What is the Help to Grow : Digital?
The help to grow digital is part of the Government's Plan for Jobs scheme, to help the UK back to work and to recover from the effects that COVID-19 has had on the UK economy. The scheme is aimed at small to medium sized businesses looking to adopt digital technologies and software products to help make their business more efficient. According to government research, companies that use digital technologies are up to 18% more productive than businesses that don’t use software on an online platform.
The help to grow digital scheme will give companies a discount of up to 50% and £5000 in value towards the costs of buying approved software. Costs of using online software can be a barrier for some companies not to adopt online technologies and according to government research over half who try to adopt them are unsuccessful.
What can I get?
If you are an eligible business and sign up for the help to grow scheme you will access free impartial advice on the type of software that you can be implementing in your business. Currently the software covers accountancy software and customer relationship management software, although more suppliers and software will be added shortly.
You will have access to impartial advice and can learn from case studies showing you how other small businesses have implemented online technologies and made the business more efficient and how you can decide on the best software to use for your business.
There is a financial discount of up to 50% of the cost of buying approved software worth up to a maximum of £5000.
What accountancy packages
Currently there are three software packages that are available for the Help to Grow Digital. These are Quickbooks, Sage and Crunch.
The inclusion of Quickbooks is very notable because this is on the software that we recommend clients use in their business. It is easy to use and we can connect the software to the company bank account to download all the transactions and its functionality can be expanded by using further apps such as Dext, GoCardless, Harvest and Futrli.
Starting with a software like Quickbooks means that you are setting the foundations for your business if you have ambitions to grow in future.
What CRM packages
There are currently five CRM software on the list that you can choose from on the Help to Grow Digital website - Capsule, Zymplify, Livepoint, Esterio and Deskpro. With the exception of Zymplify these CRM’s are aimed at the small to medium sized business sector.
Capsule, Livepoint, Esterio and Deskpro all have price points between £15 - £30 per month per user and can help you keep control of your sales pipeline and manage this and your current client base. Having a CRM software can help you provide a better service to your clients and manage your team more effectively.
How do I qualify?
To qualify for the Help to Grow: Digital scheme you need to to meet all the following four conditions.
Be a Business in the UK registered with Companies House or to be a registered society with the Financial Conduct Authority Mutuals Register.
Employ between 5 and 249 people
Have been trading for over 12 months and have an incorporation date at least 365 days prior to application.
Be purchasing the approved software for the first time.
More help about this can be found on the Help to grow website here https://www.learn-to-grow-your-business.service.gov.uk/
