Getting Small Business Grants and Loans - The white stags of the business industry

Is it just me, or is information on grants and loans ridiculously hard to find? I have been all over the various grant/loan type .gov sites and they all say the exact same thing. They tell you that there are grants and loans tailored to small businesses, minorities, and women (of which, all 3 happen to apply to me) yet they are vague to the point of obsurdity about WHERE you apply for them. Why all the secrecy? Most minorities and women starting their own business probably don't have any assets and they either don't have credit or the credit is bad (in my case) so a loan won't be possible no matter how you shake-n-bake it.

Since my internet search was a complete failure, I signed up for the minority business association or whatever it's called and asked them for some direction in my search. Again the vagueness happened. They just told me what I had already been reading on the website. Next, I posted to a message board for people who want to work from home (particularly mothers but anyone who wants to get into internet based businesses). This was fruitless as well. For reasons unknown to me, someone posted links to sites that had the information...for a price. I'm pretty sure the sites either belonged to them, or they were a member. Either way they had access to the information so why not share it instead of being a tightass? It would have been better if they hadn't spoken up at all. If I had the cash to obtain said information, I would have already gotten it.

Community forums are for helping eachother, not trying to relieve people of their money. For starters, there's no money to be had. If you are starting up your own business (like me!) chances are you are flat broke (which I am..). You can't squeeze blood from a turnip but I guess these folks want to cut you open and see for themselves. Any resources that you may have had, are probably all thrown into one basket and you have nothing else.

With that said, if someone comes to you asking for information that you have (which is otherwise free and just very hard to find), give them a damn break instead of trying to line your wallet with their blood.

In case anyone is wondering, I did find the information I was looking for and am willing to share it. While it didn't cost me a cent, the legality of how I got it is questionable, but hey...it was public information I was seeking to begin with. Information sharks be damned :P

(this has also been posted on my Mou Sukoshi blog)