Accessing Grant Funding
Accessing Grant Funding: Is it really worth the effort? 
Being an innovation consultant, I get asked about government grants all the time. It seems the government can’t wait to hand out money to companies if it means investing in the future of the country and underlying IP. The issue is that most of the companies these grants are intended for don’t even know they exist.
Scratching the surface is the easy part however dig a little deeper and the waters get very murky. First you wade through the various competitive and non-competitive grants, industry specific or non-specific, business advisory, project specific, repayable grants (surely this can’t be called a grant!), export grants…the list goes on.
Then the question arises: if I actually apply for some of these grants and spend time jumping through the various government-designed red taped hoops, is it really worth the effort? As with any equation that equals “free money” the answer is invariably “yes and no”.
Hopefully this article will at least simplify the situation and provide some free advice to help get you started. Oh, and I will preface this article by stating that it will be impossible to cover all available grants, in every industry at this time. For that, we would need an entire, say, government department.
What is a Grant?
A grant is an award of financial assistance in the form of money (or kind) by the federal or state government to an eligible grantee with no expectation that the funds will be paid back. Commercialisation Australia has slightly bent this definition by offering a “repayable grant” (apparently the term “interest free loan” needed a re-jig) but the definition still holds. The differences lie in what the money is to be used for. As a general rule, the higher the amount and more specific the utilisation; the more paperwork required and competitive in nature.
Why are there so many?
Each industry seems to have its own grant funding schemes, as they are a good way to allocate funds to areas of the economy generating the best return for the country. This is your taxes at work, after all. Some helpful links are provided at the end of this article to help pinpoint the grants available in your industry.
Business Advisory Grants
These will grant money to partially fund business improvement projects and are designed to provide access to specialist expertise. They are “non-competitive” in that if you qualify and are willing to ‘pony’ up your share, you will receive the funding.
The best thing about these grants is that it puts you on the “grant radar” (no, that cannot be shortened to ‘gaydar’), a position from which can open a number of doors and introduce you to key government contacts willing to help you. Remember, it is their job to allocate funding to the right people. If they aren’t approving grants, they aren’t doing their job.
A couple of the most common Business Advisory Grants:
Enterprise Connect - A Federal Government Initiative (thanks Johnny Howard). Easily the most flexible of the business advisory grants.
If you have a turnover between $1m and $100m in pretty much any industry (except retail, who always seem to miss out) then a free business review and $20K in matched funding to access advice and expertise is awaiting you.
NB: The free, independent business review is a useful document to have, given many other grants require proof of the viability of your business
DBI (formerly DIIRD) “Grow your business grants”
A Victorian state funded scheme, these grants are designed to develop business plans for small to medium companies with export potential. There are a number of other state based schemes like this around, so best to contact your local government and ask, or check out www.business.gov.au for more assistance.
Commercialisation Australia
A federal scheme, it has simplified accessing commercialisation grants as it effectively absorbed dozens of previous grants into a simple process. Best to just check out the website for more information on eligibility, as it can vary. Also key to point out that this is a “competitive” grant, in that just because you’re eligible doesn’t mean you will receive funding.
All of the stages of funding require some sort of matched funding from the company, researcher or individual accessing the grants. Therefore, you need to show that you “need” the money and at the same time prove that you can cover your share. Just don’t prove the latter too well, as that will cancel out the former.
Other grants
It could also pay to check out the Research and Development Tax Concession, available to almost every business. Also, the Competitive Business Fund, Re-Tooling for Climate Change, Export Market Development Grants (EMDG) Scheme, Skills for Growth, Green Building Fund…gosh, is that the time?
Conclusion
With any sort of grant and especially competitive grants, you need to ask yourself “is all the time I am required to spend accessing grant funding really worth it?” The answer is probably “yes”, as long as you have a clear plan, can forecast growth and are able to justify the time required to fulfil government requirements.
As a first step, Enterprise Connect and DBI (or other state based equivalent) can provide a great entry point and from there, as in most areas of business, your relationships in these departments can really pay dividends.
What to do:
- Check out the business.gov.au website (listed below) and go through the diagnostic tool.
- Call your industry association to see what other projects can be covered by a specific, or one-off grant. You’ll be surprised.
- Remember that most grants are competitive and so you will need to “sell” your project, dot your “i”s and cross your “t”s.
- Don’t get bogged down in the paperwork (we are talking about the government here) there are companies who will write the grant applications for you!
Links
Government - Grants and assistance
A fantastic diagnostic tool – Begin Here!
Ausindustry
Department of Business and Innovation
Ben Flavel (MEI) is an entrepreneur and innovation consultant assisting corporate, SME and fast growth companies through innovation creation and evaluation, culture development and strategic renewal. Mobile: 0417 323 809 Email: ben@neocogs.com.au
