The Business Innovation Access Program (or BIAP) has a whopping $20 million government funds up for grabs to help smaller businesses to realize their potential. The program is administered by IRAP. If you own a small to mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) with big aspirations, then you might be eligible to access the funds. The BIAP, a Government of Canada pilot program, was announced in the 2013 Budget and launched on 18 March 2014 by the Minister of State (Science and Technology) Greg Rickford. The aim of the program is to help Canadian businesses to realize short term projects in a way that is beneficial to the business and its customers. Proposals are, accordingly, welcomed from Canadian entrepreneurs who want to do something fantastic with their small or medium sized business.
There are a number of ways in which these grants for businesses can be put to use by small to mid-sized enterprises (SMEs). One of the great things about successful entrepreneurs is their creativity and their ability to come up with astounding new projects that will help to wow their customers, or to change the future of business for the better. However, there are a few key examples of the ways in which the funds can be used to help businesses to realize their shorter term projects.
Businesses ought to be able to demonstrate how the funds will help their customers and clients, by accelerating the speed at which their projects can be achieved. One example of this is in the field of product testing and development. Funds from the BIAP can make a big difference to small and mid-sized businesses engaged in product development. These funds can help businesses to test out new products more quickly, to run more pilot tests of their products, and to try out a greater number of new ideas. All of these help the final product to be more attuned to what customers want and need, and to be of higher quality and more innovative overall. By helping a business to test and thus to release their product to the public more quickly, these grants will give a business a competitive advantage in the market, helping to give them more of the financial security that is so important in the present time.
Examples of eligible IRAP (BIAP) projects:
-Product optimization
-Process development, analysis or optimization
-Specialized testing
And, some examples of eligible business services are:
-Market research
-Marketing strategy development
-Competitive analysis
-Business strategy development
These highly desirable grants are also allied with the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP). This program aims to reward and to encourage entrepreneurship in Canada. By providing the resources that entrepreneurs need to pursue their dreams, and by responding to their proven talent in the field of business by enabling them to create high paying jobs, the IRAP will help those small and medium sized businesses to become big business in the future. If you have submitted successful SR&ED claims and have a established business for 2 years you may eligible to apply for BIAP or other IRAP funding programs.
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