Secretsos Small Business Grant
Secretsos Foundation
$2,500 (quarterly)
Researched for this program: 8 rejection traps · 9 required documentsWhat decides this award ↓
Quarterly grant for bank-loan-denied US SMBs
Secretsos Foundation awards quarterly $2,500 grants to underserved small business owners in the US, targeting those who have been denied bank loans or don't qualify for traditional financing. Under the current rules, one grant is available each quarter, open to any qualifying US business with an owner aged 21 or older. A $15 application fee applies to every applicant; the official rules say Secretsos offers no fee waivers of any kind. Applications are judged on use of funds (45%), the applicant's qualities (40%) and the business (15%).
- Funding type
- Grant
- Level
- Foundation
- Amount
- $2,500
- Realistic amount
- $2,500 (fixed award per winning applicant per quarter)
- Deadline
- Quarterly; the fourth-quarter window runs October 1 to December 31, 2026 (11:59 pm Central), and applications do not roll over
- Status
- active
- States
- Nationwide
- Payment model
- lump sum
Who qualifies
- US-based active registered business
- Business owner must be at least 21 years old
- Must operate within US states or territories
- Must fit one of the rules' charitable classes: denied a bank loan or unable to qualify for one; woman-, veteran- or minority-owned; or located in an economic development zone
- Owns part of a legally registered, active US business entity
Is the Secretsos Small Business Grant legit?
It is run by Secretsos LLC, a New Mexico company, which gives one $2,500 grant a quarter. It charges a $15 fee that is never refunded, and we found one named winner.
- Who runs it: Secretsos LLC, a New Mexico company
- Cost to apply: $15, not refundable under any circumstances
- What winners get: One $2,500 grant per quarter
Sources: secretsos.com. Last checked at the funder on October 18, 2026.
Past Secretsos Small Business Grant winners
The one winner we could find named:
- Zachary Cooper, Lit2Animate, Pennsylvania-based company; owner accepted from Houston, TX · 3rd Quarter 2024 (announced Oct 17, 2024)
Names as published by Secretsos (press release) (source). GrantCompass is not affiliated with Secretsos (press release).
New grants like this every week: see this week's list or get it by email on Mondays.
What the SecretSoS Small Business Grant application asks
The SecretSoS Small Business Grant application asks four written questions, alongside your contact and business details. The entry fee is $15. The deadline is the last day of each quarter (March 31, June 30, September 30, December 31), 11:59pm CT, and you submit on the funder’s own form at secretsos.com. These are the questions as they appear on the form:
-
1
Tell us about you and your business.
-
2
Why do you believe you will succeed in business?
-
3
Describe your business achievements. Please list any relevant education, experience, awards or recognition of achievements in business, including the milestones you have achieved through the Secretsos™ Academy.
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4
How will you use the grant money to enhance your business? Grant funds may be used for business education and professional development, technology, community impact, or to become fiscally sound, to create jobs, or to develop skills in an entry level workforce. Please describe in detail how you would use the funds to achieve one or more of these objectives in your business.
What the judges look for
- Use of funds, tied to a listed purpose (45%)
- Your qualities: passion, commitment, drive (40%)
- Your business: mission and the need it meets (15%)
GrantCompass drafts the SecretSoS Small Business Grant application from your own answers. You answer four short questions about your business and we write all four answers around what the judges look for, to fit the form. We use only what you tell us: nothing is invented, and anything a stronger answer needs is left as a marked blank for you to fill. The preview is free with no card. The full draft is $9, refunded in full within 7 days if it doesn’t make your application stronger. You review it and submit it yourself; GrantCompass is independent and not affiliated with SecretSoS. Start a free draft on this page (grantcompass.co/grants/secretsos-small-business-grant), or read how the drafting works.
How to answer the Secretsos Small Business Grant application questions (with examples)
The Secretsos application form starts with 18 short questions about you and your business, then four required essay boxes with no word or character limit. The official rules publish the scoring:
- 45%Use of funds, tied to a purpose the rules list
- 40%Your qualities: passion, commitment, drive
- 15%Your business: mission and the unmet need it meets
Question 4 is the use-of-funds answer, so give it the most care. On tone, the grants page says: “Don’t overthink it!”
- 4required essays
- Noneword or character limit
- $2,500one award a quarter
Each example below is the length of a strong answer. Swap in details only you have.
Question 1: “Tell us about you and your business.”
The rules’ “Applicant’s Business” criterion (15%) fits this box best: “mission, vision, values” and “how business meets unmet needs.” No business plan needed, the grants page says.
- 1
Say who you are and why you started.
- 2
Name what you sell, to whom, and the need it meets, with your size in numbers.
- 3
State your mission in your own words.
