The distinction that matters is what the funder is trying to achieve. Grants exist to produce an outcome the funder wants, and for most foundations that outcome is charitable. For government programmes it is frequently economic: jobs created, an area developed, an industry supported, or research advanced. A for profit business qualifies where its activity produces the second kind of outcome.
The realistic categories for a small business are narrower than the general advice suggests. Economic development programmes tied to hiring, to locating in a specific area, or to a targeted industry. Research and innovation funding for businesses developing something technical. Programmes for businesses owned by particular groups, which vary by jurisdiction. And occasionally disaster or recovery funding when circumstances warrant it.
Start with your state and local economic development office rather than searching generally, since those are the bodies actually administering the programmes a small business can access. The federal grant portal lists a great deal that is not applicable, and filtering it consumes more time than a conversation with somebody local.
Be extremely cautious about anybody charging to find grants for you, because that is a well established industry preying on the hope. Legitimate programmes are publicly listed, applications are made directly, and no fee is required to discover what exists. A company promising access to unadvertised small business grants is selling a list you could assemble yourself.
Understand the cost of applying before committing to it. Grant applications are lengthy, frequently require financial documentation and projections you do not currently have, and take weeks. Winning rates are low. For a first year business, that time set against the probability is usually a poor trade compared with spending the same hours on customers.
Look at the alternatives that behave like grants and are more accessible. Tax credits for specific activities, which are claimed rather than applied for. Reduced rate financing through development programmes. Free advisory services and training from small business development centres. Each of those is real, considerably easier to obtain, and rarely considered.
Consider whether a specific programme is worth pursuing rather than treating grants as a category. One relevant programme with a genuine fit and a manageable application is worth an afternoon. A general search for anything available is what consumes weeks and produces nothing.
Then remember what the money would be for, since a grant that requires you to do something you would not otherwise do is not free money. Funding tied to hiring, to a location, or to reporting obligations carries a real cost, and accepting it to obtain the amount rather than the outcome is a common way businesses acquire commitments they did not want.
Talk to a small business development centre before searching, since they know which regional programmes actually exist, they are free, and they will tell you honestly whether pursuing anything is worth your time. That conversation is more useful than any amount of online searching.
Keep the financial records a grant application would require regardless, since that documentation is the same material a lender or an investor would want. Businesses that maintain it can act on an opportunity, and those that do not spend the application window assembling it.
Check whether a programme requires the work to begin after approval, since spending in advance frequently disqualifies the expenditure and that condition catches people who moved before the decision arrived.