Kildare Local Enterprise office Supports for SME’s to help deal with the impact of Covid-19
No need to manage the impact of Covid 19 on your own, avail of the most appropriate advice and supports available from Kildare Local Enterprise office to help you navigate your business through this difficult situation
Impact
The impact of this crisis is already being seen with many shutting their doors temporarily and for others, maybe permanently. The impact will be felt across many sectors with some affected much more than others.
Supports and assistance have been announced with hopefully a lot more to follow. I will try to capture some of them here and talk about how businesses can go about accessing what they need.
Estimating the scale of the problem for your business
I know for many businesses, if I asked how much financial support they need, the answer would be as much as they can get. But to get approval for support you will have to provide some information to help the relevant bank/agency to make a decision.
A good starting point for this is to prepare a projected cashflow to show the scale of the problem. I would recommend doing one for the next 3 months and have included a link below to a template to use. This should be a high-level review capturing the main inflows and outflows of cash.
How to go about it
Step 1: List all payments in and out of the business that you expect over the period.
Step 2: Then look at everything and see if there is anything you can defer. Call your creditors and see if they can offer some assistance to defer payment. Some will be in a much healthier financial position and may be able to help. This is going to take a joint effort and hopefully businesses that can help, will help
Step 3: Finalise the project cashflow and see what you funding requirement is
Funding Options
Now that you have some idea of how much you need, the good news is that there are already some supports in place.
Below are some of the supports available:
Banks
Talk to your current bank to see how they can help. The Credit Guarantee Scheme supports loans up to €1 million for periods of up to 7 years. Applications can be made to AIB, Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank. Eligibility criteria apply.
Kildare Local Enterprise will help with this application process email localenterprise@kildarecoco.ie
Microfinance Ireland
- Loans from €5,000 – €50,000
- Supports businesses who have been impacted negatively by coronavirus in Ireland
- Loan terms typically up to 3 years
- Up to 6 months Interest only payments
- No fees/no hidden costs/charges
- Fixed repayments/no penalty for early repayment
Eligibility
- Any business (Sole Trader, Partnership or Limited Company) with less than 10 employees and annual turnover of up to €2m
- Not in a position to avail of finance from Banks and other commercial lending providers
- 15% of actual or projected turnover or profit is negatively impacted by COVID-19
https://microfinanceireland.ie/loan-packages/covid19/
Kildare Local Enterprise will help with this application process email localenterprise@kildarecoco.ie
SBCI
The €200m SBCI COVID-19 Working Capital Scheme for eligible businesses will be available within the next week.
https://dbei.gov.ie/en/What-We-Do/Supports-for-SMEs/COVID-19-supports/SBCI-Covid19-Working-Capital-Scheme-FAQ.html
Enterprise Ireland
Specific supports include:
- A €200m Package for Enterprise Supports including a Rescue and Restructuring Scheme available through Enterprise Ireland for viable but vulnerable firms that need to restructure or transform their businesses, details of these supports are being finalised
- “Finance in focus” grant of up to €7,200 available to Enterprise Ireland and Údarás na Gaeltachta clients to support financial planning
https://enterprise-ireland.com/en/About-Us/Services/Covid-19/Supports/Covid-19-Guide.pdf
Revenue
Revenue has said they will work with businesses that are experiencing cashflow issues. Some key points include:
- Interested on late payments suspended for Jan/Feb VAT and both Feb and March PAYE (Employers liability)
- All debt enforcement suspended until further notice
https://www.revenue.ie/en/corporate/press-office/press-releases/2020/pr-130320-revenue-announce-measures-to-assist-smes-experiencing-cashflow-difficulties-arising-from-covid-19.aspx
Peer to peer lending
This provides an option to borrow money on the lending platforms such as Linked Finance, Flender and others out there.
There platforms work by matching businesses, with people that have excess cash and want to lend to SME’s.
https://www.linkedfinance.com/
https://flender.ie/
HR AND EMPLOYEE SUPPORTS
COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment is a new social welfare payment for employees and self-employed people who are unemployed or who have their hours of work reduced during the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.
You can apply for the payment if you are aged between 18 and 66 and have lost employment due to the coronavirus restrictions. Students can apply for the payment.
The new payment aims to get a social welfare payment to unemployed people quickly.
If you have been diagnosed with COVID-19, or have been told to self-isolate by your GP, you should apply for Illness Benefit.
The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection : A new dedicated phone line is open for #COVID19 payment queries 9am to 5pm: 01 2481398 / 1890 800 024.
Online information from https://www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/4cf0e2-covid-19-coronavirus-information-for-employers-and-employees-test/
Kildare Local Enterprise will help with HR issues or concerns email localenterprise@kildarecoco.ie
Local Enterprise Office
Kildare Local can also provide business continuity vouchers from €2,500 to assist in preparing any business continuity issues that arise in the current challenging environment. email localenterprise@kildarecoco.ie
https://www.localenterprise.ie/
Required Action
Now is the time to start applying for any funding/support your business needs. We imagine there will be a lot of applications and while the different bodies will look to move quickly, there is bound to be delays.
No matter the scale of the potential impact, it is important to have the approval for funding in place, just in case you do need to draw it down.
It is important to remember, many businesses will struggle, not because they are not good businesses, but because of this short-term crisis we find ourselves in.
We would ask other businesses that are less impacted to do all they can to help the more vulnerable. Deferring a payment by a month or two could make all the difference. Peer to peer lending also gives people who have the funds to help, the platform to lend to SMEs.
If you wish to discuss any issues or concerns please reach out to us we have experts across, financial supports, business risk, HR, compliance and advisory ALL waiting to help YOU. email localenterprise@kildarecoco.ie
Kildare Local Enterprise office is here to support Kildare's Business community.
