State and Federal Government has really come along way offering many new grant opportunities to support the growth of businesses all over Australia. Recently NSW has offered the Small Business COVID-19 Recovery Grant to help support businesses affected by COVID-19 to get back into business. Its key focus is to provide a small infusion of funds which can be used to drive marketing for growth or resourcing for reopen.
It isn't enough to revolutionise your business, but it is enough to help get the gears going. The maximum the grant is offering is $3,000, which might have you saying, "What would I do with that?" Well in the marketing world, it can get you on the road to quite a few options.
Have you been thinking of rebuilding your website or an adding eCommerce or training platform to your current Website? For your typical agency, this amount of funds will definitely help cover much of the cost.
Or perhaps your systems need refining or automation. Have you considered a sales and marketing tool such as an integrated CRM? The funds would help to have the system professionally implemented and integrated into your Website and advertisingcampaigns for Marketing tracking. You could also look at training for both the sales and marketing teams to ensure it becomes a highly effective business tool and provides you as leaders accurate business intelligence.
Wanting to generate more leads, you could associate the funds to launching some Online Campaigns. This could be through many channels including Social Media Content; Blog Content Creation; SEO onsite and offsite; Email Marketing; and much, much more.
If things have slowed and you're unsure what the next steps will look like in your business, you could invest your time in strategy and knowledge. Perhaps a rebrand or managing your marketing internally could be the key? Investing in a Brand/Marketing Strategy Workshop or Social Media Content Strategy is a valuable investment of time. These will further increase your internal capability or give you a new direction for the business.
So, what do you need to know to be eligible?
First off, this is for NSW businesses, so you must be registered in the state. As the NSW Government is gradually lifting the restrictions on movement and business trading that were designed to reduce the spread of COVID-19. This means some businesses can now reopen.
If your small business or not-for-profit organisation has experienced a decline in turnover as a result of COVID-19, you may be eligible for a small business recovery grant of between $500 and $3000.
This grant helps small businesses meet the costs of safely reopening or up-scaling operations. The other considerations to take note of are: A turn-cover of more than $75,000 but be under the payroll tax threshold of $900,000; Have experienced at least 30% decline in turnover from March to July 2020 compared to the equivalent period in 2019; and be able to illustrate a cost to re-open or scale-up.
If the above sounds like you, it might be a chance for you to bring your business back fighting!
We are Marketers, so we cannot advise on how to access the grant. Please consult your accountant or businesses advisor to see if you apply.
If this is not a right fit for you or you are outside of NSW, there are plenty more Australia wide grants available. Have a look at our blog https://info.ucidity.com/grant for more information on grant opportunities.