The Singapore Budget 2021 promised continued support for SMBs. This comes as no surprise as they were hard hit by the pandemic. 

Around 81% of Singapore SMBs did not expect their businesses to grow this year, a survey by insurance company QBE found. In fact, 39% of them expected to trim their number of employees, according to the survey, which polled 407 SMBs in various industries.

Help is at hand. These lifelines could boost an SMB’s capabilities and allow it to emerge stronger, despite uncertainty.

Enterprise Development Grant

SMBs can tap on this to upgrade their business, innovate or venture overseas. 

The grant will support an extended 80% of qualifying project costs, till the end of March 2022, as announced in the budget. These are namely third-party consultancy fees, software and equipment and internal manpower costs.

Projects have to fall under three pillars: core capabilities, innovation and productivity, and market access.

International Co-Innovation Programmes

In an increasingly globalised world, many solutions are borderless. Fittingly, they are developed when partners from different countries work together. These programmes support technology development and co-innovation.

Enterprise Singapore has partnered with EUREKA Network, the world’s largest public network for cooperation in research and development and innovation. It is present in over 45 countries. The agency also has partnerships with France, Germany, Israel and Shanghai, to support SMBs in their endeavours.

Land Productivity Grant

When an SMB outgrows an industrial space, moving is not an easy process. Besides settling on a new location, the associated costs can be a drag on budgets and growth plans.

This grant funds up to 70% of qualifying costs such as relocation, third-party consultancy fees and manpower costs. It supports domestic relocation, and the partial restructuring of business activities to Iskandar in Malaysia or Batam, Bintan and Karimun in Indonesia.

Market Readiness Assistance Grant

The grant benefits SMBs looking to expand overseas. It will support up to 80% of eligible costs, capped at $100,000 per new market, till end-March 2022. Beyond that, it will support 70% of eligible costs until the end of March 2023.

The grant covers overseas market promotion, business development, and set-up. The set-up component will soon be enhanced to include trade credit insurance.

Productivity Solutions Grant

This was another grant that was extended in the budget. SMBs can use it to improve their business processes or implement COVID-19 business continuity measures. The grant will fund as much as 70% of the qualifying costs of IT solutions and equipment, up until the end of March 2023.

It covers sector-specific solutions in the retail, food and logistics industries, among others, and broader ones in areas like customer management, data analytics and inventory tracking. These have been screened by government agencies. 

SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit

SMBs need a skilled workforce to further their business goals. Employees can also find more purpose in their work through training and upskilling programmes.

This one-off credit of $10,000 lets companies transform themselves and improve the capabilities of employees. Companies are allowed to spend up to $7,000 on transformation efforts. Meanwhile, they must use at least $3,000 must on their workforce. They must meet criteria, including having employed three Singapore Citizens or Permanent Residents across qualifying periods.

While business conditions for Singapore’s SMBs have changed dramatically there is help out there. These grants are designed to keep the small business sector running and growing.