Trading online as a business isn’t always easy. To sell products online, you require an eCommerce Store to process payments and to sell products to those visiting your website. An eCommerce Website can cost thousands of euros, especially an eCommerce Site that is set up to sell products directly. However, through the Trading Online Voucher Scheme, you can get help with purchasing a website for your small business. Knowing the answer to “What Is A TOV?” can really help your business progress. Through a TOV Grant, you can enjoy a new eCommerce Website to help you trade!

The costs related to eCommerce and Trading Online can often go deep into the thousands of euros. This isn’t a secret. Just the set-up of an eCommerce Website can cost 1,000 Euro, that’s before any optimisation or products. This is often too expensive for most small businesses as they often require sales of products to earn money, but an eCommerce Store is required for sales. This is where the Trading Online Voucher Scheme can help!

What Is A TOV?

A TOV or TOV Grant is a financial incentive to help small businesses to develop and grow their online trading presence. The TOV Grant will enable businesses to adapt trading online either by developing a new eCommerce Website or upgrading an existing one in order to boost sales and reach new markets and audiences.

Essentially the Trading Online Voucher Scheme is support offered in Ireland to help Small Businesses across the country with their Online eCommerce Trading. The TOV Grant can be used to help with paying for a new eCommerce Website, upgrading your current Website and much more, all of which will help you to build your business up and to sell online. It enables your business to work with agencies such as Rank And Reach to grow its digital presence.

The voucher is accessible to businesses across Ireland and can be used to pay for Website Design & Strategies that will make a difference to your business. While there are requirements for the Trading Online Voucher Scheme, the TOV Grant is open to small businesses looking to enter the digital world.

Trading Online Voucher Scheme Requirements

As mentioned above, there are requirements for the Trading Online Voucher Scheme. These requirements make it fair for those wanting to access the grant and it also ensures the right businesses get the right help. The TOV Criteria is a list of requirements of which a business interested in the Trading Onlne Voucher must qualify for. They are;

Applicants Should Not Have An eCommerce Presence (Or A Very Limited One)
There Should Be No More Than 10 Employees In The Business (Or Full-Time Equivalents)
The Business Turnover Should Be No More Than €2,000,000
Applicant Businesses Must Have Been Trading In The Last 6 Months (Must Be Proved)
Previous Voucher Recipients May Apply For A Second Voucher

These Trading Online Voucher Scheme Requirements are set out by the government across Ireland. While some of the requirements seem easy to qualify for, there are also ineligible projects too, of which they don’t qualify for the Trading Online Voucher Scheme.

Projects Ineligible For The Trading Online Voucher Scheme

Below, you can find a list of businesses that are ineligible for the TOV Grant Ireland, all of which can’t access the Trading Online Voucher Scheme. This is often due to the projects in question being not for profit or too large for the scheme. The following projects and excluded;

Companies with charitable status, commercial semi-state companies, trade associations and company representation bodies such as Chambers of Commerce are not eligible to participate in the scheme
“Not for Profit” and social entrepreneurship applicants unless they operate in a commercial domain
Professional Services specialising in IT Type services who are already capable of Trading Online using existing in-house systems
Conferences and Seminars
Projects which are contrary to public policy
Duplication of supports for projects which would be eligible for assistance from other State Agencies of EU funded Operational Programmes
Projects with employees in excess of 10 people
Projects deemed to be capable of proceeding in any event without scheme assistance i.e deadweight
Categories of business excluded from the Trading Online Voucher Scheme as defined by their NACE Code. A number of sectors are identified by their NACE codes in which exclusions apply in terms of the Trading Online Voucher Scheme. The NACE code for a business can be checked by CRO Registration.

The above projects are deemed as unsuitable for the Trading Online Voucher Scheme. However, with the majority of Small Businesses falling outside of those categories, you can apply for the scheme and the grant to build your business. As for the TOV Grant, it can only be spent on certain services, of which benefit your business in terms of eCommerce & Digital Trading.

What can you spend your Trading Online Voucher on?

The TOV Grant can only be spent on certain services that benefit your small business in regards to eCommerce & Digital Trading. Services such as the Development of a new eCommerce Website fall into eligible spending while brochure website development doesn’t. Knowing what is classed as eligible grant expenditure will help you to research the services that you can spend the TOV Grant on!

IT Consultation
Development or upgrade of e-commerce website
Implementing online payments or booking systems
Purchase of Internet related software
Developing an app (or multiplatform webpages)
Development of a digital marketing strategy
Implementing a digital marketing strategy
Training/Skills development specifically to establish and manage online trading activity
Purchase of online advertising (this purchase cannot make up any more than 30% of approved voucher costs and can only be drawn down in one payment phase). i.e 30% of web development costs
Professional Photography costs (this purchase cannot make up any more than 80% of other approved voucher costs) i.e 80% of web development costs

As shown in the list above, the TOV Grant can be spent on a variety of services. Ranging from IT Consultation to Photography and more, all of which can really help your business to grow & develop. Here at Rank And Reach, we provide several of these services such as eCommerce Website Development, Website Upgrading, Implementing Online Payments Or Booking Systems, Development Of A Digital Marketing Strategy, Implementing A Digital Marketing Strategy and more. All of which can really help your business to expand online.

However, there are a few services that are ineligible for the Trading Online Voucher. If you wish to purchase these services then you have to do so out of your own pocket. The TOV Grant isn’t allowed to be used for the following services;

Development of brochure websites*
Purchase of non-internet related software
Anything other than online trading related activity

*A brochure website is a website that only displays business and product/service information without a direct purchase system. Essentially a website that doesn’t allow your customers to purchase through the website, instead they have to contact you to make a purchase, the TOV Grant won’t payout for this.

How To Apply For The Trading Online Voucher Scheme

Applying for the TOV Grant for your business is easy and straightforward to do. The process has been laid out by the Irish Government to ensure that business owners can access the right help. However, it’s also about educating business owners too, so that the grant goes to the best possible use. The application process to get the TOV Grant for your business is as follows;

In order to apply for a Trading Online Voucher, you must first attend a half-day Information Seminar on how to use and get the best value for money from the voucher
After attending the information session you should complete and submit the application form through submit.com.

Apply For the trading online voucher scheme

Once you have attended a half-day Information Seminar on how to best use the money, you can apply using the form above. Once you have completed the form, a member of the team behind the Trading Online Voucher Scheme will provide some information on what to do next and how to progress. However, having an idea of what you want to spend the TOV Grant on within your business will put you ahead.

The best way of finding out what works and what you should invest the money into is to speak to specialists like the team we have here at Rank And Reach. Our team has worked with TOV Grant Applicants several times and we know the process, how it works and what you need to do in order to see a benefit from the services eligible.

How Can A TOV Grant Benefit Your Business?

When it comes to the TOV Grant and your business, knowing how you can use it to best benefit your business is important. Part of the TOV Grant Application is to attend a Half-Day Seminar to learn about how best to spend your voucher. This is a great way of finding out information about using the TOV Grant to see results. However, here at Rank And Reach, we have real-world experience of helping business owners to trade online using the Trading Online Voucher Scheme. We have worked with businesses across Ireland, helping them to really maximize their grant!

As listed above, the TOV Grant provides funding for services related to Trading Online through eCommerce Related Services. These services include eCommerce Website Design & Website Design Upgrades. These services allow your business to benefit from direct selling in the digital space. Whether you have a website that needs upgrading to include eCommerce or you need a new eCommerce Website, we can help. Our 10+ Years of experience mean that we can build websites that push your business and products to your audience.

Our specialists are on hand to help you with every step of the process, from the application to generating income with the end result. We know how important the TOV Grant and an eCommerce Store is for businesses across Ireland. The Trading Online Voucher Scheme is a great way of getting your business and products into the digital world. We have years of eCommerce Experience, with clients such as Cocktail Club who generate thousands of euros worth of sales through their store every month.

Using Your TOV Grant For A New eCommerce Website

The most common and useful use for your TOV Grant is to pay for a New eCommerce Website. While you can use the Trading Online Voucher for other services, a New eCommerce Website will act as a solid foundation. Of course, you have the option of upgrading your current website to include eCommerce Functionality. However, if you don’t currently have a website capable of eCommerce Functionality, a new one is always a solid idea.

Here at Rank And Reach, our team of Developers are on hand to build your new eCommerce Website from the ground up. We build our eCommerce Websites on WordPress using WooCommerce, however, we adapt the system to meet your needs. Our systems aren’t your everyday native websites, we include features that make the shopping experience as easy as possible for your visitors! It’s about converting those clicking into those paying!

Alongside building eCommerce Websites, we also provide support and advice when it comes to optimising your products and generating sales. A lot of agencies just leave you to figure the sales bit out yourself but here at Rank And Reach, we provide the important support that you need for your website. From the product description to the page as a whole, we can help you to get ahead of the competition. All within the budget of your TOV Grant too, meaning you don’t have to worry about the cost!

We are driven on delivering results. Whether it is clicks from visitors, sales or both, it’s about delivering the results here at Rank And Reach. If we don’t deliver results then it’s pointless doing anything. Our services are about business growth and expansion and that’s the important part!

Spend Your TOV Grant & See Results

Here at Rank And Reach, we have years of experience in working with businesses using government grants. As we operate in Ireland & Globally, we have worked with various governments and schemes in regards to funding for services. When it comes to the Trading Online Voucher Scheme, we can help you with your initial assessment along with providing all of the right and relevant paperwork.

We know that as a Small Business, a TOV Grant of 2,500 Euro could be groundbreaking for a small business in Ireland. Especially those that sell products online. We can work with you to build an eCommerce Website, connect it to Social Media and more to really optimise it for sales! It’s about getting the best return on your investment, even if the investment is a grant!

Use the form below to speak to our team and let’s get started with your TOV Grant Application and get your business trading online through a Trading Online Voucher!

A member of our team will be in touch once you have completed the short form above. They will discuss the TOV Grant with you and they will find out how far into the Trading Online Voucher Scheme Application you are. They will then put a plan together with you in order to help you to apply and be approved for the grant. We will then provide you with the quotes and paperwork that you need, ready for your grant.

So, as long as your business in Ireland meets the above requirements for the TOV Grant, you can apply. This grant will give you the much-needed funding to help you with your Online Trading through a dedicated eCommerce Platform. While other agencies provide services related to TOV Grants, it’s about working with an agency you can trust, like Rank And Reach.

Our Other Posts: