700+ Reviews [Verified]
UK Small Business Startups and Funding UK Small Business Startups and Funding
  • Home
  • Assessment Tool
    • Funding Calculator
  • Startup Portal
    • Startup Portal
    • Startup Guide and Timeline
    • Business Plan Builder
    • Funding Database
    • Investor PitchDeck
    • The Extra Services
    • Get Access Now!
  • Resources
    • Business Advice
    • Business Planning
    • Funding & Financing
    • Tools & Resources
    • Q&A’s
  • Register Now
    • Become a Member
  • Home
  • Assessment Tool
    • Funding Calculator
  • Startup Portal
    • Startup Portal
    • Startup Guide and Timeline
    • Business Plan Builder
    • Funding Database
    • Investor PitchDeck
    • The Extra Services
    • Get Access Now!
  • Resources
    • Business Advice
    • Business Planning
    • Funding & Financing
    • Tools & Resources
    • Q&A’s
  • Register Now
    • Become a Member
Register Login

Join the Startup Portal

  • Home
  • Funding & Financing
  • £30,250 Government Grant Helped Me Start My Business

£30,250 Government Grant Helped Me Start My Business




172

SHARES

Category: Funding & Financing

Tags: government grant, governmentt funding, small business funding

Recommended Next: UK Government Grants Guide for Small Business

government grant for cleaning business in Bangor, Wales

Starting a small business is a challenge. Nobody ever said it was easy. It requires a lot of work, dedication, patience, a great idea and of course money.

That being said, today we at UKStartups are happy to announce another success story of a small business couple who were successful at starting and launching their small business in the city of Bangor, Wales – with the help of a government grant for £30,250.

Request More Information

Need funding for your small business?

Learn how you can get funding for your small business in the UK. It takes 30 seconds.

Request More Information

We couldn’t get Janie and Rodger back into the UKStartups headquarters to do a full on interview, their business is keeping them busy but we did get a chance to ask them some questions which could help others learn from their experience and hopefully be our next success story.

Start, Plan and Fund Your Small Business with the Small Business Startup Portal. Click here for more details

Here are the Q&A’s and a little bit about Janie and Rodger from Bangor, Wales and their high tech green cleaning business:

Janie/Rodger, share your experience in regards to your funding search:

Well it started off with us spending most of our money that we had to develop the technology which we use today to provide the best service we can to our clients. We are a residential only cleaning business that uses special cleaning supplies and materialist in order to stay home and earth friendly. We also provide all of our clients an iOS and Android app to help them keep track of our work, to schedule us in as well as to monitor us live while in the clients home. This was pretty expensive. That’s where we started our funding search while eventually led us to the bank. 

What happened at the bank?

We applied for a small business loan but since we were in business under 6 months we weren’t able to get anything. The bank agent told us to come back after we had some money coming in and less expenses. So we were out of luck. 

What was your feeling after the bank said no?

It was devastating, because we believe in our idea a lot and wanted to make it work. We heard of really dumb business ideas getting money from the banks but we couldn’t? I felt that we weren’t even listened to. As soon as we said we had a “cleaning business”, you can sort of tell that it was a no. They didn’t even look at our business plan.

How did you come to UKStartups?

The night of being denied a small bank loan we were working on our finances, trying to figure out how much we can pull from our savings, credit cards and how much we can get from selling a few items we didn’t need at our home. We weren’t going to let the business die off because of the bank. While Rodger was pulling the numbers he opened an e-mail from UKStartups and that e-mail was titled “Why you will never get funding for your business”, it seemed as if it was meant for us. 

What did the e-mail say?

The e-mail was sent most likely on a mass scale to all of the subscribers that UKStarups had, but it spoke to us. It was exactly what we needed to hear so we read and read, and read some more. I think by the end of the night the answer was staring us right in the face. Apply for government funding!!!

How did you go about applying for government funding?

We paid the membership fee right away of £239 and got access to the funding database. We added our business plan in, and one of the UKStartups consultants reached out to us a few days later with some pointers on our business plan. While that was happening we found a government programme that actually helped small businesses providing what we like to call “earth friendly services”. Based on the criteria and the qualifications needed, we had it. We accessed the applications and thanks to the great support you guys offer at UKStartups, you helped us with a lot of our questions we had about the funding applications. 

How difficult was the application process?

It was a fairly simple process, it seemed a lot easier then going to the bank. We provided our business plan, wrote up some answers to questions that were being asked and filled out what seemed to be a very easy application. I don’t know why but applying for this grant, right from the start it seemed as if it was for us. 

How much funding did you ask for?

