Big Grants to Help Small Businesses Recover
From the 1st of July 2020, the New South Wales Government is taking grant applications from small businesses to help cover the costs of getting our extremely important small business sector back on track.
The program is easy to apply for, and covers a variety of areas including marketing, communications, advertising and digital solutions, to the tune of up to $3000 each. This is fantastic news for NSW small business owners, especially if you’ve not yet carved out your space in the online market and are looking to make the jump.
Our new socially distanced world has presented us with some new challenges, especially in the retail sphere. With less people frequenting physical retail spaces, it’s now more important than ever to create a strong E-commerce platform to continue providing your loyal customers alternative ways to continue their patronage to your business. Support for small and regional Australian businesses is a high priority for many Australian shoppers, and being able to fulfil orders no matter what’s happening in the physical environment may just be the difference between making it through this challenging period, or not. Often the key to getting a business through tough times is the ability to be flexible, and a strong digital presence allows you to cover many bases at once.
Flexibility is key
For businesses who are already treading the waters of E-commerce, assistance with marketing can provide the extra spark to get those enquiries rolling in, and more importantly, converting into sales. In a rapidly changing economic environment, traditional methods of advertising may just not quite cut it anymore as our media consumption habits and spending habits change. Investing in some quality marketing, targeted digital marketing or social media management for your business can open the doors to entirely new audiences and potential customers.
In this period of heightened awareness, people are relying on the internet heavily to research and plan their movements and purchases. Google and other search engines are being utilised heavily as consumers seek out information on their surroundings before leaving home. Are you still trading, do you have COVID Safe policies in place? Do your clients know that your operating hours have slightly changed? Ensuring that your business name and up to date information appears high in people’s search results is extremely important in the modern business market, and something a professional Digital Marketing team is able to assist you with. Our skilled team of experts can optimise your website to make sure you don’t miss any of those search hits, and in turn making sure that all of your customers are kept updated on your operations.
Stay Small, Think Big
The current situation is actually a great time for small businesses to rethink and rebrand their operations. If you’re operating a small to medium business and have want to rebrand or expand your digital presence, then this could be your perfect opportunity. Many small businesses find it difficult to make the switch to E-commerce, and have instead relied heavily on physical retail, local word of mouth and social media to bring sales in the door. The problem is that now with reduced point of sale retail spending, traditionally reliable revenue sources are rapidly changing.
You don’t need to be a big business, to be an online business. Many small retail traders are finding fantastic support for their goods online. Moving into e-commerce allows you to dramatically increase the amount of people who see your products, while staying as big or small as you like. There’s multiple networks like Buy From the Bush and Buy Australian Made that are proving just how big the demand for Australian products is in 2020. Smart marketing and branding will make sure that your identity always shines through and never gets lost in the crowd.
What About Not For Profit Organisations?
All of the above points can also be applied to non profit organisations. It’s just as important for our key service provider agencies to be able to accurately and quickly communicate information to the community, even if they don’t have large media budgets or web teams. If you’re a small non profit organisation that is struggling to make the changes necessary to digitally adapt during this time, this could be a great opportunity to invest in upgrading your organisation’s web presence and communications now, and into the future.
How Do I Know If I Qualify?
The grant is available for small businesses and not for profit organisations based in New South Wales, who employ less than 20 full time staff. For more information about the eligibility criteria, check the Service NSW website. You can also apply for the grant directly to the website fairly quickly.
It’s encouraging to see backing from governments and communities to help support our local small businesses through this transition period, and we look forward to helping you pave your way into the digital future.