Starting, growing, and/or expanding a Online Retail Store is never easy work. There are always costs that are involved and unless you have the funds you need, this can pose to be a challenge. While you can save money to use, or borrow money, finding government funding for a Online Retail Store can be the stepping stone you need to make your business dream come true.

The British government has several government funding programmes that a Online Retail Store may be able to take advantage of. These government funds may come from your local government office, from the regional government, or the national government.

Start your funding search now, to find relevant government funding for a Online Retail Store

A little about government funding programmes

If you are looking for government funding, or any type of government grants, loans, or other options to startup or expand a Online Retail Store in the UK, it’s important to know the basics of funding in general.

There are various funding options that a small business owner in the UK may be able to take advantage of. These programmes come from various levels of the British government and can include government grants, government loans, tax breaks, tax credits..etc. The most popular option will be government grants. These grant programmes are generally provided to help small business owners and entrepreneurs take advantage of the “free money”, which they can use towards bettering their business, creating jobs, and overall improving the economy. Government grants are available, however are always in high demand, thus staying current with what is available and acting on it quickly is the best way to ensure your success with any grant applications. The more "easier to obtain" option is a government loan, which offers by far better interest rates, even no interest rates in certain situations which can be quite helpful for a startup or expanding business to take advantage of. If you have however spent the money on ou business already and are looking for a credit back, you can consider the various tax breaks and tax credits - which act much like the tax incentives/refunds at the end of the tax season. Speak to a government funding expert to get help with finding funding for your small business.

Using government funding for your Online Retail Store

While there are many government funding programmes available for small business owners across the UK. Your business has to be eligible for them before you can plan on spending the money. As a Online Retail Store, you may have a number of startup or expansion expenses you want to have covered via government funds, so it is crucial that you understand what you can use the funds for before you apply. Speak to a funding expert to better understand how to use the funds and what you can use the funds for.

As a small business in the UK, the below are some of the business activities which you may be able to obtain funding for (including grants, government loans, tax breaks/credits..etc)

Some of the more common funding requirements that business owners try and take advantage of, including those starting a Online Retail Store business include: to assist with financial services, to assist with trade shows, exploration or evaluation, marketing and advertising costs, product or service development costs, and wage support.

If you are unsure of what you need for your small business just yet, speaking with a funding expert or a business consultant will help narrow down the needs. Speak to an expert now.

How much can you get in government funding?

Each business has different funding requirements. There is often no set amount as to how much it will cost you to startup, expand, or to operate your Online Retail Store.

While it’s easy to say, “I need £50,000 to start my Online Retail Store”, or “I need £500,000”; the process to determine your needs in detail should come first. This often requires a proper business plan to be done to help you determine your goals as well as your needs – in order to help you understand how much in government funding you need.

Each government funding agency has the amounts that they are comfortable providing business owners. These amounts vary and depend on a number of factors.

These factors can include the specific business you are in (the industry), your location, what you need funding for, how much you need, when you need it by, how effective your business plan is, your financial, in certain cases your credit score and more. These factors are used to determine quite a lot, and how much you may be eligible for.

As a Online Retail Store and based on the funding needs mentioned above (not taking into consideration other factors), others in the same industry have been successful at obtaining between as little as £25,000 and as much as £500,000. This does not reflect how much you would be able to obtain but gives you an idea of the ranges. To determine if you are eligible for any funding, you can speak to a funding expert now.

As a Online Retail Store, what is needed to apply for government funding?

When you are ready to apply for funding for your small business, be it a Online Retail Store, or any type of business, it’s important to understand that each funding program has its own criteria which you must follow.

Since each grant, loan, and funding programme is different in what they require of you as an applicant, it is important to read the qualification, criteria, and requirements being asked. You can speak to a funding expert to get a better understanding of this and what is specifically needed in your case.

If you are ready, you can speak to a funding expert now.

Generally speaking, the must-haves before you apply to any government funding programme includes:

1. A solid business plan
2. 3 year financials (current financials or projections)
3. PitchDeck presentation (not mandatory but helpful)
4. Completed and confirmed funding application

In addition to these 4 critical must-haves, you will have to ensure you meet the eligibility criteria which can often ask that you are in the correct industry, location, have the right funding needs, that you apply on time (pre-deadline)..etc

Each of the general requirements is something you should have ready before you decide to apply.

