Australian small businesses in the retail sector could receive up to $25,000 each for increasing business efficiencies and sharing innovative ideas on how to boost business growth.
The Tyro Smart Growth Grant program, which kicks off today, will see up to 10 small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs), including retail businesses, receive grants worth a total of up to $250,000.
Tyro CEO, Jost Stollmann, said the grants program was timely for retail SME owners, many of whom continue to battle every day just to stay open, let alone innovate and grow.
“Our research tells us that inefficient business banking processes cost small businesses on average $7,800 per year, or almost $7 billion nationally.
“The Tyro Smart Growth Grant program will help SME owners in two ways: it will encourage them to introduce new business efficiencies to boost their growth ; and it will generate new ideas from the community that will get us closer to closing the SME efficiency gap,” he said.
The grants program announcement will be made at today’s Tyro nextGen Business Banking Summit, which brings business software and service providers together with Fintech start-ups to discuss the efficiency benefits of frictionless mobile banking technology.
At the Summit Mr Stollmann will reveal his vision for nextGen banking: cloud-based, totally integrated and mobile banking that encompasses EFTPOS, payments and cash-flow-based unsecured growth funding.
“Along with efficiency, swift access to working capital is the most important driver of competitive growth for Australian SMEs,” Mr Stollmann said.
“Ensuring these businesses have access to cash-flow-based lending and efficient solutions that allow them to invest, innovate and grow, is absolutely critical to sustain the engine room of the Australian economy.”
Last month, Tyro published a report which revealed the extent to which banking inefficiency is hurting SMEs, with 44 per cent of businesses being robbed of 19.5 days per year – the equivalent of a year’s worth of annual leave for the average working employee – on online business banking processes.
This is important because while SMEs provide about 50 per cent of private sector employment and contribute 46 per cent of GDP, their contribution is slowing.
Grant applicaiotns will be accepted between September 15, 2016 and November 15, 2016. More information about the Tyro Smart Growth program can be found here.
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