Grants of Up to €2,500 Available For Online Trading & Digital Strategy Development

Online Trading Voucher LogoIf your business is based in Ireland, and you wish to enhance your website with the ability to trade online, take orders, bookings & payments online then your Local Enterprise Office (LEO) has announced a New Call (May 2015) for applications. Check your LEO for the deadline, but the ones we looked at appear to be around mid-May.

This grant seeks to help businesses who do not yet have a website, or whose website is very basic, to develop their websites and put in place a digital strategy. According to LEO, only 23% of small Irish businesses are engaged in any meaningful way in e-Commerce sales. Furthermore, the Irish people are continuing to increase their online spending, but an estimated 70% of this spend is with overseas businesses. The funding for this scheme is coming from the Department of Communications, Energy & Natural Resources, and is administered by the Local Enterprise Offices.

There is a limit of 2,000 on the number of applications which will be approved for 2015.

Eligibility Criteria

  • The vouchers/grants are up to a maximum value of €2,500 or 50% of the eligibile expenditure (excluding VAT), whichever is less
  • Voucher approval must be obtained before incurring any expense
  • Own labour is not an eligible expense
  • Only third party costs will be considered
  • All third party/supplier invoices must contain proper business details, e.g. Tax/VAT registration number, business registration details etc.)

Eligible Businesses

  • The business must have no or a very basic/limited online trading presence prior to application
  • The business must have less than 10 employees
  • Turnover less than €2 million
  • Business must be registered and trading for at least 12 months
  • Must be located within one of the LEO areas covered by the scheme

Ineligible Businesses/Projects

  • Companies with a charitable status, semi-states, not-for-profit organisations, trade associations etc.
  • Professional service businesses specialising in IT who are already capable of online trading
  • Conferences and seminars
  • Projects which are contrary to or conflict with public policy
  • Duplication of support for projects which would be eligible for assistance from other State Agencies of EU funded Operational Programmes
  • Projects which are deemed capable of proceeding without scheme assistance
  • Projects essentially comprising importation and distribution

The Online Trading Vouchers Can Be Used For

  • IT Consultancy expenses
  • Development or upgrade of an e-commerce website
  • Implementation of online payments or booking systems
  • Purchase of Internet-related software
  • Purchase of online advertising (this cannot exceed 30% of the approved voucher costs)
  • Development of an app, or multiplatform web pages
  • Implementation of a digital marketing strategy, i.e. social media marketing
  • Consultation with ICT experts or early stage adopters of online strategy
  • Training/skills development specifically for establishing and managing online trading activity

The Online Trading Vouchers Cannot Be Used For

  • Development of brochure websites, that is, websites which are informational only, with no online trading functionality
  • Purchasing non-Internet-related software
  • Spending on anything other than a product or service directly related to the implementation or management of online trading

If you wish to trade online, improve your e-commerce capability, accept online bookings/sell tickets online then Vendexo can help. Contact us today about taking advantage of this Online Trading Voucher Scheme.