The county of Kent prides itself on offering a plethora of grants to help small and medium businesses. Yet, if you are to qualify for research and development business grants in Kent, you must go through the proper procedure, as outlined by the Selective Finance for Investment in England (SFIE) program. First, what you propose to do must pass their appraisal criteria.
The grant process requires that whatever it is you are looking to do must have a wider application than just improving you business. Next, there is the issue of intellectual property and patents. You must own the ideas you propose to develop. Then there is the issue of management. Coming up with a great idea is one thing, but having the skills to implement it and carry it forward are quite another. So, for you to get a grant, you must be able to demonstrate that you have the project team abilities to make use of your development. Next is the viability of your idea. For a grant to be made, your idea must make economic sense. The greatest ideas in the world, if they can not make money, are not going to be likely to get business grants in Kent, or anywhere else for that matter. Going along with that are the commercial potential, and the marketability of your idea. Here again, it goes back to the question of just what you are trying to come up with. A great idea that has no market is not really all that great an idea. You could come up with a sensational formula for broccoli flavored chewing gum but who in the world is going to want to buy it? So, do your homework well. Do your market research on your product and your target audience. If you have a strong business plan which offers a realistic appraisal of the business- prospects, you are far more likely to secure business grants in Kent.
In any business venture, there is always risk. So, another factor considered in business grants in Kent is the technical risks associated with your project and the research and development challenges to be overcome. If you are looking at stem cell research to treat Parkinson’s disease, there is huge potential, but also great challenges.
Then there is the application process for business grants in Kent. First of all, you will need to submit a summary of what sort of research project you are proposing to do. This is called a pre-application submittal. By doing this you can establish whether or not you meet the criteria for a grant. After that, you make a full application. A variety of websites have the application form. You fill that out along with the financial appendices; yet another form you download off a website. Then you have to submit full technical specifications on the research you want to carry out, and how you plan to develop the results. As these grants are for businesses, you also need to create a business plan to outline the economic viability of your project. Then there is the question of how well your company is doing financially. You will also have to submit a listing of your financial accounts for the previous two years, and then what sort of funding you currently have in place for the research and what funding you propose to line up for it.
All of this may seem like a lot, but once you meet all of the criteria, getting one of the business grants in Kent for your research is entirely possible. So, if you have a great idea, and feel it has the potential to give your company a real boost, see about applying for a grant.
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Business Grants Available in Kent
December 20th, 2009Business Grants in the UK Available to Overseas Businesses
December 18th, 2009Many people – in companies all over the world in fact – face the problem of trying to start a business. It is a classic dilemma: you have an idea to make money, but you need money in order to start the business. It’s a classic “Catch-22″ scenario. So, that is where a government business grant can come into play. As it happens, the United Kingdom is one of the very best places on Earth to either start or expand a small company. They offer business grants to native UK residents but also people relocating their businesses in the UK for overseas, so you can get in on the act too!
The good news about business grants from the government is that there are lots of them out there. The bad news: you have to seek them out and apply; they do not come looking for you. There are close to two dozen different business grants in the UK. So, let’s look at just a few of them. First, there’s the direct grant, where a program will give you some funds to pay part of the costs for training, product development etc. Now, that’s a key point: part of the costs. It’s rare for a grant to completely cover the costs of some aspect of your business, but it will at least cover a portion.
Then there are grants that are much like a small business loan. The difference is, if your business fails, you do not have to repay the money. And then there are real business loans; they are called soft loans because the terms and conditions are very generous. The interest rate is usually quite low, some are even interest free. Next, you can get what is known as equity financing. With this type of grant, you don’t pay the grantor back in cash, but in shares in your company. In this case, the grantor looks at your business as an investment; they believe you have the potential to grow your company into something profitable, and that will mean that the shares they own will increase in value.
Sometimes, business grants in the UK aren’t about money at all; they have to do with skills. After all, many new businesses often lack knowledge or skills in a particular area: marketing, promotions etc. So, some grant programs have come to recognize this, and they offer free (or greatly reduced) advice on those critical subjects. Then there’s the issue of resources. For some small business owners, it’s not that they don’t know what they’re doing; it’s that they don’t have the physical materials or maybe a factory / store to develop their product or service. So, some grants are made of up raw materials, office equipment etc. Going hand in hand with this type of grant is the transfer of technology. Very often, new and innovative inventions or processes are created by large corporations or government labs. In the U. S. , NASA was responsible for incredible breakthroughs in fuel cells, computers etc. So, sometimes large corporations or governments will share these new developments with some small companies as a means of both helping they to get started, and to disseminate the technology.
Then there is the issue of not new technology, but merely the best way of doing something. As an example, a dozen people will have a different way of laying bricks. Yet, one of them might do it the best and most efficient way. Over time, that way will become the industry standard. This is also known as “Best Practices”, and some companies will share these with start-up firms to help them operate in the most efficient means possible.
