An important message from the Managing Director of Grant Solutions:

"You're Just 3 Steps Away From Receiving $100,000+ in Export Grants...For The Next 7 Years!"

Learn how you can get 50% of your overseas marketing costs back...in CASH!

Dear Exporter,

It’s tough out there right now… especially if you’re exporting.

Most of the world is in a recession... while the cost of producing in Australia continues to increase.

But ...what most business owners don’t know is that the Australian government is actually willing to give you money to sell your products or services overseas by providing up to $150,000 a year for 7 years to cover 50% of your marketing costs!

That’s right!

Across Australia there are thousands of businesses (just like yours) who are getting millions of dollars from the Government to support their overseas marketing activity.

Would you like to be one of them?

In most cases, you don't need to spend any more money. You already have... and now you can get it back!

On this page you'll see everything about the program…make sure you read it all before contacting us.

Interested? These are the Next Steps...

10 Great Reasons To Use Grant Solutions For Your 2010 Export Grant

  1. No Win, No Fee.

• We’re experts in government grants and guarantee that your export application will be successful (providing it’s eligible).  
• You don’t pay us until the grant money is in YOUR bank account.
• Our compensation is proportional to the money we get you... so we'll maximise your claim

2. Grant money goes directly into YOUR bank account … not OUR Trust account

• A common practice amongst export grant companies is to establish a trust account into which export grants are deposited. These trust accounts are established to safeguard consultants by preventing clients from withdrawing money before fees are paid. (In essence trust account exist because these grant consultant don’t trust their clients.)
• Trust accounts are inconvenient for clients, denying access to money … Good luck if the grant company goes under or is in litigation.
• At Grant Solutions we trust our clients and all money will be deposited directly into your bank account.

3.  Short Agreement (only 1 page long)

• Our agreement is 1 page long and written in simple terms... not a 10+ page contract that require a legal team and 2 weeks of negotiation to sign-off.
• Our business philosophy is based on trust rather than on fear. We leave ourselves exposed but we’ve never had a bad experience (and we probably never will).

4.  We come to you (or do it remotely)

• Export grants are generally complex and require mountains of paperwork. Sorting things out remotely makes things even more difficult because of the “back and forth”. That’s why we like to meet our clients… and get everything sorted onsite.
• We’ve found that once all paperwork is there, it usually takes less than 2 day to complete the whole application.

5. Rapid turnaround … in under 72 hours – Guaranteed.

• No one likes applications that drag on… it’s just one more thing you need to worry about. That’s why we offer an express service. Grant Solutions is the only company in Australia offering a fast, 72 hour turnaround service… so you get your money quicker.
• Once you’ve provided us with all the supporting documentation, we’ll take care of all the paperwork and submit the application in 3 business days or less.

6. We can electronically submit your claim to Austrade (no paperwork required).

• We’re officially approved by Austrade to submit EMDG claims with Austrade’s E-lodge software.
• Electronic submissions reduce paper, increases accuracy (as your details don’t need to be retyped).

7. We do the hard yards, so you don’t have to

• It’s well known that some companies outsource work to less experienced members in order to improve margins. This may be fine as long as your claim is approved… but what if you get audited?
• At Grant Solutions, only seasoned professionals deal with your claims – professionals that have higher degrees and substantial government experience. Let’s face it; your claim is only as good as the person making it. Our EMDG team has read the 2007 Export Act and the Administrative Guidelines prior to working with clients.
• Our consultants regularly attend information sessions and professional development held by Austrade which ensures we have access to the latest information available

8.  We offer a comprehensive consultation on how to legally maximize your EMDG claim

• We understand that applying for export grants is not something you do everyday and take the time to fully explain the EMDG program and how to fully take advantage of it… getting more money back in your pocket.

9.  Direct access to Austrade EMDG auditors

• We have direct phone numbers of key Austrade staff and can get you the answers you need… fast.
• No more being transferred between departments and being stuck on the phone listening to call-waiting music. For us, the information is just a phone call away.

10.  We’ll assist you during the Austrade audit

• Being audited is a stressful experience… with auditors going through your documents and asking questions. People who lodge export grants themselves often feel helpless (and as a result also feel like they’re being pushed around). However, we’ll stand up for you… so you get the amount you deserve.

If You’re Thinking That There Must Be A Catch… You’re RIGHT!

Our services are NOT for everyone – we can’t help businesses in the following 3 scenarios:

1. Your business is about to start (or just started) exporting.

Your marketing expenditure for the 2008-2009 & 2009-2010 financial years will be minimal and so is the amount that you can claim back. Wait until you’ve accumulated at least $40K in eligible expenditure before contacting us. Make sure you sign up for our Free Newsletter (on the left hand side).

2. You want to shop around for the lowest price

You always get what you pay for. We don’t offer the lowest price… but we do offer the best value. We’re not interested in anyone who shops around – wasting everyone’s time in the process.

A number of EMDG consultants have also been banned by Austrade for engaging in dishonest conduct… their cheap price might end up being very expensive if you’re charged with fraud.

3. You are considering defrauding the government

If you haven’t spent the money on legitimate expenses, then please don’t contact us… we’re NOT interested. Other ‘cheaper’ providers might help you… while we’ll report you to Austrade.

If the above 3 categories don’t apply, then we can help you. Contact us today so we can lodge you documents on July 1st … and get your money back within 4-6 weeks.

