One of the biggest supports I’ve had in growing my own business is the Local Enterprise Office. They have helped me to get Posude off the ground over the years, and I can’t recommend working with them enough.

Online grants are one of the supports they offer. Whether you’re currently looking to boost your business’s online profile, or completely create it from scratch, your Local Enterprise Office can help you. Trading Online Vouchers are funds specifically designated to helping small businesses grow.

What is a Trading Online Voucher?

This scheme helps businesses who want to either grow their online shop, or create one. It’s a matching grant of up to €2,500, with co-funding of up to 50% by the business. It also includes training and advice to help the business with their plan.

The voucher is a great way to grow business affordably. Training includes:

  • developing a website
  • digital marketing
  • social media
  • search engine optimization (SEO).

Although many businesses use the voucher for their website, it isn’t limited to that. It can also be used for marketing and lead generation. There’s no specific breakdown for how the voucher is spent. It might be on some, or all, of the above categories, depending on the business and needs.

Who qualifies?

To apply for a voucher, a business must:

  • Have up to 10 employees
  • Little or no digital presence
  • Turnover of less than €2million
  • Trading for at least 6 months

Ensure you apply to the LEO in your region, as they cannot accept applicants from other regions.

You can now get a second voucher

The LEO is now also allowing businesses to apply for a second voucher.

The second voucher can be used for upgrades, for example, adding payment facilities, booking facilities or other apps. The voucher can also be used towards subscriptions to low cost online retail platform solutions.

Hear Enda explain the voucher in his own words in less than 3 minutes in the clip below.

Summary

Trading Online Vouchers are a great way to make investing into your online presence affordable. If your business is creating or upgrading your website, or online-related processes, getting in touch with the LEO is a no-brainer.

Don’t waste the opportunity – get in touch with them today like I did. You won’t regret it, I promise!