Grants help avoid cash burn when you’re starting out
Posted 7 years ago
When you’re just starting a new business, especially one that involves a disruptive or transformational technology, access to reliable, expert professional advice and support is critical, because you could otherwise burn cash chasing the wrong market, the wrong supply chain, or the wrong partners.
But diverting precious resources away from product development to pay for professional advisors is a tough decision.
It’s a challenging position even for established businesses that know they need up-front investment to develop new ideas if they’re going to stay competitive, but don’t know how to package their ideas or where to look for backing.
Recognising this dilemma for small, start-up and micro businesses, various Australian government departments (both federal and state) have programs just for funding this kind of business support.
The Impact Innovation team has helped hundreds of such enterprises work out what they need to do to optimise the launch success and market growth of ideas-driven businesses.
Some of our clients are acquitting grants they’ve already received from such schemes as the Queensland Government’s Accelerate Small Business grants and AusIndustry’s Accelerating Commercialisation support.
The Queensland Government has just opened another round of its Small Business Entrepreneur Grants, offering up to $5,000 (matched by participants) to help small businesses engage a consultant, advisor or business coach of their own choice for three months (applications close 21 November 2017).
If you apply for one of these grants with Impact Innovation as your advisor of choice, here’s what you could achieve in three months:
- Clarity about your venture’s potential before investing more time, effort, money and passion.
- Understanding of what you can do to de-risk the technology so it’s more appealing to investors and/or customers.
- Connections to other experts or services to could help you accelerate your plans, like prototype designers and trade mark attorneys.
- Confidence to make the best decisions after talking to an Impact Innovation advisor with experience in the same market where your idea or invention could change the game.
For example, we’ll help you:
- Work out how best to test the feasibility of your innovation, technically and with your target market.
- Analyse your competitors and collaborators.
- Articulate your value proposition.
- Identify the right investment sources to fund your business and your idea’s development.
- Develop a flexible and workable business model.
- Prepare a powerful pitch.
Imagine what a difference $10,000 worth of professional, specialist innovation and commercialisation services could make to your new venture!
Applications close on at 5 pm on 21 November 2017, so contact us now on 3041 1128 to get the formal quote/proposal you’ll need to include with your grant application. Check out these services to start your advisory planning.
And if you’d like help with preparing the submission, view the presentations about grant writing on our YouTube channel.
– Brian Ruddle, Impact Innovation Group Managing Director