To Your Export Success,  

Ross Turetsky MBA, BCom, BInfoSys
Managing Director, Grant Solutions

The Export Market Development Grants (EMDG) scheme is a key Australian Government financial assistance program for aspiring and current exporters.

Austrade grants support a wide range of industry sectors and products, including inbound tourism and the export of intellectual property and know-how outside Australia.

The EMDG scheme:

• Encourages small and medium sized Australian businesses to develop export markets
• Reimburses up to 50% of expenses incurred on eligible export promotion activities, above a $10,000 threshold
• Provides up to 7 grants to each eligible applicant.

To access the scheme for the first time, businesses need to have spent $10,000 over 2 years on eligible export marketing expenses.

Applications open from 1 July.

Eligibility

• income of not more than $50 million in the grant year
• incurred at least $10,000 of eligible export expenses under the scheme (first-time applicants can combine two years expenses)
• principal status for the export business (some exceptions apply, eg. event promoters)

• the export of goods and most services  
• inbound tourism
• the export of intellectual property and know-how
• conferences and events held in Australia

To qualify for an EMDG grant, your business must have:

• promoted your product for export

and your product must be one of the following:

• a good made in Australia
• a good made outside Australia where Australia will derive a significant net benefit from its sale overseas
• all services except those specified as ineligible in the EMDG Regulations
• a tourism service (including accommodation, passenger transport or tours)
• a conference or event held in Australia
• an intellectual property right that mainly resulted from work done in Australia
• a trademark that was owned, assigned or first used in Australia
• know-how that mainly resulted from work done in Australia

Changes to the Export Grants Program

Legislation has been passed that will result in a number of changes to the Export Market Development Grants (EMDG) scheme for expenses incurred from 1 July 2010 and applications lodged from 1 July 2011.
 
The changes aim to both extend the life of the EMDG scheme and better balance the cost of the scheme to its budget.  The changes also aim to ensure that those exporters most deserving of grants receive the greatest level of support possible within the budget available for the scheme.

The changes are as follows:

• extending the Export Market Development Grants (EMDG) scheme so that it applies to all grant years from 2011-12 to 2015-16 inclusive;
• reducing the maximum grant from $200,000 to $150,000;
• reducing the maximum number of grants available for an individual recipient (other than an approved body or an approved joint venture) from eight to seven;
• capping intellectual property registration expenses at $50,000 per application;
• increasing the minimum expenses threshold from $10,000 to $20,000;
• iincreasing the income limit for members of approved joint ventures/consortia from $30 million to $50 million;
• removing approved trading houses as an eligible special approval applicant category;
• reinstating disqualifying conviction provisions in the Act that were unintentionally removed when Criminal Code Amendment (Theft, Fraud, Bribery and Related Offences) Act 2000 rules replaced earlier disqualifying conviction provisions;

In addition to these changes, the following changes were made to the EMDG Act:

• enabling Austrade to impose conditions on the accreditation of EMDG consultants;
• amending the ‘form and manner’ requirements and claim lodgement deadlines for applications submitted by accredited EMDG consultants;

9 Export Grant Promotional Categories

You may claim for expenditure on specific export promotional activities undertaken during the financial year before the application period. For your first grant you may clim expenses incurred over the last 2 financial years.

1. Overseas representatives

• All reasonable costs that you pay to have an overseas representative act on your behalf on a long-term basis to market/promote your product
• Portion of the fee or expense paid to your overseas representative that relates to promotion of your Australian products. You cannot claim the costs of non-promotional activities your representative carries out for you such as supplying after-sales service, post-contractual training, sourcing of products, arranging clearance, warehousing or collection of goods, importing or promoting products from other countries
• Maximum of $200,000 per application is claimable under this category. However you should include all eligible expenses that you wish to claim in your application to ensure your grant is maximised

2. Marketing consultants

• Cost of engaging an arms length consultant to undertake export market research or marketing activities
• Maximum of $50,000 per application is claimable under this category. However you should include all eligible expenses that you wish to claim in your application to ensure your grant is maximised

3. Marketing visits

• Cost of travel during the marketing visit eg airfares, taxi fares, departure taxes, etc (only 65 per cent of first class airfares may be claimed)
• An allowance of $300 per day is claimable for overseas marketing visits to help defray accommodation, entertainment and living expenses

4. Communications

• Costs of communications to promote your product (eg fax, emails, phone)

5. Free samples

• Cost of providing free samples of the product you are promoting for export

6. Trade fairs, seminars, in-store promotions

• Cost of participating in an international trade fair, seminar, in-store promotion, international forum, private exhibition, or similar activity
• Money it costs to participate, eg entry fees, stand rental charges and the cost to freight your promotional materials to the trade fair

7. Promotional literature & advertising

• External costs of promotional material, such as brochures, videos, DVDs, advertising and website development

8. Overseas buyers

• Cost of bringing potential buyers who are non-residents to Australia for an approved export promotion purpose
• Up to a maximum of $7,500 per buyer per visit
• Up to a maximum of $45,000 per application

9. Registration and/or insurance of eligible intellectual property

• Payments made to third parties, e.g. patent and trademark attorneys, for the grant, registration or extension of the period of registration of intellectual property for countries other than Australia or New Zealand
• Cost of insurance premiums paid for protection against possible infringement, in countries outside Australia, of eligible intellectual property.