“I’m a former hotel housekeeper and a mother of two. In late 2022 I started a home and office cleaning company in my city with one vacuum and my own car. I own the business outright, and it is registered as an LLC.
We clean homes, small offices and rental apartments between tenants. Our customers are mostly working families, older people who can no longer do heavy cleaning, and three property managers who need a unit ready in a day. Today we have four part-time cleaners and about 45 regular clients, most of them every two or four weeks.
The need we meet is reliable, fairly priced cleaning by people who show up when they say they will. Most of our clients came to us after another cleaner cancelled on them.
My mission is to run a cleaning company where the work is done right and the people doing it are treated well. I pay above the local rate, I schedule around school hours, and I train every new cleaner myself.
In 2024 my bank turned down my loan for a second vehicle because the business was under two years old. We keep growing anyway, one client at a time.”
Why it works: business, customers, need and mission in plain words, and the bank refusal gets one line.
Question 2: “Why do you believe you will succeed in business?”
This is where “Applicant’s Qualities” (40%) shows most: “your passions, commitment to success or change” and “entrepreneurial drive.” The grants page asks for “examples that illustrate these qualities in action.”
- 1
Prove each quality with something you did. A setback you handled beats any adjective.
- 2
Add one habit that keeps you improving, and how you treat customers or staff.
Show the made-up example 191 words
“I believe I will succeed because I have already done the hardest parts on my own, and I keep learning.
When I started, I had no customers and no savings. I knocked on doors in my building and cleaned my first three apartments at half price so people could see my work. All three still book us every two weeks.
In 2023 my only car broke down for ten days. I took the bus with my supplies in a rolling cart and did not cancel a single appointment. That week taught me to keep a list of backup rides, and I still use it.
I also hold myself to the numbers. I track every job in a spreadsheet: hours, supplies and what we charged. When I saw we were losing money on large houses, I changed how we quote them. Our average job went from $95 to $130, and we did not lose a client over it.
I care about the people who work for me. When one of my cleaners had a baby, I kept her on a lighter schedule for three months so she would not lose her income.”
Why it works: it never says “passionate” or “driven.” Four short stories show it.
Question 3: “Describe your business achievements.”
The form adds: “Please list any relevant education, experience, awards or recognition of achievements in business,” including milestones from the Secretsos™ Academy, the company’s paid training program. The scoring criteria don’t mention the Academy; if you haven’t taken part, leave that clause out.
- 1
Use short labelled lines: experience, education, milestones, recognition.
- 2
Put a number on every milestone you could show if asked.
Show the made-up example 120 words
“Experience: I worked six years in hotel housekeeping, the last two as a floor supervisor training new staff on cleaning standards and safety.
Education: In 2024 I finished a free 10-week small business course at our community college, where I wrote my first budget and pricing plan.
Business milestones:
Grew from no clients to about 45 regular clients in three years.
Hired four part-time cleaners; two have been with us more than a year.
Revenue grew from $31,000 in 2023 to $58,000 in 2024 and $92,000 in 2025.
Won ongoing work from three local property managers.
Kept a 4.9-star rating across 70 online reviews.
Recognition: In 2025 our neighborhood business association named us one of its small businesses to watch.”
Why it works: it scans in seconds, and every milestone has a figure.
Question 4: “How will you use the grant money to enhance your business?”
“Use of Funds” is 45% of the score. The form lists what qualifies: “business education and professional development, technology, community impact, or to become fiscally sound, to create jobs, or to develop skills in an entry level workforce,” and asks you to “describe in detail.” (The rules phrase these as four purposes.) The FAQ says “be as specific as possible.”
- 1
Name one or two purposes in the form’s own words.
- 2
Price every item, adding up to exactly $2,500.
- 3
End with the result you expect.
Show the made-up example 229 words
“I would use the $2,500 for two of the grant’s purposes: becoming fiscally sound, and building skills in an entry-level workforce.
$900 to become fiscally sound. Today I do the books myself at night in a spreadsheet. I would pay a local bookkeeper $600 to set up accounting software properly, clean up my 2025 records and teach me to read a monthly profit report. The other $300 pays for a year of the software. With clean books, I can go back to my bank with real financial statements.
$1,300 to train two new entry-level cleaners. I want to hire two people from my neighborhood who have never had a cleaning job. Each would get 40 paid training hours at $16.25 an hour, working beside me, which is $650 each. They would learn safe use of cleaning products, how to work in an occupied home, and how to talk with a client.
$300 for safety: a certified cleaning-chemical safety course for all seven of us ($180), plus gloves, masks and non-slip shoes for the new hires ($120).
That is $2,500 in all, with nothing spent on overhead.
The result would be two new jobs in my neighborhood and enough cleaners to take the 15 clients on our waiting list, which I expect to add about $25,000 in revenue a year. I would start training within a month of the award.”
