The Queensland government has announced another $25 million in grants for small business as part of its ‘Queensland Small Business Month’. The new grants are aimed at assisting more businesses to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and pursue opportunities to grow and employ more people in the state.
The three (3) new grants that have been announced include:
- Business Basics
- Business Boost
- Business Growth Fund
Detailed grant guidelines are currently only available for the Business Growth Fund, which will be the first of the three (3) grants to open on 11 May 2021. We shall provide additional information for the Business Basics Grant and Business Boost Grant when the guidelines are released closer to their application open dates.
A brief summary of each of the new grants is outlined below.
Business Basics Grant – New & Emerging Businesses
This grant is designed to assist new and emerging businesses to increase core capabilities and adopt current best practice.
| Amount | Up to $5,000 |
| To be spent on
|
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| Guidelines/FAQs available | 17 May 2021 |
| Applications open | 31 May 2021 |
Business Boost Grant – Established Businesses
This grant is designed to assist established small businesses to help them improve their efficiency and productivity.
| Amount | Up to $15,000 |
| To be spent on | Organisational development and upgrades through automated software and customer reference management (CRM) systems |
| Guidelines/FAQs available | Mid July 2021 |
| Applications open | Late July 2021 |
Business Growth Fund Grant – Evolving & Fast Growing Businesses
This grant is designed to assist evolving and fast growing small to medium sized businesses to seize and accelerate growth opportunities.
| Amount | Up to $50,000 Note: 25% co-contribution required |
| To be spent on
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Highly specialised equipment including (but not limited to):
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| Guidelines/FAQs available | 1 May 2021 |
| Eligibility Tool available | 5 May 2021 |
| Applications open | 11 May 2021 |
Eligibility Criteria
- You must be an established small to medium-sized Queensland business who is financially sound and have the potential for high-growth within the next two (2) years.
- High-growth is defined as a 20% increase in productivity, turnover, profit and/or employment in the last 12 months.
- Your business must have the potential for high-growth within the next two (2) years. High-growth is generally considered to be a 20% increase in turnover or employment.
- Your business must have:
- A business plan in place
- Capacity to access finance to fund the growth of your business
- A clearly defined opportunity and plan for growth
- Demonstrated how the project (i.e. implementation of specialised equipment) will help your business to achieve these goals.
Application Process
Funding is awarded through a competitive assessment process with three (3) stages:
- Complete a Mentoring for Growth (M4G) session specific to your application. You will then be offered details to apply for the grant.
- Complete a full application for competitive shortlisting assessment.
- If your application is shortlisted, you will be invited to pitch to business experts and department executives.
Following the pitch, recommendations are made to the department financial delegate who will approve funding allocations.
Refer to the application guidelines for a comprehensive overview of each stage of the application process.
Visit the Queensland Government website for more information about this particular grant.
Further Assistance
Contact our office for assistance with the submission of grant applications.
Visit the Queensland Government website for more information about the new grants.
