SWEF Enterprise Grants

This is a fantastic opportunity to help young people from across Greater Lincolnshire, aged between 18-30, to set up or extend their business ideas.

AGED 18-30 & HAVE RECENTLY STARTED A BUSINESS?

Apply for a Business Grant of up to £2,000 to Grow Your Own Business
If you are struggling to invest in your business venture, we may be able to help.

Who can apply?

You can only apply if you:

• are aged 18 to 30
• currently live in Greater Lincolnshire
• want to start your own business and know what products or services you want to provide or have been trading for under 2 years.
• Must have a business bank account or be in the process of setting up a business bank account

If you meet the above criteria, we would like to hear from you, regardless of your background or how well you did in education.

How much can you apply for?

If you meet the criteria, applications can be made for grants up to the value of £2,000.

What can be funded?

• Equipment that will help a business bring in a second revenue stream
• Equipment that will help a business increase production where there is proven demand.
• Materials/stock for a new product line
• Prototypes
• Website/booking system build
• Training
• Product development

What cannot be funded?

• Salaries
• Debt repayment
• Rent and utilities
• Stock for an existing product line
• Ongoing software subscriptions

Please note that SWEF does not provide grant funding for new computers, tablets and phones.  On a match funded basis, SWEF will consider applications for refurbished technology.  However, in order for this to be considered, you will need to:

• Explain why the laptop, tablet or phone will transform their business and
• Provide a link to the refurbished item with an explanation of why they need this piece of specific technology.

The most successful applicants may be those who:

• Request a specific amount in their application
• Provide a specific reason for their grant application
• Have committed time and resources to the business
• Have unsuccessfully tried to raise funds elsewhere

How do I apply?

Please complete the application form and send your business plan, 12 months sales forecast and 12-month cashflow forecast to claire@lincolnshirecf.co.uk where it will be saved alongside your application.

We may also invite you to an online meeting to tell us in more details about your business.  If this is the case, we will email you to arrange a date and time.

If I’m successful, what will happen next?

If you are awarded a grant, it will be paid directly to you by bank transfer, this will need to be paid to a business bank account, either in your business or sole trader name, if you are unable to provide this you will need to let us know why.

You MUST spend your grant within 1 year and provide feedback at 6 months and 12 months after you received the grant offer. We’ll tell you more about that if you are successful.

We may ask for further information, evidence to confirm the information within your application, or the contact details of a referee. A referee is a person who can tell us about your character or abilities and can confirm your circumstances. This might be a tutor, or someone who you have worked for. If we would like you to provide further information, evidence or a referee we will ask you.

What do you do with my application?

We’ll email you to confirm we have received your application once you have submitted your form online. If we have any further questions or need additional information a member of our Grants Team will be in touch within two weeks.

Lincolnshire Community Foundation and SWEF will then decide who to invite to a meeting to discuss their application further, and then to whom we’ll award grants, taking into consideration:

• whether or not you meet the criteria for the fund (rules)
• the plan for your business
• how a grant would help you to start that business and/or make it more successful.

We will let you know the outcome of your application within 2 months of the application being submitted to us.

If you have any questions, then please get in touch. It’s usually best to email on claire@lincolnshirecf.co.uk but you can also call on 01529 305825.

You can download a copy of these guidelines here