A Manufacturer of Upholstered Furniture Takes Continuous Advantage Of Government Grants by Retaining Fair Grant Writing
Problem/Challenge
A small manufacturer (40 full-time employees) of fine furniture for resorts, hotels and restaurants is located in Toronto, Ontario. The manufacture of fine furniture is a capital-, resource- and labor-intensive process. The company found that its growth was limited by the size of its assets and infrastructure, including the absence of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. The lack of such a system caused a range of inefficiencies, including substantial production delays.
The company recognized that it needed to transform its production process, but had a limited capital budget and could not afford to make all the necessary changes at one time. It hired Fair Grant Writing (FGW), through a retainer relationship, to help it obtain government grant funding to increase its ability to implement change.
Solution
Fair Grant Writing identified multiple available government funding opportunities, including grants intended for exporters; industrial assistance grants; and hiring grants, among others. It retained FGW to make applications for these various grant opportunities. Because it was on retainer, and completed multiple grant applications simultaneously, the application process was more efficient and more cost-effective, and was completed in a shorter time span than would have otherwise been the case. To date, through applications made by Fair Grant Writing, the manufacturer has generated $125,000 in new funding from three different grant programs.
Outcome
The manufacturer used the grants in a number of ways: (1) It introduced a custom-made ERP system that streamlined internal communication and reduced delays by over 20%. (2) It attended a new trade show overseas that resulted in an additional 12% in annual sales. (3) It also purchased a Gerber fabric cutter and achieved 100% “quality of cut,” as opposed to 70%-75% when manual cutting had been used. (4) It used some of the funding for employee skills training.
Benefits of the Retainer Relationship
“We clearly realized that we needed an alternative source of funding for as many of these projects as possible. So we took advantage of a money-saving retainer solution that Fair Grant Writing offered us to hire their experts to apply for multiple government grants and loans,” said the president of the company. “This team of experts demonstrated a profound understanding of business planning, financing and technical writing. Within just six months, they prepared the applications for five government grants — helping us to generate a significant amount of funding to invest in our projects. We recommend the retainer solution to all who need to maintain tight control of their finances. This arrangement is a really good deal that we keep recommending to our business partners!” Find more about the retainer here
