Help Center
Money & Funding
Understand your money and find the capital: funding, bootstrapping, credit, and grants.
7 tools in this area. Tap any one to see what it is, what it is for, and how to use it.
What it is
A public conversation, not a resource page. The visitor says where they are with money (make more, understand what they have, build something, or figure out where it all goes), the engine asks one honest follow-up, then returns a personalized answer plus the 3 to 5 most relevant free calculators deep-linked from the /calculators suite (revenue, pricing, net worth, break-even, runway, quit-your-job readiness, and more). Mic or type, no signup to start; a save-and-continue hook carries the conversation into a free account (next=/money) so it picks up exactly where it left off. This is the front door for every money question people are too afraid to Google.
What it is for
anyone carrying a money question (how do I make money, why do I feel broke, how do I price my services) who wants an honest, personalized answer and the exact number to run
How to use it
Go to /money and say where you are with money. The engine asks one honest follow-up, then returns a personalized answer plus the 3 to 5 free calculators that fit. No signup to start; a save-and-continue hook carries the conversation into a free account.
What it is
A free, no-signup generator. The visitor self-reports their credit score (slider or tier chips, no real pull and no personal data) and gets a realistic, tier-by-tier read across Poor, Fair, Good, Very Good, and Excellent: the business ideas that fit that credit level, the cards and loans they can actually get with typical odds and rates, the bigger life range the score buys (rental and mortgage approval, auto loans and leases, equipment financing, net-30 vendor accounts and building business credit under an EIN, insurance, deposits), and the concrete moves to raise it to the next tier. Honest general education, never credit-repair or financial advice, never a promise of approval. Links to /ideas and the funding playbook /get-funding. One optional metered Go deeper step personalizes it to their situation.
What it is for
anyone wondering what their credit score can actually get them: which businesses to start now, what financing they qualify for, and how to level up their credit
How to use it
At /credit, set your credit score and get a realistic tier-by-tier read: the business ideas that fit, the cards and loans you can actually get, the bigger life range it buys, and the moves to level up. No signup, no credit pull.
What it is
The free playbook of 30+ legal ways to fund an idea without investors: grants and crowdfunding you keep, loans you fully own (CDFI, SBA, factoring, business credit), money hiding in assets you already have (home equity, rezoning, tax liens, retirement rollovers, life insurance loans), money from people, and certifications and zones (minority/women/veteran, NMTC, Opportunity Zones, USDA rural) that unlock capital. Its sibling page /bootstrapping is for the person who wants to start without funding at all.
What it is for
finding the money to fund an idea, especially for people with no investors: which pathway fits their situation and where to start
How to use it
At /get-funding, find your funding pathway among 30+ legal ways to fund an idea without investors, grouped into five kinds, with the risks named.
What it is
The free public page that kills the 'I don't have money' excuse honestly: you do not need funding to start, because the platform's free tools do the heavy lifting. It reframes the $100 people spend without blinking, explains the two things every bootstrapped start needs (a lead magnet and an audience), walks a visual 8-step bootstrap blueprint (pick the idea at /ideas, validate at /idea-validator, name at /names, build the lead magnet, put up a lead page, build the audience, first revenue via a small offer and /getpaid, reinvest), lists what is genuinely free on the platform, and shows an honest example of where a first $100 goes. Links both ways with /get-funding for people who want money anyway.
What it is for
the person who believes they cannot afford to start: showing how far free tools plus about $100 goes before any funding is needed
How to use it
At /bootstrapping, follow the visual 8-step blueprint that starts a business with about $100: pick the idea, validate, name, build a lead magnet and page, build an audience, take first revenue, and reinvest.
What it is
A cluster of free SEO guides for the biggest audience of all: people who say they are broke or have no money but still want to start. Four distinct pages, each with the honest playbook and a path into the free tools: How to Start a Business With No Money (/start-a-business-with-no-money, the free-first path and no-capital service businesses), How to Start a Business When You're Broke (/start-a-business-when-youre-broke, no excuses, get your first $100, momentum), How to Start a Business With Zero Dollars (/start-a-business-with-zero-dollars, a literal $0 step-by-step where money only enters once the business pays), and How to Start a Business on a Retirement Budget (/start-a-business-on-a-retirement-budget, fixed-income and retiree friendly, protect your savings, turn a career of experience into income). All link into /bootstrapping, /money, /ideas, and the free tools. No income promises.
