Are you fatigued by the sight of the word “government funded” or “grant funding?”. Maybe you’ve tried a grant funding scheme once before and it didn’t quite work out...

With so many overlapping programmes and uncertainty as to which one of them is the best fit for you, we often see businesses giving up on the process altogether. In addition to that, the idea of being weighed down by a wedge of paperwork (on top of the mountain that you already have to deal with) can, unsurprisingly, be slightly off-putting. Working on so many different programs, along with taking part in several, we’re in a lucky position to be able to understand what these programmes are trying to accomplish. This involvement has helped us to understand the key obstacles for an SME becoming involved in these avenues of support and has also given us insight into the needs that companies may have without realising it outright.

Information overload

Information overload can be frustrating, and when you’re being offered so much information by Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), growth hubs, councils, colleges and universities left, right and centre - it can often be a case of too much information, too soon! It can be really difficult to identify what’s going to be relevant and what you’re going to be eligible for.

And it’s this choice paralysis among other obstacles that can lead you to missing out on help that’s going to give the support that your business might need to take it to the next level. More often than not you’ll find that you’re eligible to benefit from multiple programmes, and it’s just a case of asking yourself which one is going to benefit me the most, right now?

“It’s too much extra paperwork for not much ROI”

We won’t lie to you, there is usually a fair amount of paperwork involved with funded programmes, and things do need to be evidenced at different stages of the process (depending on the scheme), to ensure that the investment that the public sector is offering is really making a difference. But we’ve found out ourselves that in almost every project, scheme or offering, there is support at hand to help you through the process.

What’s important to know is that these public-sector companies (and us in the private sector) are all working towards the exact same thing. We all want to make more money, we want to invest in our people, grow our organisations, and put money back into the UK economy. Regardless of where you’re at, we’re all in this for the long haul.

Our Journey

As a start-up born in an incubator at Leeds University 12 years ago, we understand the trials and tribulations of growing and maintaining a business. So much so that our managing director, Faresh Maisuria, is now proud to assist Leeds Business School as an Entrepreneur in residence, using his expertise to help other potential start-ups and businesses understand the process, and how to overcome setbacks.

Based on the myriad of programmes we’ve been involved with, we feel we’re at a position now to be able to point businesses in the right direction for relevant growth initiatives so don’t hesitate to drop us an email, give us a quick call, or pop into our South Parade office for a brew. And if you’re really at your wits end, don’t worry… there’s a gin bar in our building too!

Also written by Kate