Grants for Small / Medium Enterprises - Page 3

Do not start your Project before you obtain the grant offer
If you start your project before obtaining an offer of grant and then your application will almost certainly fail. Grants are only given for projects which need them in order to proceed and therefore the grant body will (reasonably) take the view that by starting the project before your offer of grant must mean that you have sufficient funds to complete it without grant assistance.

Make sure your application is in respect of a Project
Usually, grants are given for specific projects, not for the normal organic growth of a business. If you need new equipment to launch a product, make sure your application emphasises the Project, not the equipment. State the advantages of the Project’s success (for example, it will safeguard or create jobs) and explain that the purchase of the equipment is needed to achieve that goal.

Have a Business Plan
Most grant applications require the submission of a Business Plan. You may have one already written, perhaps to raise bank finance. Alter the Plan slightly to emphasise the project and its importance to your company.

Demonstrate that you cannot proceed without a Grant
It is a pre-requisite with most schemes that the project be dependent on grant funds in order for it to proceed. This is because the grant awarding bodies have a duty of public accountability to ensure that grant money is spent in the public interest. You will therefore need to show the Project is dependent on the grant being made.

Make sure you have matching funds available
Most direct grants require that the majority of the funding for the project should come from the private sector. This can be from a variety of sources such as new share capital, existing cash resources, bank overdrafts and loans, hire purchase, debt factoring. You will need to demonstrate that you have pursued all other (reasonable) sources of finance for the project before requesting grant aid.

Think about the potential wider implications of the project for your business
Will your staff need retraining? Could you use help in marketing? Are larger premises required? Will the project create export potential? Can you develop the project in an area of higher public support than where you are currently located? By thinking in these terms you could find you are eligible for several different grants.

We have extensive involvement in advising small and medium sized enterprises on financial and business planning issues and has helped many companies to expand their operations and improve their business processes. He has a great deal of experience in assisting businesses to both identify and obtain grant-funding from UK and European grant bodies. Our Audit Compliance Partner for the practice acts as the “feed” in relation to resolving technical and ethical issues.