I’ve been helping small business entrepreneurs get off the ground for over six years, and I’ve never, ever, known anyone who’s gotten “free money” from the government to start their business.
The idea that there’s someone in a government office somewhere just sitting there waiting to give away free money to people who want to start a business is one of the biggest myths around.
Many small-business counselors and lenders across the country lay the blame at the feet of one man: Matthew Lesko, a figure well-known to insomniacs with basic cable as “the question mark guy” for his signature suit. Since the 1980s Lesko has sold millions of copies of phonebook-sized books with titles like Free Money for Entrepreneurs.“We can always tell when his infomercials are on television,” says Jim Hammersley, the director of loan programs at the SBA—it’s when the receptionist’s phone starts ringing off the hook with callers determined to get some of that “free government money.”
Since he helped create the Virginia Business Information Center in 2003, Will Vehrs at the Virginia Department of Business Assistance has fielded thousands of calls from grant-seeking entrepreneurs. “It’s this sort of virus that spreads,” Vehrs says. “Somebody says they’re going to start a business, and then somebody else says, ‘Oh, well, an uncle of mine started a business and he got a grant!’”
The reality of the situation can be a hard pill for callers to swallow. “A lot of people get agitated—they just know there’s someone, somewhere who knows about these grants,” Vehrs says. “You have to resist the temptation to say, ‘You know, if there was free money out there, I would have grabbed it long before you called.’” At one point, Vehrs started offering $100 to anyone who could provide proof of a grant received to start a small business. (He wasn’t surprised when none of those apocryphal uncles showed up to claim their winnings.)
Dave on March 6th, 2008 at 8:15 am
I’ve always liked the ‘try before you buy’ concept and thought that the best place to start was at a bookstore where I saw a copy of one of Matthew Lesko’ get money books.
First the book is a great paper weight. It is heavy, thick, and hard to move! Second, there is really nothing special about the information it contains. Most of it is FREELY available in other books or from sources off the Internet. All Lesko has done is place information on various programs for each state in one guide. So you pay for 49 additional slabs of information that is of no value to you.
But, isn’t what the entire idea is? Provide loads of information that others already have for free for a nominal charge. That’s how you make the money. Provide tons of useless information a maybe, just maybe a ‘diamond in the rough’ that is what you are looking for. Don’t waste you time or hard earned start-up money for these series of books!
Brian Brandt on March 7th, 2008 at 7:01 am
In Denmark where I live, the government actually gives entreprenuers money in different ways. So not a myth in Denmark anyway, but we also pay over 50% in taxes ;-)