If 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.