Why it works: every dollar sits under a listed purpose, the items add up to $2,500, and the result is counted in jobs and clients.
What Secretsos itself says to watch
- Same email, both steps. You pay the $15 fee on a page after the form. A different email there can get the application “automatically denied,” the form warns.
- They may look you up. The form asks for two business social media profiles and says Secretsos may review your website and social channels.
Want all four answers written from your own details? Start your free draft preview. You see the preview before you pay anything.
What it covers
Eligible expenses
- Business operations and working capital
- Equipment and tools for the trade
- Inventory and supplies
- Marketing and advertising
- Professional services (legal, accounting)
Ineligible expenses
- Personal living expenses
- Debt repayment
- Expenses incurred before grant award
How to apply
-
1
Check the current quarter's grant
Visit secretsos.com/grants to see the specific current-quarter grant categories available. Each quarter may feature themed grants (e.g., specific trades, demographic groups) alongside a general category. Ensure your business fits at least one open category.
~30 min
-
2
Pay the $15 application fee
Pay the $15 non-refundable application fee. The official rules allow no fee waivers, and each quarter needs a new application and fee.
~15 min
-
3
Complete application at secretsos.com/grants
Fill out the online application covering your business background, why you need the grant, how you've been underserved by traditional financing, and your planned use of funds.
~1.5 hrs
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4
Submit before December 31, 2026 at 11:59:59pm CT
Applications close on the last day of each quarter at 11:59 pm CST.
~15 min
-
5
Await winner notification
Winner notified about 30 days after the quarter closes; Secretsos says it announces on the last day of the following month. Check email and the Secretsos website for the announcement.
One grant is awarded each quarter, judged on use of funds (45%), your qualities (40%) and your business (15%); reapply each quarter.
Deadline & timing
The Q4 2026 window runs October 1 – December 31, 2026 (closes 11:59:59pm Central Time); Q1 2027 runs January 1 – March 31. Winners are announced around the 30th day after a quarter closes (the Q4 winner around January 30, 2027). Applications don't roll over: reapply each quarter. New quarterly cycles open automatically.
Deadline: December 31, 2026 — put it in your calendar before you close this tab.
Includes reminders one week and one day before. Verify on the official program page — funders move dates.
Applications are open — don’t lose the window
GrantCompass tracks Secretsos Small Business Grant’s application windows in the live catalog. Leave an email and we’ll warn you before this window closes — and tell you when the next round opens.
Free. One email when the window moves, deadline warnings on your watchlist, and the monthly closing-soon digest. Unsubscribe anytime.
Programs that stack well
SecretSoS Grant compared with 9 other microgrants women founders apply to
Business Freedom Grant, Coach K Legacy Grant and IFundWomen grants cost $0 to enter. Amber Grant, HerRise MicroGrant, Hey Helen Grant, SecretSoS Grant, The Hustle Grant and YippityDoo Big Idea Grant each charge $15 and Freed Fellowship charges $19 per entry. Amber Grant pays the largest monthly award, $15,000; Coach K Legacy Grant is the only monthly award in this table with no entry fee.
| Program | Award | Entry fee | Cadence | Next close | Who it is for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coach K Legacy Grant · review | $1,000 | $0 | Monthly | Aspiring and existing business owners | |
| Amber Grant · review | $15,000 (3 a month) + $75,000 year-end | $15 | Monthly | Women-owned businesses, US and Canada | |
| Freed Fellowship · review | $500 + $2,500 year-end | $19 | Monthly | Any US small business; women encouraged | |
| HerRise MicroGrant · review | $1,000 | $15 | Monthly | Women-owned, under $1M revenue | |
| Hey Helen Grant | $10,000 | $15 | Monthly | Women-owned, under $1M revenue | |
| YippityDoo Big Idea Grant | $1,000 | $15 | Monthly | Women-owned, idea stage welcome | |
| Business Freedom Grant | $1,000 | $0 | Review rounds | Any founder, any stage | |
| SecretSoS Grant (this page) · review | $2,500 | $15 | Quarterly | Women/veteran/minority-owned or loan-denied, 21+ | |
| IFundWomen grants · review | $10,000–$25,000 (by sponsor) | $0 | Rolling | Rolling, by sponsor | Women-owned for-profit businesses |
| The Hustle Grant | $1,000 | $15 | Monthly | Monthly; cutoff by newsletter | Women-owned businesses and ideas |
Table updated November 6, 2026 from the GrantCompass catalog. Entry fees are verified against each funder’s published rules; confirm the date on the funder’s own page before you apply.
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Last updated November 6, 2026. GrantCompass is an independent funding-discovery tool and is not affiliated with any government agency. Always confirm details on the official program page.