Published on 02/11/2016 by Punchmedia

Am I Eligible for a Small Business Grant?

Buying and starting up your own business can be one of the hardest things you’ll do in life, which makes it all the more important that you make it as easy for yourself as possible. Securing finances is often the most stressful part of starting your own business, but there’s one valuable, yet often overlooked, place you can appeal to for financial help: government grants. The government offers grants for both small businesses and start-ups. These grants cover a huge range of industries and business ideas, so it’s possible you will be eligible. To be eligible for start-up business grants, you’ll have to be able to prove that your business has a good structure and potential for future success. Make sure you’re prepared before you apply. Where you are in Australia and what kind of business you’re planning to own can influence the grants you have access to. And it can actually be pretty easy to find grants appropriate to your circumstances: simply check out the Australian Government’s Grants Finder. You only have to type in the area you hope to work in and the region and it will present you with a list of possible grants and further assistance. Take care with agencies that offer a grant-finding service. Often they’ll charge you to find grants that are just as easy for you to find yourself for free – the Grants Finder above can do just as good a job, and it’s completely free. Business.gov.au is a great place to start to find support. It offers business programmes and grants totalling around $2 billion each year for a range of industries. You can see a full list of their programmes on offer here. To help you out further, we’ve including some of the top federal business grants in Australia. While their focus is quite specific, it’s possible your business idea could fit into any of these categories, so take a look below.

Export Market Development Grant (EMDG)

The EMDG is targeted at small and medium-sized businesses involved in exporting their products. Naturally, there are some guidelines to make you eligible, including having spent over $20,000 in the last two years on export costs. But if you meet the criteria, the benefits are well worth the application efforts. A wide range of industries are eligible for the grant, including inbound tourism, and exporting intellectual property. So it’s worthwhile seeing if your business applies. For more information, visit the AusTrade website.

Research & Development Tax Incentive

This tax incentive doesn’t sound like much but it’s an invaluable grant if you can secure it, especially if you have a risky business idea. The Australian Tax Office is in charge of this benefit. And as you’re probably well aware, the ATO likes its paperwork. Expect to spend a fair amount of time ensuring you cover as many of the eligibility tests as possible to increase your chances of securing the grant. The R&D tax incentive offers refundable and non-refundable tax offsets of up to 45% and is open to small businesses and big businesses alike.

Certain Inputs to Manufacture

Although the title is a bit confusing, this is actually a wonderful grant aimed at providing assistance to the manufacturing industry. This scheme aims to give import duty concessions on raw materials and intermediate goods. Your business undertakes a technical assessment to prove that you’re importing good quality products that are better than those produced in Australia. You can find more information on this scheme here.

Automotive Transformation Scheme

If you’re looking to get into the automotive industry, this is the grant for you: it’s set to run until 2017, so you’ve got plenty of time to get prepared. The scheme helps businesses that both directly make cars and are indirectly involved in making cars (such as component makers). It’s well worth applying: you may have access to up to $2 billion worth of assistance. For more information, check out the Australian Department of Industry website. The opportunities for business grants are endless, read more about how to secure yourself a grant here. You need only look online to see that there are plentiful chances out there to make your business owning venture come alive today. Want to own your own business? Check out the businesses listed on AnyBusiness.

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Curtis is a leading expert in the business-for-sale industry, serving as a senior content creator at anybusiness.com.au.

With a career spanning over fifteen years, Curtis has accumulated extensive knowledge in the domain of business sales, acquisitions, and valuations. His deep understanding of market dynamics and his ability to translate complex industry jargon into accessible insights make him a trusted resource for entrepreneurs and business owners looking to buy or sell businesses.

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