1. Your business plan should be detailed and should explain your Online Retail Store in detail, along with a breakdown of any and all funding needs.
2. The financials for your Online Retail Store should be clear and growth year over year should be shown.
3. Your PitchDeck presentation if you decide to do one for your Online Retail Store should be no more than 15 slides and should be visually appealing and match the points covered in your business plan.

These 3 documents will ensure you have the majority of what is needed to apply for funding for your Online Retail Store.

If you need help, guidance, and handholding through the steps, working with a business and funding expert is the best way to ensure no issues. Speak to an expert now.

Ready to get started?

If you are ready to get started, and launch/expand your own Online Retail Store, you can register and use the Small Business Startup Platform.

The platform provides you access to the Business Plan Builder Tool which will allow you to develop your Online Retail Store plan from scratch, with expert guidance and assistance. It will also help you figure out how to create your 3 year financials projections, so you will be ready for the next steps.

The PitchDeck Tool will help you create a visually appealing presentation, made to impress investors or government funding agencies with the only thing left to do is to find the government funding options you can apply for. And we help with that too!

The Funding Database will provide you access to all available government funding for a Online Retail Store, as well as other options which including business acquisition costs, to cover business development costs, to pay for consulting services, to help with purchase of new or used equipment, and job creation

With your access to the Small Business Startup Platform, you will have access to experts 24/7, with step-by-step assistance through each step to helping you build up with what is needed for your Online Retail Store, and to help you find all available government funding options.

Who can get government funding?

The British government provides quite a lot of funding each year to help thousands of small business owners benefit from the various funding options.

While there are a number of Online Retail Store startups or expanding businesses that secured different types of government funding, finding the funds for you should be a process that you work on with a funding expert. Work with an expert now.

Here are just a few small businesses across the UK that were successful at obtaining government funding. You can also see over 10,000 of these within the Small Business Startup Platform.

Company Name	Location	Funding Purpose	Funding Amount
Nash & Co Solicitors	Devon	To implement an integrated legal information system, based upon the concept of an Intranet, which will maximise the overall effectiveness of the firm's internal fee earning operations and significantly increase its profitability.	£52,000.00
Goodman Metalworks Limited	Nottinghamshire	Supplying the UK with steel fabrication and stainless steel fabrication	£99,000.00
Bellchem Products Ltd (2)	East Sussex	Chemical & hygiene product distribution	£26,220.00
Umicore Coating Services Ltd	Angus	Thermal optical coating services	£194,000.00
Raytheon Marine Europe Ltd	Hampshire	To establish design expertise and volume manufacturing capability in the UK for the development and manufacture of new advanced leisure marine electronics. To introduce advanced Digital Signal Processing and the latest theoretical techniques.	£35,000.00
Moulded Circuits Ltd	Leicestershire	To advance the company to the forefront of 3D technology with manufacturing. To provide a reliable economic manufacturing process to meet the increasing demands of 3D interconnection requirements worldwide.	£239,000.00
Sancton Wood School Limited	Cambridgeshire	To research and develop an assessment protocol that can be implemented into a child friendly diagnostic tool for characterising the learning needs of dyslexic children.	£77,167.00
Molecular Profiles Limited	Essex	To develop and implement a novel method for pharmaceutical and fine chemical material analysis, providing manufacturers with greater product knowledge and control.	£67,044.00
Esit Limited	Leicestershire	To enhance the capabilities of Active Data Management Toolkit by exploiting recent research ideas in task and knowledge modelling, adaptive workflow and web technologies.	£59,000.00
Cherrymans	Surrey	Assistance to reduce environmental impact	£3,820.00

UK Startups has helped thousands of small businesses over the years with securing government grants, government loans, finding private funding, building business plans, providing expertise and guidance through the steps, and more.

In addition to providing this type of help to many Online Retail Store owners, other business ideas that we’ve helped include:

• Dude Ranch -> build a business plan for Dude Ranch and find funding.

• Stock Broker -> build a business plan for Stock Broker and find funding.

• Watch Store -> build a business plan for Watch Store and find funding.

• First Aid Station -> build a business plan for First Aid Station and find funding.

• International Airport -> build a business plan for International Airport and find funding.

• Golf Cart Dealer -> build a business plan for Golf Cart Dealer and find funding.

• Air Filter Supplier -> build a business plan for Air Filter Supplier and find funding.

• Pizza Delivery -> build a business plan for Pizza Delivery and find funding.

