COVID-19 restrictions have left many businesses facing the challenge of reaching their customers remotely by utilising digital services in new ways.
The ‘Go Digital’ scheme is a free business support programme designed to help your business do more with digital.
If you're a micro, small or medium-sized business, the scheme can help you make better use of digital technology through funding and one-to-one support.
Go Digital is delivered by Norfolk County Council, in partnership with district local authorities, to help businesses based in the county identify digital opportunities. It will provide expert one-to-one consultancy and the ability to apply for grants of up to £500.
The funding for 600 additional spaces on Go Digital has been enabled by the Interreg EU funded C-Care Project. C-Care project is a cross boarder France Channel England project, aiming to support people and businesses to recover from the impact of the Covid pandemic.
What the scheme can help with
The scheme could include helping you learn how to:
- sell products and services online
- reach new customers using social media
- build customer databases
- develop new or existing websites and attract new visitors
- work out the best homeworking options for teams
If your application is successful, you'll be assigned an experienced business advisor. They'll:
- conduct a ‘digital audit’ and provide a comprehensive report to identify digital opportunities
- help the business put together an action plan
Digital opportunities could include how to sell products and services online, reach new customers using social media, build customer databases, develop new or existing websites and attract new visitors, or how to work out the best homeworking options for teams.
Successful Go Digital applicants will be assigned an experienced business advisor who will conduct a ‘digital audit’ and provide a comprehensive report to identify digital opportunities. The advisor will help the business put together an action plan and then businesses will have the opportunity to apply for a grant of up to £500 to help them deliver projects using this plan.
To apply for the Go Digital Grant you should be a senior decision maker for your business (for example, a senior manager, director, founder or chief executive), and:
- your business must be based in Norfolk
- you must have fewer than 250 employees
- your turnover must be less than £42.9M
- you must have received less than £198k in public sector funding in the last three years
- you were trading positively at the end of 2019
- you already use digital technology in some way (for example, a website or social media account)
Commenting James Wild MP said:
"This is a great opportunity for local businesses to expand their business digitally. The pandemic has highlighted the importance of businesses going digital, and I would encourage all small businesses to look into the eligibility and apply."
To apply for a Go Digital Grants please apply at: Go Digital funding programme - Norfolk County Council
