The SWEF Enterprise Fund awards grants of up to £2,000 to young people in Dorset who are launching a new businesses or running a new business that is within its first two years of trading. We support applicants with business costs that they would otherwise be unable to afford and that will help the business make a transformational change or take take a significant step forward in its development. This is not a loan scheme and recipients do not need to pay the grant back.
Business plans are not required, all we ask is that applicants complete the application form as fully as possible.
We need a reference to support your application. Your referee should not be a spouse, parent or guardian. It should be someone who knows your business and your skills. It might be a tutor, a previous employer or a support worker or mentor.
Depending on the current stage of your business you can apply for a START-UP GRANT of up to £500 or a BUSINESS GRANT of up to £2,000.
Eligibility (all applicants)
- You are aged 18 to 30
- You currently live in the county of Dorset
- You are facing financial challenges preventing you from developing your business
- You are launching or running a new business that has been trading for under two years
- You are either the majority shareholder of the business or all shareholders must be aged 18 to 30
- You have a business bank account or are setting one up (grants are only paid into business bank accounts)
Applying for a start-up grant
- Start-up grants are for businesses that are not yet trading (looking to start within 3 months of application) or are within a month or two of starting to trade
- You can apply for up to £500
- If successful, you can apply for a business grant at a later stage, when your business has shown progression
- Grants must be spent within one month of receipt of funds
- Applications solely for ‘business ideas’ will not be considered – we support young people who have taken significant steps to get a business off the ground (for example, doing market research or pro-bono work, developing social media followers, investing money into early business costs)
Your application form must show that:
- Your business idea has the potential to be profitable and to be your sole work focus
- You have enough relevant experience and or training to potentially succeed
- You have specific plans for how you will spend the grant, such as web links and costs for the items requested
How you can use the grant:
- Equipment that will help achieve increased profit
- Materials or stock
- Prototypes and product development
- Building a website or booking system
- Training
- Other business costs that will make a significant impact
- Ideally, any goods or services to be purchased using the grant should be sourced from UK businesses
You CANNOT use the grant for the following:
- Salary or living costs e.g. rent or utilities
- Debt repayment
- New computers, phones, tablets (we can consider second-hand or refurbished versions)
- App development or software development costs – apps/software should be ready to launch or already launched at the point of applying to SWEF (we can consider wireframes)
- Invasive beauty treatment such as botox, aesthetics, semi permanent makeup, facial tattoos, dermal fillers
Required documents:
- Download the START-UP GRANT APPLICATION FORM, and send your completed form by email to grants@dorsetcf.org
- Please ask your referee to download the REFERENCE FORM, and send the completed form by email to grants@dorsetcf.org
- A copy of a RECENT BANK STATEMENT (no more than three months old) to confirm your account details should you be successful. If you don’t have a business bank account yet, please let us know.
(You can include any additional documents, such as your business plan, although it is not required)
Applying for a business grant
- Business grants are for sole traders/limited companies/CICs limited by shares, that have been trading less than 2 years
- You can apply for up to £2,000
- Grants must be spent within one month of receipt of funds
Your application form must show that:
- The business is your sole work focus, or will become so shortly.
- The grant will be used to transform the business and take it to the next stage
- You have specific plans for how you will spend the grant, such as web links and costs for the items requested
Please note:
- Applications that involve ‘match funding’ or the purchase of second hand items are particularly welcome.
- If you are asking for a contribution towards a single item that costs more than £2,000, the grant should cover 25% or more of the total cost.
- Applicants will receive a single business grant only, which may not be at the maximum amount – you cannot re-apply
How you can use the grant:
- Equipment that will help achieve increased profit
- Prototypes and new product development
- Building a website or booking system
- Training
- Other business costs that will make a significant impact
- Ideally, any goods or services to be purchased using the grant should be sourced from UK businesses
You CANNOT use the grant for the following:
- Salary or living costs e.g. rent or utilities
- Debt repayment
- Ongoing software subscriptions
- Stock, materials or other ongoing costs for existing product lines
- New computers, phones, tablets (we can consider second-hand or refurbished versions)
- App development or software development costs – apps/software should be ready to launch or already launched at the point of applying to SWEF (we can consider wireframes)
- Invasive beauty treatment such as botox, aesthetics, semi permanent makeup, facial tattoos, dermal fillers
Required documents:
- Download the BUSINESS GRANT APPLICATION FORM, and send your completed form by email to grants@dorsetcf.org
- Please ask your referee to download the REFERENCE FORM, and send the completed form by email to grants@dorsetcf.org
- A copy of a RECENT BANK STATEMENT (no more than three months old) to confirm your account details should you be successful. If you don’t have a business bank account yet, please let us know.
- (You can include any additional documents, such as your business plan, although it is not required)
Next steps (all applicants):
- We will confirm receipt of your application within 5 working days
- We aim to contact you within 2 weeks to let you know if your application is moving to the next stage
- The next stage is to invite you to an online meeting. We will email you to arrange a date and time
- We aim to inform you of a final decision within one week of your online meeting
- If you are successful, the grant will be paid by bank transfer
- If you are successful, you will be asked to sign up to SWEF monthly newsletters, to take part in SWEF network events with other successful grant recipients, and to join a closed SWEF Facebook group
- We will ask you for feedback and updates six months after the grant is awarded, and again at 12 months
If you have any questions, please get in touch with us by emailing grants@dorsetcf.org or call grants manager Ellie Maguire on 07592 032666
Sources of support
The following organisations may be able to help you with developing your business idea and preparing a business plan, and may also provide ongoing business development support:
