As outlined in last weeks’ post on funding options to grow your small business government grants can be an attractive path. The downside is the paperwork to not only apply, but also claim the funds during or after the project or activity is complete.

There are often infrastructure grants to help businesses expand their capacity and sales reach. There may also be start-up grants, some related to export, and research and development (R&D) grants so it’s worth investing some time seeing what is available. Set a reminder in your calendar to check these sites every three months.

Federal government grants in Australia

Here are three great sites to help you quickly see what the Federal government has on offer to help you fund your small business growth:

• GrantConnect: a website listing all Federal Government grants
• GrantGuru: a subscription site that lists both private and government grants
• Business.gov.au: listing most government grants in Australia

State government grants in Australia

Here is a list of the State government grants by State in Australia:

• Australian Capital Territory State government grants
• New South Wales  State government grants
• Northern Territory  State government grants
• Queensland  State government grants
• South Australia  State government grants
• Tasmania  State government grants
• Victoria State government grants  
• Western Australia  State government grants

Export grants in Australia

The Export Market Development Grant (EMDG) has been around for decades, is pretty easy to secure and great support if you are serious about selling outside Australia. Here is a brief summary of this grant:

• it is there to encourage small and medium-sized Australian businesses to develop export markets;
• income must be less than $50m a year;
• will reimburse up to 50% of eligible export promotion expenses above $5,000 (provided the total expenses are at least $15,000);
• the maximum grant you can receive in any financial year is $150,000 (that is, paid to you by the government); and
• provides up to eight grants to each eligible applicant (which means you can use the EMDG for eight financial years).

The business must have promoted one of the following:

1. the export of goods or most services;
2. inbound tourism;
3. the export of intellectual property and know-how; or
4. conferences and events held in Australia.

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