empowerment of women entrepreneurs. The interesting fact about this initiative is, it is not limited to women who own businesses only. If you manage a business, you have the liberty to join the program and also apply for the grant. 

The Cartier Women's Initiative caters to the needs of women entrepreneurs all around the world. It doesn't matter the country you are in, you are eligible to apply for this program. The initiative offers up to $100,000 in grant to qualified women and provides them with training and mentorship on how best they can manage their business to make it successful.

As a woman entrepreneur who wants to become successful, it is necessary that one explores these grants opportunities to support their business and to learn from like-minded individuals  who have been able scale up their business to the top.