A few days back, while I was browsing through web pages, I professional paper writer happened to find an interesting quote that said.
“I can find courses, which teach grant writing. but I don’t think there is any course for grant writing services; I want to be a consultant since I worked enough as grant writer”.
Many of us, may not want to be a consultant. But I am sure some of the experienced grant writers want to be. I hope my tips would help you to launch your grant writing services business. Here we go:
Build Your Personal Brand: It is all about YOU. Your brand is the reflection of who you are, your knowledge of the subject, convictions, strengths, and weaknesses. Keep building your social relationship through public participation, online presence, and be a student of the subject. A personal brand takes the time to make, so be prepared to start from ZERO.
Sketch your Business Plan: How do you want to operate? Are you planning to be a solo entrepreneur starting right from your home? Or do you have associates joining you? Map your services with all the business components incorporated. Since grant writing is a volatile business, you may not get regular work until you establish your credibility. On the other hand, you may have more than enough, needing assistant grant writers to keep with pace. The team approach should be your key factor while sketching your long-term Business Plan.
Shortlist your Services: Make a list of services that you are planning to provide to your clients. Be careful, your income depends on the quality of these services. Services can include; funding searches, advising, evaluation, training, and nonprofit consulting related to grant writing. So don’t just depend on grant writing service alone. Your strengths and experiences count, so leverage on them.
Work on your Budget: Finance plays a significant role in any start-up business; hence, you need to plan each and everything meticulously. Try saving funds where ever you can, since ‘money saved is earned’. Do you need fancy office space, printing glossy office supplies, so on and so forth?
Market Your Services: It is one thing to have services and another thing to sell those services. As a start-up, you may not have much money to invest, but allot your time to make this business grow by taking the word out. In the world of technology, you must have a marketing plan that includes having your website or some social media account. I don’t encourage Facebook account killing your time but productively use it for your business.
Learn everything you need to know to get started in this lucrative industry. For example, you will need step-by-step guidelines, along with hundreds of samples formats and information that include:
• Who needs grants
• Types of funders
• Finding grants
• Understanding a funders’ guidelines
• A to Z of the grant proposal
• Active grant-writing techniques
• How to confidently run your business
If you enjoy researching, with some writing and speaking skills, you could be a successful owner of a grant writing services business.
