As a small business owner in Victoria, you will need adequate working capital to attend to operational overheads. They will include things like paying your workers, purchasing and replacing equipment, marketing your business, paying taxes and insurance, paying suppliers, and servicing your debts, among others.
So, without access to enough working capital, your business will struggle to meet its financial obligations. Fortunately, there are several business support programs and grants, designed to provide financial assistance to small businesses in Victoria.
In this guide, we will explore some of the available business support funding in Victoria, which you can apply, to help your business meet its financial obligations and continue growing. With that said, let’s jump straight in.
Restart Program
The Restart Program is more of a financial incentive, designed to encourage businesses in Victoria to hire and retain employees who are 50 years and above. So, if you have a business in Victoria and you hire employees who are 50 years and above, you may qualify for a wage subsidy of around $10,000.
Payments for this wage subsidy program will be paid to businesses by employment services providers for six months. If you qualify for this business support fund Victoria, you are at liberty to negotiate how often you want to be receiving these payments. For instance, you can opt to be receiving these payments per week or every fortnight.
Jobs Victoria Fund
The Jobs Victoria Fund is a wage subsidy program, designed to assist small businesses in Victoria, to employ people who were laid out or lost their businesses due to the pandemic. You can use this fund to hire new employees or increase the current number of working hours for your current employees.
So, if you have a small business in Victoria and you are ready to increase the hours of your current team or you wish to hire new employees, the Business Support Fund Victoria can provide you with the financial assistance needed.
If you are eligible for the business support fund Victoria, you can get financial assistance of up to $20,000 to meet the costs of hiring a worker for 12 months. To qualify for this program, the job on offer should be running for a minimum of 19 hours weekly. Also, you will be required to employ at least someone from the highlighted priority groups, which were affected most by the pandemic.
Small-Scale and Craft Program
Currently, in its third iteration, the Small Scale and Craft Program is designed to support small businesses in Victoria and help them upscale, venture into new markets and enjoy overall growth. This business support Fund Victoria is also meant to help businesses adopt new technology, scale up operations and enhance access for tourism.
If you qualify for this grant, you can use it to purchase new equipment or install necessary business infrastructure like marketing signage, expand your business into new markets, adopt technology to accelerate the growth of your business, or invest in product diversification. Also, if you are in agribusiness, you can use this grant to develop and update farmgate sites or outlets for tourism.
It is critical that you study the program guidelines and eligibility criteria before submitting your application. Once you have submitted the necessary documentation, you will then receive further communication on whether your application has been accepted generally after around 8 to 12 weeks from its closing date.
Solar for Business Program
The Solar for Business Program is yet another business support funding in Victoria, meant to support small businesses in the area to lower their energy costs. It’s mainly designed for businesses that are ready to install solar power on their premises.
According to this program, qualifying businesses will enjoy lower installation costs for a system with a maximum inverter capacity of 30kW. This grant comes in the form of solar power rebates.
The offered rebates will cover approximately 50% of the cost of installing a rooftop solar system. Every eligible business will get a maximum rebate of around $3,500. To qualify for this rebate, you must be the owner of a small business in Victoria, employing at least one person beside the owner.
Also, you should be operating your business from non-residential premises. Also, the premises you are operating your business from should be individually metered. Furthermore, you should not have received this rebate previously.
There’s also the option of getting an interest-free loan for eligible business. The loan amount you can receive will depend on the quote you provide for the solar system. Loans offered range between $1,000 and $5,000, repayable over 12 to 24 months.
Grants for Women in Business
The Victorian government is focused on encouraging more women in the state to start and run their own businesses. And, it has launched several financial programs and schemes directed to this goal. The Boosting Female Founders Initiative is one of such programs. This business support fund Victoria for women is planned to run through 2023.
It’s designed to help female-founded business to expand their operations, both locally and internationally. Another program is the Victorian Women’s Trust. It also provides ongoing financial support for women entrepreneurs. This program has been running for more than 35 years.
New Business Assistance with NEIS
As its name suggests, the New Business Assistance is designed for Victoria residents looking to start a business. Launched on 1st July in partnership with the New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS), this business support fund victoria will help you to start, develop and grow your small business.
It will provide you with small business training, help create an effective business plan, NEIS allowance that runs for up to 39 weeks as well as NEIS rental assistance that runs for 26 weeks for those who are eligible.
It’s worth mentioning that this business support fund Victoria is only available to residents of Norfolk Island. You will need to contact your local NEIS providers to get this fund. The provider will then assess your eligibility. From there, they will guide you on how to apply, if you are eligible.
Contact Us Today
As you can see, there are several financial assistance programs that you can take advantage of, if you are a small business owner. However, the number of applicants at any given time will be high. Furthermore, you need to ensure you fill the paperwork properly, to be considered for these financial programs. Hence, to increase your chances of success, you should seek the assistance of professionals, who specialize in offering such services. And, we are the right team for the job. If you are looking to apply for business financial support in Victoria, you should contact us today so we can discuss how to get started.
