Grant funding- it’s free money, right?
Anyone who has applied for grant funding knows that it's not a walk in the park. Firstly you have to navigate the funding landscape to find an opportunity that maximises the likelihood of success and secondly, the most rigorous part, you have to develop a successful application.
Often the resources and time required to apply for grant funding are underestimated because it's free money right? Unfortunately, nothing comes free and the most costly part of applying for grant funding is time.
Developing a comprehensive grant application can take up to 6-8 weeks and requires you to accumulate project outlines, robust financials, business case, market knowledge and technical capacities in one application to prove that you can complete the project within costs and timescales proposed.
There is also a requirement to be truly honest about your company and project. The single biggest mistake we see people making is trying to bluff through a weakness or risk in their proposal. Remember that grant funders are willing to fund risky projects, in fact, often the riskier the better as it goes a long way to demonstrating why more traditional funding sources aren’t keen to support, however, you need to show these risks and how you’ve mitigated them, rather than brushing over them.
Whilst time and resource-heavy, the process of applying for a grant is invaluable as it will instil the discipline that wider investment funders seek in companies. Ultimately if you are looking for any type of funding to scale your business or technology you will need the portfolio of information required for a grant in the same level of detail. It will provide you with the regime and tactics for approaching funding more broadly and help you understand where your information gaps are.
Using the aid of a consultancy to identify the right opportunities and develop your grant application can reduce the strain on your workload, whilst also offering a critical-friend not afraid to ask awkward questions about your plans, ultimately reinforcing your proposition and maximising your likelihood of success!
Looking to secure Grant Funding? Meet R&D funding expert Tom Kennard of Granted Consultancy and his team at the Business Funding Show '20 happening on Feb 20 and unlock non-dilutive funding for your innovation. Granted Consultancy' grant writing, project management, training and tax credit services are designed to help you focus on your business. Learn more and purchase tickets here: https://bit.ly/2UbJtge
Written by:
Granted Consultancy