How can small business owners finance their marketing?

A report released by the Government revealed there are 5.2 million SMEs in the UK. Yet how many are committed to the future growth of their business?

For SME business owners committed to putting growth plans in place, funding these essential steps can often be a cause for concern.

However this needn’t be the case as there are a number of grants available to businesses, some of which also cover the essential marketing spend that goes hand-in-hand with achieving sustained business growth.

Grant support

A grant is a specified amount of money that is given to a business to help with a certain project or purpose. There are a number of grants available from the Government, The European Union, local councils and charities.

You aren’t required to pay the grant amount back, but the competition for grants is high, so you have to make sure your business plan is solid to improve your chances of being considered. (For more information about getting your business plan right, read Cognition’s blog, ‘The Marketing Elements Every Business Plan Should Have To Help Secure Financing.’)

Which grant?

There are a number of different grants available (click here to browse through the different options), all of which come with their own specific access criteria.

However, given a bit of research you’ll find that they are often dependent on the location of your business, the length of time you’ve been trading for, your business turnover and the amount of money you’d like to receive.

For a grant that helps cover your marketing activity there are a number of options available, such as Business Development Grants.

These types of grants can be used in a number of ways to help SME owners grow their business, whether they’re being used for marketing, training, or to purchase equipment. The purpose of these grants is to help relatively established businesses reach that next level, by offering them a one off payment that doesn’t need to be paid back.

Business Development Grants are available from local governments and depend on which county your firm is located. To find about more about them, click here.

You could also consider applying for a Business Growth Service grant, designed to help businesses that have the ambition, capability and capacity to improve and grow. There are a number of criteria you’ll have to pass to be eligible for this type of grant, including having fewer than 250 employees and a turnover less than £40 million. You can find more about this grant, here.

So as you can see, there are a number of options for business owners committed to growing their business, and these are just two of the different types of grants available – there are many more out there. So do your research, and make sure that the grant you apply for supports a marketing strategy that will drive forward your business growth.

By Chloe McHugh, Cognition Agency

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Cognition is a full-service marketing agency and a Funding Circle borrower. It’s known for its commercial approach, linking marketing activity to revenue and growth.

If you’re interested in taking out a Funding Circle business loan, you can apply online at anytime.