IS YOUR BUSINESS GRANT FUNDING READY?
The questions you will need to consider will vary depending on the type of grant, the amount of grant funding you are seeking, and the awarding body. For example, whilst grants from Local Authorities/LEP’s may be less onerous to apply for and direct (i.e., un-competed) awards, they are usually for smaller amounts of funding, unlike, for example, some of the larger, but highly competitive Innovate UK grant calls, for which we have listed below some the questions you would need to be prepared to robustly answer or evidence in your grant application/bid.
Business Opportunity – What drives the innovation and market need?
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) – Has this been considered in your project plans?’
Innovation – What is innovative / novel about your solution?
Market – Which market will your solution solve and how will you target this?
Exploitation -How will you commercialise the solution and within what timescale?
Benefits – how will your solution provide wider economic, social and environmental benefits?
Project Plan – How will you manage the project and turn your idea into reality?
Team & Resources – Do you have a well balanced and experienced team to deliver the solution within the given timeframe?
Risks – What are the main project risks – technical, commercial, managerial, environmental?
Finances – Does the project represent good value for money and are your costs reasonable and fully justified?
Need for Funding – What other funding sources have been tried and why is public money necessary?