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Accessing Government Funding - The Criteria

Written by: Sharon Monahan

Article Overview: So far you have determined what programs are available (if you've subscribed to our site),what ones you are eligible for,and made your initial contact with the department or agency to which you are applying. You have created a good first impression and positively influenced the development officer's predisposition toward your proposed venture. Next you need to find out what criteria your proposal will be assessed against. In this article we will examine these criteria in more detail.

Accessing Government Funding - The Criteria

With any government program, there are always two sets of criteria, the eligibility criteria and the assessment criteria. Most people concentrate on the first and don't give any thought whatsoever to the second. Eligibility criteria are always widely publicized by the departments while assessment criteria never are. It is the assessment criteria that ultimately determines whether or not your application is successful. It is the criteria which most applicants have known very little about, until now.

One of the first criteria any proposal is assessed against is competitive impact or more specifically, the potential for your proposal to have an adverse competitive impact on an existing business.

You have to realize that government departments are very concerned about receiving bad publicity. Many bureaucrats are very nervous about embarrassing their managers and most senior bureaucrats
are preoccupied with not embarrassing their political masters, the minister.
Remember that each department or agency is ultimately responsible to a minister, who is an elected official. The last thing any senior bureaucrat or politician wants to see is a businessperson running to the local media claiming that the government has put him out of business by funding his or her competitor. For this reason and the fact that it would do little for the local ecomomy anyway, each application is examined for its potential of having an adverse impact on an existing business.

Closely related to competitive impact is another criteria called net economic benefit. If funding your proposal creates new jobs and wealth in the local labour market at the expense of an existing
business, then there is deemed to be no net economic benefit. Any resultant benefit to the local economy that was achieved by funding you was offset by the loss experienced by the existing operation.
If there were no net economic benefit, then why would the government get involved?

As an applicant you must demonstrate that your proposal will not adversely affect any existing operation and that it will result in a net economic benefit to the local economy.
You can do this in one of two ways:

-You can demonstrate how your business is unique in the products and services it offers, having no competitors and therefore no one to adversely affect.

-If you are not distinct from your competitors, you are better off trying to demonstrate that there is sufficient demand for your products and services to warrant another
entrant in the marketplace.

Whatever approach you take, the bottom line here is don't ignore the issue. Address it up front and with confidence.

If you are a subscriber to our website, you will next learn about the other key assessment criteria. To those of you who haven't subscribed yet, I'm afraid this is the last installment I can send you. Stop putting yourself at a disadvantage. If you are serious about obtaining government funding, you need this information.

Take Care. I wish you all the best in your future endeavors.

Related Articles
  Accessing Government Funding - First Impressions Count
  Accessing Government Funding in Canada
  Access To Alternative Financing for Small Businesses
  Government Business Grants in Canada. Are They a Myth?
  What will happen to small business funding?

Article Tags: business financing, business funding, business grants, business loans, business start up, canada grants, canadian grants, government grants, small business, starting a business



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