Welcome to the Iregan Advisors 2024 guide to SME business supports in Ireland. As we navigate a new year filled with opportunities and challenges, it’s crucial for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to be aware of the various supports available to them. Whether you’re looking to scale up, enhance your capabilities, or explore new markets, understanding these supports can be a game-changer for your business. Our guide is designed to be your companion in this exploration, offering insights into the diverse range of supports. So, let’s dive in!
Understanding the Landscape of SME Supports
In Ireland, SMEs have access to a plethora of supports ranging from funding and grants to training and consultancy. 2024 brings a renewed focus on empowering businesses across various sectors. Key supports include:
- Funding and Training Initiatives: Tailored to enhance your business capabilities.
- Consultancy and Grants: Offering both financial aid and expert advice for strategic growth.
- Collaborative Opportunities: Forging partnerships for innovation and market expansion.
Spotlight on Specific Supports
As businesses grow, different areas can require focused attention. The business supports below are designed to offer support right across business functions and goals.
Start-up Supports:
- Start Your Own Business Programme: Guides you through various aspects of business planning and allows you to assess the viability of your product/service idea.
- Feasibility Grants: Offers businesses or individuals intending to explore the feasibility of a manufacturing or internationally traded service sector, financial supports on the expenses involved in doing so.
- Priming Grant: Is a business start-up grant, available to micro enterprises within the first 18 months of start-up to help cover costs such as capital items, salary costs, and consultancy costs.
- Business Expansion Grant: Is designed to assist the business in its growth phase after the initial 18-month start-up period to over costs such as capital items, salary costs and consultancy costs.
Sustainability Supports:
- Green For Business: Offers businesses 2 days consultancy to devise a plan to make your business more sustainable for you, your customers, and the environment.
- Energy Efficiency Grant: Supports up to 50% of the cost of investing in technology or equipment as a follow on from Green Start.
- Climate Ready Academy: Provides upskilling programmes, training and support to help businesses mitigate against the risks of climate change.
- Climate Toolkit 4 Business: Supports businesses to carry out an audit and carbon footprint calculations and provides suggestions on actions to take to make your business more sustainable.
- Support Scheme for Renewable Heat (SSRH): provide financial supports to replace fossil fuel heating systems with heat pumps/biomass/biogas heating systems.
Growth Supports:
- Digital for Business: Offers consultancy support to help you improve your business processes, your customer experience or use your data better.
- Lean for Business: Offers either 1:1 consultancy or participation in a lean programme with other businesses to allow you review how your current business processes work and make improvements to reduce wasted time, reduce costs and improve your overall customer experience.
- Digital Discovery: Offers export-ready technology, manufacturing or internationally traded services companies a grant to work with consultants to a digital strategy.
- Grad Start: Supports you to hire a graduate to work on a project linked to your overall growth plan.
- Skillnet: Provides upskilling opportunities to support your employees grow to meet your business needs.
- Trade Fair Participation Scheme: Financial supports for SMEs operating in Gaeltacht regions to participate in trade fairs.
Spotlight on Sector-Specific Supports – Tourism Case Study
Different industries have specific needs, and the supports that are available reflect this diversity. It is always important to reach out to your industry associations and related government agencies to see what sector specific supports are available. Here we have taken the Tourism sector as an example to demonstrate further supports available on top of the general SME supports already mentioned.
- EU Just Transition Fund: Offers businesses in Laois, Offaly, Westmeath, Longford, Roscommon and parts of Galway, Tipperary and Kildare funding to support projects to develop sustainable visitor experiences, low carbon tourist accommodation, planning and design of capital projects, digital transformation and accessibility improvement projects.
- The Marine Tourism Safety Scheme: Provides a grant to support the purchase and installation of safety equipment of marine tourism vessels.
- Collaboration Opportunities: Tourism Ireland provides opportunities to contribute to e-zones, trade events, social media posts, leveraging their network to promote your offering.
How We Can Help
- At Iregan Advisors, we’re not just about informing you of these supports; we’re here to guide you through accessing and utilising them effectively. Our services include:
- Business Development Strategy: Crafting a roadmap for your business’s growth.
- Digital Marketing Strategy and Policy Writing: Enhancing your online presence and ensuring compliance.
- Sustainability and Efficiency: Making your business leaner and/or more eco-friendly.
- We currently work directly with the following Local Enterprise Offices on some of their Lean for Business, Digital for Business and Green for Business programmes: Laois, Kildare, Carlow, Cork City and County, Kerry, and Leitrim LEOs. However, many of the grants allow you to choose your consultant directly and use the supports to pay for it directly.
- You can choose to work with us directly or we will help you identify funding opportunities that will support your work with us.
- Most of the supports have eligibility criteria that need to be met with and there are some rules around maximum and double funding to be adhered to. We can support you through the eligibility process.
The landscape of SME supports in Ireland for 2024 is rich and varied, offering a wealth of opportunities for businesses ready to take the next step in their growth journey. Whether you’re a start-up looking to make your mark or an established business aiming to expand, the right support can make all the difference.
At Iregan Advisors, we’re committed to not only informing you about these opportunities but also partnering with you to harness them effectively. Let’s work together to turn these supports into tangible successes for your business.
For more detailed information on specific supports follow the links above or contact your Local Enterprise Office, Enterprise Ireland or Sector Specific partners.
To understand how Iregan Advisors can assist you:
- visit our website Iregan Advisors
- send us an email hello@ireganadvisors.ie
- contact us directly on 087-7810299
The success and growth of your business are our top priority. We’re here to guide, support, and celebrate with you every step of the way.
