Business Gateway grants explained
Business Gateway grants – what are they? You may have come across them if you’re a Scottish business and wondered how they can help you. If you own your own business, grant funding can be a great boost. If you haven’t considered bidding for funding opportunities before, you should. This blog will unpack what Business Gateway grants are and how they can help you.
So, let’s start off with the basics…
What is a business grant?
A business grant is a sum of money given to a business to contribute towards expenses. They can also be given for a specific project. They don’t need to be repaid to the funder that awards them it. Some grants will require you to meet certain conditions or objectives to be awarded funding. If you break these or do not meet them, you may be required to repay them.
Who gives out Business Gateway grants?
Business grants are usually distributed by governments, corporations, trusts or foundations. In this case, Business Gateway awards grants to businesses.
How much can be awarded?
The sum of Business Gateway grants can vary. They usually only cover part of the total costs involved. So, you will likely need to provide match funding alongside any business grant you receive. This can be a pre-requisite for some grants, so it’s worth bearing that in mind.
Who is eligible for Business Gateway grants?
Business Gateway grants are awarded to help Scottish businesses. They also provide a wide range of services and support for Scottish businesses. Business Gateway can also point various businesses in the right direction for additional funding or grant programmes.
What do I need to show when applying for Business Gateway grants?
When applying, you’ll be expected to show:
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How you intend to use the money
Funders will obviously want to see how you intend to use their money. They also want to be assured that their money is in safe hands. Therefore, you’ll need to demonstrate a sound methodology for money management and use. Including past projects where you handled the cash flow will demonstrate your capabilities.
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What benefits your project/business will deliver
Many grants will award funds on the condition that you meet certain objectives or benefit the community in some way. You should outline why this funding is needed for your business and the benefits that will come from this.
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A detailed business plan
Any funder awarding your Business Gateway grants will expect a detailed business plan. A business plan for funding should include the following:
- An executive summary
This should cover the essential core information about your business. Explain the history of the business. When did it start trading and what progress has it made? What is the current ownership structure? Describe your product/service, what benefits does it offer? What changes and improvements are you planning?
- Market and competition
What sets your business apart from your competitors and what’s your key demographic? Detailing market share insights within your business plan can be a good way to demonstrate this. The current trends and changing tastes of your customers are important to detail. Who are your competitors and what’s their advantages/disadvantages compared to you?
- Sales and marketing strategy
The questions you should answer in this section for your business plan for Business Gateway grants are: Where do you position your service/product in the market? What’s your pricing policy? How do you promote your product or service? How do you sell your product or service? What sales channels do you use to reach your target audience?
- Description of your team and management structure
Funders care about the people behind the scenes and the general management structure. Including an overview of your team will enable them to get a better feel for your company. Including relevant skills, credentials and qualifications will strengthen your bid. Putting faces to names can also help. Including friendly and professional photos of your team members can be a nice touch.
Analyse the workforce in terms of total numbers and by the department. Be realistic about the commitment and motivation of your workforce. Useful figures to include here would be sales, employee retention and measures of productivity.
- Business operations
Looking at the efficiency and capacity of your operations and any planned improvements are always good to include. What management information systems do you have in place and are your IT systems reliable? These are the type of questions you should detail in your Business Gateway grants application. Moreover, you should note the quality/regulatory standards that your business conforms to. For example, ISO 9001 and so on.
- Financial forecasts
Set out your past financial information from the last three to five years if possible. You will also need to provide the forecasts for the next three-plus years. It may be a good idea to include your financial forecasts in an appendix. Use the cash flow forecast to predict any financing requirements.
- SWOT analysis
A SWOT analysis will never go a miss. Set out a one-page analysis of your business strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and strengths. You should be honest in this section as if you lie and then underperform a funder will question your legitimacy.
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Full costings
When applying for funding you should realistically evaluate the full costings of your business or project. You should detail the financial controls and safeguards you have in place. Moreover, you should include the level of financial knowledge and skills within your business when applying for Business Gateway grants.
Realistically evaluating the full costings is key here. You should be asking or apply for a realistic amount. You should not be accounting for 10 of the latest Apple Macs when another cheaper model will suffice. A funder may think you are taking advantage of the funds available.
So, now you know a bit more about Business Gateway grants. Hopefully, you can keep this in mind and see increased success in your applications. If at first you don’t succeed, don’t be disheartened. It can be highly competitive securing business funding. This is when you could consider outsourcing your grant funding application to a grant writing service. Here at Discover Grants, we’re grant writing specialists that can help you see increased success in your grant applications.
Our Services
Our Grant Writing Service is for businesses who want to start applying for grants, but don’t know where to begin. If you don’t have the resources or the time in-house to write a winning grant – we can help.
Our Grant Writing Consultants have over 60 years of experience in bidding for funding and grants. From grants for charities, start-up business grants and council business grants. They can take care of the whole thing for you – they’ll even submit it on your behalf.
Get in touch to find out how we can help your business grow!
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