Queensland Small Business Entrepreneur Grants Program

Are you a Queensland based small business looking to engage a consultant, advisor or business coach to help establish or grow your business? Then the Small Business Entrepreneur Grants Program may be for you.

What is it?

The Small Business Entrepreneur Grants Program provides new small businesses access to professional advice and support in the critical early stages of establishing a business.

Available funding

Matched funding of up to $5,000 (excluding GST) may be provided to eligible businesses to engage a consultant, advisor, or business coach to help establish or develop the business. The advice must fall under 1 or more of the following areas:

professional business, tax, computing, legal or financial (accounting) advice
mentoring/coaching
business and strategic planning
market research and marketing strategies, including branding strategies and social media/digital strategies.

Payment will be made directly to the business on completion of the project and on presentation of proof of payment for the service. The value of the grant payment will be increased to compensate for any GST.

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible the business must:

have a business name registered within the last 4 years
have fewer than 20 employees at the time of applying for the grant
have an Australian Business Number (ABN) and be registered for GST
be based in Queensland
declare if any owners or directors of the business are an undischarged bankrupt or insolvent.

The participating business must provide a project report on completion of the project detailing how the funds were spent and the impact it has had on the business.

Only 1 application per year will be accepted from an individual ABN or business address.

What we won’t fund

The grant is specifically aimed at funding businesses to engage a consultant, advisor, or business coach. We will not fund the following activities:

fees for services provided by related parties (such as companies with common shareholdings or directorship with the applicant, and employees or immediate family of the applicant)
franchise fees or related costs
direct-selling businesses – where sales of another business’s goods or services are made in the customer’s home, work or other meeting place through methods such as party plan
purchase of assets, such as stock
salaries
general business operating costs (including bookkeeping/accounting and tax returns)
search engine optimisation (SEO), Google AdWords, Facebook advertising or similar expenses
retrospective payments for expenses already incurred or work already undertaken
subscriptions, including cloud (software) services.

Important dates

Round 1 opens on 3 February 2017 and closes 3 March 2017.

Further rounds will open in July and December 2017.

Businesses will be surveyed 12 months after the completion of the project.

Guidelines

Before applying, read the Small Business Entrepreneur Grants Program Application Guidelines.

How to apply

Online applications will open on 3 February 2017.

When applying, refer to the:

Apply Now

How you will be assessed

All applications will be assessed against eligibility criteria. Further assessment will include:

the extent to which the service will support establishment and development of the business
the extent to which the service will enhance the owner’s skills and abilities
potential business improvements
value for money.