What it is for
anyone who says they are broke, have no money, zero dollars, or are on a fixed retirement income but still want to start a business
How to use it
Four free guides at /start-a-business-with-no-money and its siblings walk the honest, free-first path for anyone who says they are broke, have no money, zero dollars, or are on a fixed income.
What it is
A live grant search plus a full grant engine. The search is an aggregator built to run across multiple grant sources; source one is the full federal grant database, pulled live from Grants.gov, and source two is SAM.gov, live federal contract opportunities (solicitations and notices, paid government work, not grants; it appears only when its API key is set). Two more sources run live web research for SIGNED-IN members only, because each check costs real research calls: Your added sources (specific grant sites the owner manages in the admin panel, searched site-scoped; it appears once sites are added) and Web search (the open web). Both report only real pages actually found, with the page URL and only facts the page states (amounts and deadlines are omitted unless stated), and every such hit carries a note to verify details on the source page. Searching the free databases is free on the public page with no account; guests see an honest note that the web-research sources turn on with a free account. With a free account members track any grant (found here or anywhere on the web, added manually) in their Grant Book at /grants/book: exactly five statuses (Watching, Preparing, Applied, Approved, Declined), applied and decision dates, notes, the published amount range, and the partners and contacts (name, role, email) attached per grant; the account view is My Grants (/my-stuff/grants, up to 100). Saved alert searches re-run daily (and quietly when the Grant Book opens) and ring the in-app bell ONLY for genuinely new postings, never faked; alerts cover the databases and the owner-added sites, not the open-web search (too noisy for the bell). The AI readiness check (uses credits) reads the grant's own requirements and builds the honest checklist: eligibility read, required registrations (EIN, SAM.gov/UEI, a Grants.gov account for federal grants), required documents, what is still needed, and every unknown as a question; it never declares anyone eligible. The writing engine (uses credits, interview included) asks 3 to 6 pointed follow-ups then drafts the five standard pieces (need statement, project narrative, goals and outcomes, budget justification, organization background) from the member's real facts only: no invented numbers, partners, or credentials, and missing facts come back as open questions. Reworking one section uses credits; the Word (.docx) download is free. No funding guarantees ever, and final submission happens on the official grant portal; the engine prepares everything. The Grant Book also has Grant Scout, the owner's research-lab grant-hunting method generalized for every member: a small scout profile (business type, state, mission, org type, an optional full organization profile, and optional member-controlled identity checkboxes) drives several narrow searches per run across every source including the open web (credits per run, auto-refunded when nothing new turns up). The scout skips everything already in the member's Grant Book, drops expired deadlines, never resurfaces dismissed findings, and returns a digest classified URGENT, NEAR-TERM, ROLLING, and WATCH with geography tags read only from stated facts and one honest AI fit line per finding (alignment only, never an eligibility verdict). Saved alerts gained a member-chosen cadence: twice a week (Tuesday and Friday, the honest default for new alerts) or daily.
What it is for
finding grant money and getting a complete, honest application ready to submit
How to use it
Search live grants free at /grants (Grants.gov plus more sources; signed-in members get live web-research sources too). In the Grant Book at /grants/book, track any grant through five statuses, run the AI readiness check, and draft the five standard application pieces from your real facts (uses credits). Grant Scout hunts new grants from a short profile. Download the Word file free and submit on the official portal.
What it is
A free public directory of 300+ fiscal sponsors: established 501(c)(3) nonprofits that let a project receive tax-deductible donations and apply for foundation grants before it has its own nonprofit status. Searchable by name, focus area, and location, with category chips (arts, journalism, technology, health, community, faith, international, and more) and a state filter. Every listing shows the published fee, the sponsorship model (Model A comprehensive vs Model C pass-through, explained in plain words), eligibility notes, and a direct link to the sponsor's own site, plus a 5-point how-to-choose guide. Pairs with the Grant Engine at /grants for finding the grants themselves.
What it is for
receiving tax-deductible donations and applying for foundation grants before having your own 501(c)(3), by finding the right fiscal sponsor
How to use it
At /fiscal-sponsor-directory, search 300+ fiscal sponsors (established nonprofits that let a project receive tax-deductible donations and apply for grants before it has its own 501(c)(3)). Filter by focus area and state; every listing shows the fee, the sponsorship model, and a link to the sponsor. Pairs with the Grant Engine at /grants.