We asked for £50,000 in funding to be able to cover our first year of expenses towards marketing our business, purchasing our supplied needed and further improving our app and website. But soon after our application went though we received a phone call from one of the program adviser who was a really nice gentleman and said if we want to get funded, we should probably chance the funding amount we were asking as it was very unlikely. We did that right away and changed it to £35,000 (removing certain expenses we were hoping to have).

How long after applying did you know that you were successful?

Well Rodger said to me the next week that most likely we will be successful because he’s never heard that a programme advisor would contact the business applying to tell them “hey you are asking too much, change it if you want to get it”…so that sort of got us more excited. By the end of the month we received a letter notifying us that we were approved for £30,250 in government funding. 

When did you get the funds?

Two weeks after the letter arrived with the approval message, we were called to provide banking information for the transfer of funds. Once that was completed it took another week to obtain the funding and to be able to see the funds in the bank. 

What did you do next?

Once the money was there we started to work on our business. We had the bank roll needed to get going and the criteria for the funding programme which we were approved for allowed us to use the funding for marketing expenses, further development of our website/app, purchase of certain equipment as well as to hire additional staff. We launched pretty quick and within the first quarter we were already profitable with both Rodger and I working full time, along side 3 other full time employees.

Now that you are successful what do you plan on doing?

We are moving forward. By the end of the year we have a plan to hire 7 more full time employees and to launch our cleaning business in the surrounding area of Bangor. Next month we have a meeting at the bank to be able to obtain that bank loan that we were denied, which will eventually help us with cash flow and growth. We are also looking for additional funding programmes using the funding database so that we can continue being successful for the long run.

 What advice do you have for those starting up? 

I read a quote once, “The true measure of success is how many times you can bounce back from failure”, so this sort of applied to our situation. We were denied funding, and we could have easily given up, but thanks to one  e-mail we were back! I think it’s important to not give up and if you worked so hard on your business idea this far, giving up is just bad. Get the funding you need at any cost. UKStartups greatly helped us and you can definitely get the help for your small business too.

Did you know that you may be able to get funding for your small business? Click here for more details

You may also like

  • 5 Rookie Mistakes When Applying for Government Funding
    5 May, 2022
  • British Business Grants.
    British Business Grants – How to access
    15 March, 2022
  • start-up business grants
    How to apply for start-up business grants & funding
    10 March, 2022


SEARCHES RELATED TO GOVERNMENT GRANT

government grant
governmentt funding
small business funding

Ask Experts
Need funding for your business?
Learn how you can get funding for your small business in the UK. It takes 30 seconds.

Membership to the Portal

Recommended

CBILS: Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme
25Mar2020


This Budget 2020, the Chancellor has introduced a...

Most Popular

Private Investors as a Funding Source Guide
05May2020
CBILS: Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme
25Mar2020

Don’t miss a thing!

Stay up-to-date with weekly recaps of news and tips for UK Startups.

Testimonials

2018 Government Funding
2018 Government Funding Success Story Interview
Leeds, England

"A business plan is the key to a successful business as well as the way to get government funding" - Read my story

Cambridge Tech Company Gets Funding
Interview with a £65,485 Government Grant Recipient from Cambridge
Cambridge, East England

"Perfect your business plan as it's in my option the number one thing small businesses need in order to attract and impress a funding agency" - Read my story

cleaning company monitoring technology
£17,500 Small Business Loan for Birmingham Startup
Birmingham, West Midlands

"If you have a business idea, don't wait - get your business plan made, ask for help and start your funding search early!" - Read my story

government grant for cleaning business in Bangor, Wales
£30,250 Government Grant Helped Me Start My Business
Bangor, Wales
"We were denied funding and we could have given up so many times. But we didn't. The important part is not to give up and keep gong. Get a support team to help you" - Read my story
Toronto Retailer Gets Government Loan
£470,000 Low Interest Government Loan For City of London Retailer
City of London, England
"Banks said no to due to my poor credit and business inexperience, but the government funding programme had a different reaction to my well developed business plan" - Read my story
doggy day care
£21,315 Government Provided Loan For Doggy Day Care Business
Nottingham, East Midlands
"No matter your situation, if your plan is to start a small business - don't give up. Use tools and resources that are available all around you and don't be scare of a small investment" - Read my story
Birmingham business starts up with government grant
Birmingham, West Midlands Small Business Starts Up With £75,000 Government Grant
Birmingham, West Midlands
"If you believe in your business don't let anybody stand in the way. True passion will get you far, but knowing that the government can help you get funded helps a lot." - Read my story
Bristol Government Grant Recipient
Interview with a £132,000 Government Grant Recipient from Bristol, South West
Bristol, South West
"Don't give up. If you have an idea, go and do it. Create your business plan, go present you idea to investors/government agencies and get what you want." - Read my story

