Activate Tāmaki Makaurau – Business Advisory Grant

In the last couple of years, the Covid lockdowns have impacted Auckland’s small businesses greatly, this has left many business owners out-of-pocket and unsure on what to do. The Activate Tāmaki Makaurau Business Advisory Grant aims to support Auckland’s small businesses in their recovery from Covid.

Announced by the government on the 22^nd of October 2021, the $60 million dollar package helps you to access services such as advice and planning, support to implement advice and planning, health and wellbeing support, and business community resources.

Lifetime Accounting is a registered service provider for Activate Tāmaki Makaurau and our team are eager to support you in achieving your business goals. We are able to assist you in building and implementing a business strategy and a financial plan for your year ahead.

This means that if you are an Auckland-based business, and you meet the eligibility requirements, you are able to apply for up to $3,000 of funding for a business strategy plan and then another $4,000 to implement your proposal.

Am I eligible?

To be eligible for the grant, you must meet the below requirements laid out by Activate Tāmaki Makaurau:

• Be operating with 100 full time equivalent employees or less
• Be GST registered in New Zealand
• Have a New Zealand Business Number (NZBN)
• Be operating in a commercial environment
• Be a privately-owned business or are a Māori Trust or incorporation under the Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993 or similar organisation managing Māori assets under multiple ownership
• Primarily operate within the Auckland Alert Level 3 boundary
• Be an existing business that is trading prior to 22 October 2021

If you are a sole trader, you are also able to apply, just as long as you meet the above requirements.

What is the process?

Once you’ve had an initial chat with our team, the first step is to register with Activate Tāmaki Makaurau. You can register by clicking here or on the link below. You only need to register once.

Next, your registration will be assessed by the Activate Tāmaki Makaurau team and a referral plan will be created.

You can then request and access the proposal to review – this is where you choose to “accept” or “deny” the proposal and can apply for the Business Advice funding.

Once your funding application has been reviewed and approved by Activate Tāmaki Makaurau you can begin to work with us.

When the work has been completed, you can let Activate Tāmaki Makaurau know to facilitate payment.

You can see more info from Activate Tāmaki Makaurau here.

What can a business strategy plan or a financial plan offer you?

We recommend that you start off with a business strategy plan – this covers aspects such as workforce planning, risk management, new products, new markets, new opportunities, and operational movements.

The financial plan offers you insight into budgeting, forecasting, scenario planning and cashflow management.

Both plans aim to support your business through the year and ease the pressure that you may feel as a business owner during a time that is already so stressful. The Lifetime Accounting team is passionate about helping their clients and their businesses to reach their full potential.

You can learn more about Lifetime accounting and business advisory services here.

There is a cap on the funding and a limited number of applications are left. If you are considering applying for the grant but aren’t sure on where to start, please reach out to Hope Etienne at 027 608 6526 or Hope.Etienne@lifetime.co.nz to arrange a chat with one of our team members who can help point you in the right direction.

Register Here