They say lightning never strikes the same place twice.

Well here we are –  the rare opportunity that allows you to re-invent part of your business and have someone else pay for it is here again.

The Queensland Government has announced up to $100 million for Round 2 of the Small Business Covid-19 Adaptation Grant to help small businesses [with payroll under $1.3 million] that have been subject to closure or highly impacted by the recent shutdown restrictions.

Round 2 will open on 1 July 2020.

What has changed since Round 1?

  • Funding will be equally split between regional & South East Queensland
  • Employee headcount of 20 does not include owners
  • Ability for new businesses to provide details of how they would meet the required turnover
  • Grant funds can be used towards eligible activities that have occurred from 23 March 2020 onwards

The grant aims to help small and micro businesses to:

  • prepare for the safe resumption of trading in the post COVID-19 recovery
  • continue to meet operating costs
  • access digital technologies to rebuild business operations and transition to a new way of doing business
  • respond to online opportunities, where possible, to sustain employment and maintain potential for longer-term growth
  • upskill and reskill business owners and staff to benefit from new technologies or business models
  • embrace business diversification to adapt and sustain operations
  • create or retain employment.

The available grant amount is up to a maximum of $10,000 per eligible small or micro business which can be used to fund the following types of services:

  • financial, legal or other professional advice to support business sustainability and diversification
  • strategic planning, financial counselling or business coaching aligned to business development and diversification
  • building the business through marketing and communications activities such as content development [web pages, mobile apps, visual and audio media]
  • digital/technological strategy development
  • digital training or re-training to adapt to new business models
  • capital costs associated with meeting COVID-19 SAFE requirements

Am I eligible to apply?  

Basic eligibility requires you to employ fewer than 20 people and have a turnover in excess of $75,000.

Other eligibility requirements include:

  1. your business has been subject to closure or otherwise highly impacted by current shutdown restrictions announced by Queensland’s Chief Health Officer on 23 March 2020
  2. demonstrate you have experienced a minimum 30% decline since 23 March 2020, over a minimum 1-month period due to the onset and management of COVID-19
  3. employ staff and have fewer than 20 employees at the time of applying for the grant (employees must be on your payroll and does not include the business owner/s)
  4. have a valid Australian Business Number (ABN) active as at 23 March 2020
  5. be registered for GST
  6. have a Queensland headquarters
  7. have an annual turnover over $75,000 for the 2018–19 or 2019–20 financial year, or you can provide financial records that show this will be met for recently started small businesses
  8. have a payroll of less than $1.3 million
  9. not be insolvent or have owners/directors that are an undischarged bankrupt.

Only one application will be accepted from an individual ABN or a financial beneficiary of a business.

Successful applicants from round 1 of this program cannot apply for funding under round 2. However, if you have submitted a round 1 application but haven’t heard back yet, you are eligible to apply for round 2.

What could you do with it? 

It is great to see the Queensland Government target support like this to the small and micro end of town.  Here are some ideas of things you could potentially do with the money:

  1. Strategic workshop with a focus on business model transformation
  2. Brand advice, workshop and refresh exercise
  3. Cash flow planning and financial projections including sensitivity analysis and scenario planning
  4. Put in place one-page strategic planning and get coaching and mentoring to support with implementation and execution
  5. Employee engagement workshop and planning to create a point of difference
  6. Marketing strategy advice and workshopping
  7. PR campaign and lead generation activities
  8. Continuity planning and risk mitigation planning with all your business advisors together in the one place [legal, financial, tax, HR, marketing and so forth]
  9. Review your tech stack and put in place a technology roadmap
  10. Implement software changes like a new system or moving to the cloud
  11. Update and implement a newly revised management reporting system and dashboard to monitor performance and keep your finger on the pulse
  12. Customer centricity workshop
  13. Market and customer research
  14. Undertake a sprint with a new product, service or app idea
  15. Get the training you need in your business from leadership to financial acumen, employee engagement and data mining
  16. Video marketing campaign
  17. Undertake a ‘growth ready’ review to lay down solid plans for the future
  18. Undertake an indicative valuation of your business and more importantly discuss and identify the drivers of value in your business not and in the future
  19. Devise and put in place a flexi-working and/or remote working plan
  20. Process mapping exercise with an emphasis on automating more and more of your processes

Round 2 Applications open on 1 July 2020.

Don’t delay – it is highly likely this grant will be oversubscribed like the first round.

For more information or to apply yourself directly, visit the Small Business COVID-19 Adaption Grant Program page.

Need help? 

If you think this grant can help you but you’re not sure where to start with the application, then contact us now for assistance.

We would love to hear how we can help your business ‘rebound’ and can assist with any of the above services.

Email us now at concierge@businessdepot.com.au or give us a call on 1300 BDEPOT and ask us about our business services.