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Avenues for startup grants

May 09 2011

Dan Callaghan, MBA & Company

Recruitment consultancy MBA & Company won £1,000 through the Shell Livewire Award, and jewellery retailer Mama Jewels benefitted from a startup grant from a local council and further funds from Business Link. SmallBusiness.co.uk talks to MBA & Company founder Daniel Callaghan and Mama Jewels owner Amanda Waring to find out about the different avenues for startup grants.

How did you find out about the grant?

AW: Business Link has information about the possibility of applying for small grants from councils, so I rang my local council and discovered I was eligible to apply for £1,000 from the council and £3,000 from Business Link itself.

DC: A friend told me about the Shell Livewire Award, an opportunity to win £1,000 worth of startup funds for the most innovative ideas submitted by new businesses in their first 12 months of trading, and I decided to investigate further.

What did you have to do to secure it?

DC: You fill out a first round of application forms and if you get shortlisted you’re asked to make a one minute video presentation on why you should be considered. It is then put to a public vote and a panel of judges.

AW: You have to write a business plan, giving detailed revenue forecasts, marketing strategy and your customer base, basically everything you would do to prepare for a bank loan. The applications go to a board and they let you know whether it has been approved.

What did you spend the money on?

AW: The £1,000 from the local council went towards basic startup costs such as laptops and printers. The £3,000 from Business Link was for website development.

DC: The money helped pay for a designer and our first desk in Soho at the very beginning of the business. From receiving that £1,000 in 2009 we progressed to getting a seven figure valuation last year, so it was definitely a catalyst for growth.

What other benefits did the grant bring?

DC: We use the award as a marketing tool on our website. It’s a good credibility builder. There are so many small businesses out there and each needs a point of differentiation and this definitely helps. It shows our proactivity in applying for it and the faith others have in our service to win it.

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