What Help is Available for Start-ups Seaking Funding?
At Halston Marketing, we offer Business Trajectory Consultancy as standard. We believe a marketing strategy must work firmly in tandem with a business strategy and we’re on hand to give consultative advice on both.
To kick off the new year, we’re sharing our top tips on how SMEs can successfully seek investment or bag growth opportunities.
For more information on our services, get in touch with our team.
Getting a business off the ground is a tough sport. For most, the outlook of launching and maintaining a start-up company seems impossible—a task for a well-connected lone-wolf with money to burn. Thankfully, this isn’t the case at all. In the search for investors to back your business plan, there’s help available to put you on their radars.
In a typical large city in the UK, there are a number of prevalent government or independent organisations readily available to help entrepreneurs launch and sustain all aspects of their business in preparation for seeking investments. From financial backing to investing in equipment and staffing, there’s help and support at arm’s length. So, what’s actually on offer for start-ups seeking funding?
Fuel the Launch of Your Business with Grants
Local government grants are available for small businesses to take advantage of that will help to launch any new business. Intended to generate jobs and stimulate the economy, these grants come in three distinct formats: direct grants, equity finance and soft loans.
Direct grants do what they say on the tin—money given to help to pay for training, equipment and more—but simultaneously tend to expect some percentage of the costs covered off your own back. Soft loans follow a similar structure but have lower interest rates and more generous terms. Equity finance is available for businesses less than 2 years old (with fewer than 25 employees); some of these schemes offer up to 50% reduction in income tax on investments made in new businesses!
In addition, these grants can help to lower your own financial input to the start-up company and reduce the personal risks in using up a large chunk of savings. To get started, you can search through the Business Finance Support Finder.
Use Start-up Incubators to Stimulate Growth
Start-up incubators are collaborative programs designed to help start-ups continue to succeed and implement growth. By helping to solve general business, legal and financial issues, a start-up incubator’s responsibility is to aid entrepreneurs as they further their reach.
Organisations such as TechStars and e-Spark are perfect examples of such programs. Some even offer links to angel investors and venture capitalists.
Solidify Your Business Trajectory with Local Partnerships
There are also many regional organisations looking to grow the economic strength of their region. To successfully do so, these companies look to fund, support or partner with start-up companies based in the area. This partnership is not only a massive helping hand, but solidifies your footprint in the local business world and acts as great PR.
An example local to Leeds includes the LEP (Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership).
At Halston Marketing, we’re knowledgeable and connected. If you’re an SME or start-up looking for help with your business goals, we offer Business Trajectory Consultancy sessions to help you find funding or investors. Get in touch with our team for more information.