If you have been trading for over 6 months and have less than 10 employees, then the Trading Online Voucher grant is the perfect way to kickstart your Website or Digital Marketing.
Trading Online Voucher
This voucher from your Local Enterprise Office offers financial assistance up to €2,500, with 50% match funding from you. If you received a TOV in the past, don’t worry, you can now apply for a second voucher.
Website Grant
You can add an online shop to your business, or add an appointment booking facility, events or accommodation bookings. You can also take credit card payments from your customers through your website.
SEO & Digital Marketing Grant
We take your existing website and super charge it with our SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) techniques to make it load faster and appear higher in search results. We can fine tune your social media, add a mailing list system or help you with Google Ads.
Huku Balance
Learn how a Trading Online Voucher Grant from the Local Enterprise Office Donegal assisted Huku Balance go global with their website sales.
The Process
As with every grant, there are a few hurdles to take.
1. Register for a Webinar
Click here to see the latest webinar dates
The first step in getting a Trading Online Voucher is to attend a mandatory webinar which explains everything involved in the project. Each of the 31 Local Enterprise Boards in Ireland run webinars on a regular basis. Click here to find your Local Enterprise Office and register for the next webinar. You will get your invitation typically the day before and the webinars takes around two hours, and are presented on a Zoom video call. It provides fantastic insights into getting a website or digital marketing, and what you can expect throughout your project. After the Webinar is complete, the Local Enterprise Office will send you a link to your online application form.
2. Get Quotations
The next step is contacting some local website agencies and getting a quotation for your project. This is useful as it helps you set in stone what you are looking to get out of your project. It also gives you a benchmark so that you know you will be getting value for money. Your Local Enterprise Office requires you to provide 3 quotations to submit your application. Remember you don’t have to go with the cheapest quotation, It’s completely up to you to decide which company you want to use.
3. Complete the Application
After you’ve gathered your quotes, next up is the online application form. This is a fairly straight forward form, and asks you questions about your business and the project you will be undertaking. This typically takes about half an hour to complete. At this stage you complete you application and wait for approval.
4. Approval
Once approved you will get a Letter of Offer, which typically gives you four to six months to complete the project and drawdown your funds. You can now begin work on your project. When you engage with an agency, you will pay a deposit and then the remainder at the end of the project. At the end of the project, you submit your paperwork to drawdown the grant. After the paperwork has been processed by the Local Enterprise Office, you will typically get paid within two weeks.
Rí na Mara
Learn how a Trading Online Voucher Grant from the Local Enterprise Office assisted Rí na Mara.
Questions
We have a transparent approach to all of our services. Get in touch if you have any more questions about your project.
What can I use it for?
Funding can be used towards adding payment facilities, digital marketing, adding a booking facility to your website or creating a new eCommerce website or Sales Funnel. You can also get professional photography and video as part of this grant also. We can have you online quickly if you have your grant approved and your content ready to go.
How do you qualify
You must have 10 or less employees, your turnover must be less than €2m and you must be trading for at least 6 Months. All you have to do is book your place and watch a Local Enterprise Board webinar.
Photography media
All images are taken in high resolution and are professionally colour corrected by the photographer and then supplied to you. Your photographs can then be used as part of your marketing and we will update your website with a gallery and upload the images to your social media. All images are supplied copyright free to you.
Video media
All video is taken in high resolution and are professionally colour corrected by the videographer and then supplied to you. Your video can then be used as part of your marketing and we will update your website with a video and upload it to your social media. All video is supplied copyright free to you.
The small print
Business must be located in the area covered by the LEO (Local Enterprise Office) to whom they make their application i.e. LEO cannot accept applications from businesses located outside their jurisdiction. All prices exclude VAT. Further eligibility, terms and conditions apply.
Can I apply for two vouchers?
Yes you can apply for a second voucher. But you first must complete the first voucher before you apply for a second voucher.
How quickly do I get paid once I submit the paperwork?
It varies in every Local Enterprise Office, we typically say around 10 days to our clients as a benchmark.
What can't I use my Voucher for?
- Development of brochure websites, with a brochure website, the goods and services are only displayed, so customers will have to contact the company to place an order. They will not be able to purchase online.
- Purchase of non-internet related software
- Anything other than e-commerce trading related activity
What else do I need to know?
- Voucher approval must be gained prior to incurring any expense
- Applicants are required to complete a mandatory information session prior to submitting the application
- Third party costs only will be considered. Own labour is not an eligible expense (labour of spouse or children also considered own labour)
- Claims can be made in either one or two instalments, and only made in respect of actual work completed (i.e. in respect of the components of the project works completed at the time the claim is being made). Expenditure on the various project components can only be claimed once.
- All third party/supplier invoices must contain proper business details (e.g. tax or business registration details or proof that the supplier is a registered business in the territory in which the supplier is located)
- Applications must be accompanied by written/ emailed quotes for project works from three suppliers
- Applications made on behalf of clients by third parties will not be accepted
Is there a list of businesses that do not qualify?
- NACE codes provide guidance as to the types of businesses that are not the target of the scheme. A number of sectors have been identified through NACE codes in which exclusions will apply in terms of the Trading Online Voucher Scheme. The NACE code for a business can be checked via CRO registration.
- Click here to view NACE Codes
What do I need to claim my Grant?
When you have paid your supplier in full, you can claim your grant from the Local Enterprise Office by sending them the following documents:
- Your Tax Clearance Cert – a grant cannot be paid unless you supply this evidence of your tax compliance
- All invoices from your supplier(s), clearly showing the VAT breakdown
- All proof of payment – i.e. your bank statement that clearly shows the payment going from your account to your supplier(s), whether by EFT or cheque
- Receipt from your supplier
- Declaration of project completion.
- Summary of the work complete and how it will impact on your business
Maysonbrook
Bernadine Burke of Maysonbrook in Galway recently availed of the Trading Online Voucher support with Local Enterprise Office Galway.
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Europe’s leading manufacturer of High-pressure cleaners, industrial vacuum cleaners and hand power sweepers.
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Europe’s leading manufacturer of High-pressure cleaners, industrial vacuum cleaners and hand power sweepers.
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Europe’s leading manufacturer of High-pressure cleaners, industrial vacuum cleaners and hand power sweepers.
