Business owners, we know times are tough. But as our economy slowly reopens, thinking about how to stay ahead of the curve is getting more important. This is also the time to position (or reposition) yourself and your business for recovery, as well as making the move to digital using support from the government. In this article, we’ll be talking about how you can best use the Enterprise Development Grant (EDG) to help your business develop digital and automated solutions. We’ll also answer questions like how do you apply for the grant, what can you do with the Enterprise Development Grant and key points to help SMEs survive and sustain. This is also for SMEs if you want more help for remote working solutions as well! If you already know this is for you, drop us a message and let us know how we can help. For the rest, here’s a guide for businesses on how to use the Enterprise Development Grant.

How the EDG can help your business

The EDG helps in three main ways. To upgrade your business, innovate new systems or products and lastly, venture overseas. Good news for you is that support up to 80% will be provided from 1 April 2020 to 31 December 2020 as part of the Supplementary Budget 2020. If you’ve been severely impacted by COVID-19, support of up to 90% can be provided on a case-by-case basis. 

In order to receive this grant, businesses need the following: 

• To be registered and operating in Singapore.
• Have a minimum of 30% local shareholding.
• Be in a financially viable position to start and complete the project.

Identify your project category

Here are the following categories to help define your project and to help us ensure that all aspects of your project are included. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions!

Core capabilities

Core capabilities would be considered as projects that enhance and transform the company’s foundations or essential system to serve a wider range of consumers.

Here are some of the following capabilities you can enhance through this grant:

• Business Strategy Development – Enhance and develop business strategies or opportunities to grow your company
• Financial Management – Help your company develop strategies and programmes to optimise financial performance, and responsibly manage company assets and resources.
• Human Capital Development – To develop automated programmes and systems to enhance and optimise the use of the company’s manpower.
• Service Excellence – To enhance service and delivery systems and standards through a better understanding of customer needs.
• Strategic Brand and Marketing Development – To improve better brand and product perception as well as appeal to different customer segments.

Innovation and productivity

Projects under this would consist of new systems or services to enhance and redesign operations and systems to make overall processes more efficient. Technology can also be integrated to automate tasks and services allowing for more manpower to carry out higher-order work.

Here are some of the following capabilities you can enhance through this grant:

• Automation – Increase the usage of automated programmes and technology leading to tangible growth.
• Process Redesign – Identify and review existing processes and how to integrate systems to optimise the workflow.
• Product Development – Identify and develop new tech to help commercial markets.

Speak to our brand consultants and in-house specialists to see how our expertise in automation can help optimise your daily processes. 

Market Access

This should be considered for businesses looking to expand beyond Singapore and looking for help to manage the costs of venturing into overseas markets. This is applicable to brands who want to provide their expertise to the region like software or even physical products or services.

What do you need to prepare to submit an EDG

This is where we come in. Our in-house team of specialists will speak to you to understand the scope of the project and all else needed to make your proposal as successful as possible. For the documents required, you can check the official Enterprise Singapore website and our team will also be in contact to ensure all documents are submitted correctly and promptly.

Through our own methodology and experience from past projects, we value-add by taking into account the ins and outs of your business as well as the industry. At I Concept, one of our key strengths is providing automated solutions to reduce manual labour, thereby freeing staff for higher-order work. 

Applying for the Enterprise Development Grant

With the help of our experienced consultants, we provide expertise in supporting SMEs with projects that stimulate growth and development through this grant. With COVID-19, this is a great step to prepare and expand your business into the digital age. Speak to our expert team and let’s get you started.