Latest

11 Steps To Start a Business With NO MONEY
11 steps to start a business with no money
13Jul2021
UK Small Business Funding Course
UK Small Business Funding Course
20Aug2020
£31, 000 in Government Funding for Trucking Company
22Jul2020

Search Articles

Categories

  • Blog
  • Business Advice
  • Business List
  • Business Planning
  • Business Type
  • Centre
  • England
  • Free Downloads
  • Funding & Financing
  • Locations
  • News
  • Northern Ireland
  • Q&A's
  • Recommended Reads
  • Sam's Corner
  • Scotland
  • Tools & Resources
  • Uncategorized
  • Wales
  • Business Plan for Water Mill
  • Business Plan for Southern Italian Restaurant
  • Government funding for a telehealth business
  • Government funding for a job board
  • Business Plan for Table Tennis Facility
Need funding for your business?
Learn how you can get funding for your small business in the UK. It takes 30 seconds.

Membership to the Portal

Recommended

CBILS: Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme
25Mar2020


This Budget 2020, the Chancellor has introduced a...

Most Popular

Private Investors as a Funding Source Guide
05May2020
CBILS: Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme
25Mar2020

Don’t miss a thing!

Stay up-to-date with weekly recaps of news and tips for UK Startups.

Testimonials

2018 Government Funding
2018 Government Funding Success Story Interview
Leeds, England

"A business plan is the key to a successful business as well as the way to get government funding" - Read my story

Cambridge Tech Company Gets Funding
Interview with a £65,485 Government Grant Recipient from Cambridge
Cambridge, East England

"Perfect your business plan as it's in my option the number one thing small businesses need in order to attract and impress a funding agency" - Read my story

cleaning company monitoring technology
£17,500 Small Business Loan for Birmingham Startup
Birmingham, West Midlands

"If you have a business idea, don't wait - get your business plan made, ask for help and start your funding search early!" - Read my story

government grant for cleaning business in Bangor, Wales
£30,250 Government Grant Helped Me Start My Business
Bangor, Wales
"We were denied funding and we could have given up so many times. But we didn't. The important part is not to give up and keep gong. Get a support team to help you" - Read my story
Toronto Retailer Gets Government Loan
£470,000 Low Interest Government Loan For City of London Retailer
City of London, England
"Banks said no to due to my poor credit and business inexperience, but the government funding programme had a different reaction to my well developed business plan" - Read my story
doggy day care
£21,315 Government Provided Loan For Doggy Day Care Business
Nottingham, East Midlands
"No matter your situation, if your plan is to start a small business - don't give up. Use tools and resources that are available all around you and don't be scare of a small investment" - Read my story
Birmingham business starts up with government grant
Birmingham, West Midlands Small Business Starts Up With £75,000 Government Grant
Birmingham, West Midlands
"If you believe in your business don't let anybody stand in the way. True passion will get you far, but knowing that the government can help you get funded helps a lot." - Read my story
Bristol Government Grant Recipient
Interview with a £132,000 Government Grant Recipient from Bristol, South West
Bristol, South West
"Don't give up. If you have an idea, go and do it. Create your business plan, go present you idea to investors/government agencies and get what you want." - Read my story

Latest

11 Steps To Start a Business With NO MONEY
11 steps to start a business with no money
13Jul2021
UK Small Business Funding Course
UK Small Business Funding Course
20Aug2020
£31, 000 in Government Funding for Trucking Company
22Jul2020

Search Articles

Categories

  • Blog
  • Business Advice
  • Business List
  • Business Planning
  • Business Type
  • Centre
  • England
  • Free Downloads
  • Funding & Financing
  • Locations
  • News
  • Northern Ireland
  • Q&A's
  • Recommended Reads
  • Sam's Corner
  • Scotland
  • Tools & Resources
  • Uncategorized
  • Wales
UKStartups

020 3880 8554

Contact Us

UKStartups.org

  • About UKStartups
  • Why Choose Us?
  • Customer Reviews
  • Success Stories
  • Register Now

Business Resources

  • Startup Assessment Tool
  • Entrepreneur Test
  • Business Resources
  • Startup Portal
  • Startup Tools

Startup Database

  • Database Walkthrough
  • Startup Guide and Timeline
  • Business Plan Builder
  • Investor PitchDeck
  • Funding Database

Contact Us

  • Contact Us
  • Consulting Services
  • FAQs
  • Members Login
  • Our Centres

© 2021 - UKStartups.org - Helping small business owners and entrepreneurs startup. Privacy Policy