Client Feature: Lord Mayor's Women in Business Grant 2025

Posted 23 Sep '24

Women-led businesses will have the opportunity to receive up to $5,000 in funding to support business growth through training, essential equipment, and professional services. This grant aims to empower women entrepreneurs, helping them strengthen their businesses and expand their impact.

Wondering how this can benefit you?

One of our clients, Melanie Rieger from Kirbi Solutions was awarded this very grant last year and offered to share her experience.

In October 2023 when the third round of the Lord Mayor’s Women in Business Grant opened for applications, I was one of over 250 business owners who applied for the grant, and one of 53 successful applications. At the time I did not realise how much value this would provide to me personally, and to our business.

The grant of up to $5000 per applicant, is available to businesses who:

•          Are at least 50% female owned and over 18 years of age,
•          Are located within the Brisbane City Council area,
•          Have been trading for at least 12 months prior to the grant opening, and
•          Have a business turnover of between $75k and $500K per year. 

For me, the grant money was a huge help in launching a project I had been thinking about for some time. I used it to purchase videography equipment, videography training and a hair and make-up session for my first filming session, and now my business partner and I are busy recording and editing videos to load onto our website to help businesses with common IT problems. The grant money conditions say that it can be used for Professional Services, Training and Education or operationally critical Business Equipment from a vendor within the Brisbane Local Government Area. Other grant recipients have used the funds for a range of things including marketing services, training, and new websites.

Soon after winning the grant, I discovered that while the money was the reason I applied for the grant, it was far from the only benefit. The grant comes with a 12 month program of networking events, workshops and mentoring opportunities run by the Brisbane Business Hub, specifically for grant recipients. These events provide access to some very successful business owners who generously share their knowledge and experience, and are also great networking opportunities. Since the announcement of grant recipients in February this year, I’ve learnt a lot, met many other Brisbane business owners, made new friends, expanded my business network, and even before launching the videos, we’ve gained new customers.

We were told that every year there is a large number of high quality applicants, so if you are interested in applying this year, here are my tips:

•          Start early so that you are prepared when the grant applications open
•          Check out the grant condition document to confirm what you can spend the money on
•          Clarify your idea and the benefits to your business
•          Find a local provider to buy from
•          Start your application well before the closing date. You can keep a partial application saved on the grants platform until you are ready to submit so it’s a good idea to really think about how to answer the questions in a way that communicates the benefits and sells your idea. There are also some documents you need to include, so give yourself plenty of time
•          Finish your application and submit it on time, being sure to include everything they ask for

If you are successful, Congratulations in advance. If not, ask for feedback to help you with any future applications. Best of luck.

Applications for the grant close at 4pm Monday 14 October 2024

To see further details: visit the Brisbane Business Hub website here
To apply: visit the Brisbane Business Hub website here