• $10,000 is helping Jo to pivot her business
  • Digital is the Path to Success for Luxe Corporate Gifts
  • Jo submitted her application within 72 hours
  • “Be quick”, she says!
  • The Application Window was only open for 3 days.
  • You’ll need: a Business Plan & Supporting Documentation;
  • From YEWS you’ll need: a Service Quote and an Invoice as receipt for our services.
  • Round 2 is open on July 1, 2020.
  • Ask us for a quote.
Case Study

Jo Alexander from Luxe Corporate Gifts is a typical savvy business owner. In terms of digital, until now she’s done it all herself but whilst entering into a growth phase, she’s enlisting help. Lucky for her, she’s the recipient of $10,000 worth of funding. For three years, Jo’s gifts and branded promotional products align passion with purpose to make for an unforgettable experience. She’s used the 2020 Disruption to pivot her direction. The new Digital Adaptation grant and some digital marketing strategies are helping her to do so.

Want to know how she did it? Don’t worry, you don’t have to go searching for a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. You’ve just got to plan, get a quote and submit – oh, and be quick about it.

What’s the Plan?

For Jo, her business is diversifying. Established in 2017, Jo created Luxe Corporate Gifts based on the belief that gifts and branded promotional products, ‘are a powerful way of engaging and sustaining professional relationships, building referral networks and promoting your brand’.

Until recently, however, Jo has mostly focussed on the Gifting Service and Delivery aspect of her business.

But like any great captain of a ship, she is always looking to explore new horizons.

That’s where we come in: YEWS is helping Jo to reinvigorate her web-page to improve her online store and re-centre her brand around its new, diversified approach.

Jo’s Plan.

She’s using the grant to help in her pivot to grow her national supply of branded promotional products. And she’s going full-throttle. She wants Top-of-Mind Awareness. Presence in the market and not just in Queensland, nationwide!

Ambition AND Direction.

The key to a great application is to demonstrate your business plan. Jo was fortunate to have already established the mechanics for her new direction. She knew that digital marketing was her pathway to success. So the application just needed to demonstrate how digital marketing would get her there. With a business development plan and quotes to prove it, she could react quickly when Round 1 opened.

When?

Round 1 of the Small Business COVID-19 Adaption Grant Program opened on May 19, 2020. She submitted her plan along with some quotes within 72 hours. Which was fortunate because the grant closed on May 22, 2020.

How Long Until You Hear Back? 

Approximately 5 weeks. Jo got the exciting news via email late last week around June 26, 2020. She’s been told to expect to receive the funding at the end of this week (approximately 6 weeks later).

Quote Me On This. Ask Us for a Quote.

Jo was already in contact with three service providers ahead of the Adaptation Grant. When she contacted YEWS, she said it was so easy to get a quote with all the specific details to collaborate with and confirm her business plan. As simple as attaching a copy with the application, YEWS’s quick response ensured Jo had all the material she needed to click ‘submit’ ahead of the grant’s unexpectedly fast closure.

How to Get the Full 10K.

I could hear the excitement through the phone when Jo described being awarded the full 10K worth of funding.

To achieve this, she says, it’s really important to be specific.

Specify the services provided in the quotes, again, ensure they align with the provided business plan because later you’ll need to provide formal invoices for those payments. Remember: everything needs to be justified. Over $100m worth of government funding means that detailed reasoning is important.

Here’s a Breakdown:

  1. Create a Business Plan detailing why and how your business relies on digital adaptation to grow.
  2. Ensure that you fulfil the criteria by providing evidence (30% decrease in revenue since March 23, 2020, evidence of your business earnings turnover above 75k and payroll less than $1.3m and others – access the full criteria here).
  3. Provide Quote(s) from the service provider(s). Jo simply asked us for a formal, detailed quote. We emailed to her business account and she supplied that with her application. We came back to her ASAP and the rest is history.
  4. Let the services take place.
  5. Provide proof of the service with an Invoice. Attach or forward the Invoice to the government.

Round II opens on July 1, 2020. Naturally awareness has grown about the grant since Round 1 so the window of opportunity could be even shorter this time. Ensure that you’re ready to apply the moment it opens. Here at YEWS the team has been working hard to deliver quotes for our wide range of services to business owners.

If you want to create your own fortune like Jo, please get in touch with our team. But hurry, the clock is ticking. Good luck from the whole team at YEWS!