• Mailing Machine Supplier -> build a business plan for Mailing Machine Supplier and find funding.

• Car Sharing Location -> build a business plan for Car Sharing Location and find funding.

Working with an expert at UK Startups will ensure that they have the skills required to assist you with a Online Retail Store, or any other business that you may be deciding to get into.

Want to know more about the experts?

Working with an expert on starting your small business, be it a Online Retail Store or something else – you want to ensure that you always work with the best business consultants, experts, and advisors that can help your business achieve success and to help you find the best funding options for your needs.

The experts at UK Startups are industry leaders, business owners, consultants, and individuals who have years of business experience, knowledge, and understanding. Each expert is skilled in their field in order to provide you with the most accurate assistance and help, to ensure your business success.

The experts, which are part of the Small Business Startup Platform are available 24/7 via the Ask an Expert program. This is available to all members and the service should come in handy when starting your own Online Retail Store. In addition to being available 24/7 for any business-related questions, some of the direct assistance you can benefit from when using the experts include:

• Helping you determine your funding needs and requirements
• Assisting with the pitch process
• Providing you with application guidance and review service
• Guiding you with your financial projections
• Assistance with creating your business plan
• Providing you with an in-depth review of your work
• Searching for available government grants and other funding options for you
• Helping you with your financial statements, including balance sheet, cash flow, and profit/loss statements

Ready to get started and work with an expert? It is as easy as registering here.

Checklist to help with government funding for Online Retail Store

The process of starting a Online Retail Store can be a simple one if you have access to the funds you need. The below checklist will help you with the steps needed to secure government funding for a Online Retail Store.

This checklist is best used with the Small Business Startup Platform and set of tools/resources:

✅ Write down your Online Retail Store idea on paper (the draft of a plan).

This can be done on paper, in Word, or using the Business Plan Builder Tool. As you go through the process of writing down your business idea, be sure to use the Ask an Expert program to request help, guidance, or assistance if something is unclear. Following the right step-by-step guide to developing a plan that can help with getting government funding is the key to success.

✅ Share your draft with an expert for an in-depth review

Once you’ve had a chance to go through the business plan, be it in full, or partially, sharing your work with an expert who specializes in business plans should be the next step. An expert who has an in-depth understanding of government funding and what is needed to succeed will review your work and provide you with actionable feedback to help you complete the plan needed to start your Online Retail Store.

✅ Complete your financials needed for a Online Retail Store

The process of creating financials is a fairly complicated one. By using experts to help you, via the Ask an Expert program, the projections of your financials can be done with ease. This process will help you with the step by step in putting together proper, annualized projections including documents that are needed by funding agencies.

✅ Create a visually appealing PitchDeck presentation

Having a PitchDeck presentation to go along with your business plan can help with show the visual side of the business model as well as your funding needs. By having a PitchDeck presentation that is optimized for funding and summarizes your government funding needs, the process of sharing your information with a funding agency does get simplified. You can use the Ask an Expert program to get step-by-step help with developing the best PitchDeck for your business.

✅ Start the government funding search

The funding search is not a complicated process, but it can be if you are doing it on your own. In fact, the average time it takes to find funding on your own can range from 6 to 8 weeks, if you know where to look! With the Funding Database and access to the Ask an Expert program, the search process of finding government funding for Online Retail Store becomes much easier.

Use the experts to help you find the best options for your needs

✅ Fill out the applications

The last step of the checklist to find government funding for a Online Retail Store is to ensure you fill out the funding applications correctly. While you can do this on your own, directly via the funding agency, it is a good idea to use the Ask an Expert program and have an expert guide you step by step through the application process and review them before being sent out.

The 6-step checklist process of starting and finding funding for your Online Retail Store can be done fairly quickly with the right tools, resources, and services available via the Small Business Startup Platform.

To use the Small Business Startup Platform for your own business – register right here.

Still not ready?

Starting a small business is a lot of work, especially if you need funding to ensure your success. If you are still in the early phases, it’s good to work with an expert to start correctly, right from the beginning. But if you need a bit more time, the below resources about government grants, government loans, government funding in general, starting up, business planning..etc should help focus you in the right direction:

• The Ethical Business Blueprint: A Guide to B Corp Certification

• Funding Database Walkthrough: East England Business Grants and Funding

• How To Start a Small Business With No Money

• Starting a small business during the COVID-19 Pandemic

• CBILS: Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme