How To Get Business Support for Your Company
Business funding is an external financial option to encourage individuals to carry out their business idea or help grow a company in its early stages. Business owners have the choice to choose between several sources of financing. There are generally two main types of financing for existing businesses or newly launched start-ups: those from partners or shareholders, and those from external partners, such as organizations and banks.
Why is it beneficial to a business?
If you want to start your own business, you need some initial capital. The amount normally differs from business to business. Some companies need only a small amount of money to get started, while others need five or six figures of leverage from the beginning to get their business project off the ground properly.
In any case, a business needs to be able to have an accurate, long-term business financing plan. This will allow it to better assess and consider how much money is needed for each department. In general, the funds needed to set up a business can be made up of equity and debt capital.
What are the different business funding options and how to apply?
There are plenty of other ways to finance your company. Some business founders turn to friends and family to start their business or bank loans. These parties may be able to help financially by lending them a certain amount. We are aware that not everyone is lucky enough to borrow money from one’s private circle or bank conditions that is why we will be introducing all the different interesting options.
Our overview gives you some pointers to help you decide which option of funding might be suitable for your business. Our aim is to introduce you to most of the funding sources that exist, their main characteristics, and how to apply to them.
– Grants:
Grants are specifically helpful and attractive for starting a business. If you can successfully apply for this option, you receive not only business funds, but also long-term assistance to grow your business and the good news is that you don’t have to repay anything. Public support for businesses generally offers better offers in raising the money for your company than private sector credit and equity. The Prince’s trust foundation for example was able to support more than 125 000 business owners and 825 000 young people in achieving their dream.
To have the opportunity to benefit from small business grants, an application has to be made for each program. As is often the case, convincing arguments are needed to win the chance of benefiting from a grant. You present yourself and your team and explain why you need support.
Your chances are higher if you have a solid business plan from which you can adapt certain elements to the requirements of the application. A suitable offer is always a good opportunity to improve your company’s funding, so a successful application is always worth a try. The most common grants can be roughly divided into funding programs and competitions.
– Start-up loans:
A start-up loan is an unsecured personal loan that can help ensure the money you need to start your business company with low interest. It is a type of finance designed to help new businesses that have been trading for less than 24 months.
Start-up business loans enable budding entrepreneurs to pay for key requirements, such as funding the launch or early stages of their new company. The UK government offers an amount of £500 to £25 000 to any type of business, depending on the scale of money you need from the beginning to get your project up and running properly. Small businesses in Northern Ireland can benefit form the NI Small Business Loan Fund scheme which offers up to £100 000 funding. All you need to get this loan is to be eligible and follow the government’s guidelines to apply.
– Angel investors
Start-up mentors are called business angels or angel investors. These investors make financial ressources available which they can invest directly in the ongoing development and economic strength of the start-up. They also usually provide support and advice on the creation and/or expansion of the company.
In return, angel investors usually demand shares in the company. In many cases, they also acquire co-decision rights on the strategic direction of the start-up. The most important thing here is how the cooperation with the shareholders is structured and whether they share your ideas about the company.
The angel investors network brings together start-up entrepreneurs and sponsors who can match one of these characteristics:
· Former business owners or senior managers who have some assets and can invest between £5,000 and £200,000 per year,
· Business owners who have previously set up their own business and sold it a few years later. This allows them to invest amounts between £50,000 and £500,000,
· Group of investors like the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme which was launched by the government in order to encourage investors to finance startups by providing tax breaks for backing projects they may otherwise view as too risky,
– Research & Development tax credits
The United Kingdom has one of the most generous research and development (R&D) tax credit schemes in the world. This helps companies to save money on taxes by deducting funds spent on R&D. The policy is fairly generous, allowing a wide variety of businesses to pay lower taxes as a result of their research and development activities. The European Commission highlighted this framework for its broad eligibility criteria for tax credits.
Any company operating in any industry can qualify for this tax relief scheme, as long as it is creating something new or significantly enhancing an existing process, product, or service. All you need to get this business support is to be eligible and follow the government’s guidelines to apply.
How can Veritas Noble help you?
Receiving the appropriate business funding for your company is a crucial decision to make that will affect the day-to-day operations of your business as well as its future. At Veritas Noble we can do strategic thinking for you and walk you through all the available sources of funding that will benefit you and your business in the long run. Contact us now to learn more.
