£1000 Grand Ideas Question....

[theclassroommanchester]

So I've just been looking at the £1000 Grand Ideas criteria..
It says about being a business in its first 12 months of trading....I am in the process of setting up a business and would like to enter - I havent yet started trading (the £1000 would help considerably)
Am I able to enter? Presumably it being Grand Ideas suggests that I could....

Also it says:
Items NOT eligible for the Shell LiveWIRE Grand Ideas Awards include (but are not limited to):

a project that is not innovative
a new laptop / PC or new equipment/ capital items
a new website
your rent
wages
stock
staff costs

Does this mean I can't spend any of the £1000 on these things? - Not sure what else I would spend it on as the business doesnt involve research or anything....

[Joshua Mason-Allen]

You can enter if you're still developing your business model or idea, yes.

The list you have copied are indeed things you cannot spend the money on. Perhaps if your business requires the development of a product or service, your money could be best spent there?

Josh

[aa412]

You can spend it on things like advertising and promotion. Mine was spent on getting promotional materials made and having them handed out. I think the idea is that it should be for something a bit special, not just the day to day running of your business. However, there was at least one person (she made retro wallpaper) who spent hers on getting a website made. So I am sure that there are circumstances where you can get stuff on the list.

[ALT]

Hi, you are definitely eligible to apply for the Grand Ideas Awards as long as you are 16-30, about to start your business or have been trading for 12 months or less and you have an innovative idea. Have a look at some of the winning video elevator pitches on the website http://www.shell-livewire.org/video-...ategory=awards to see what type of ideas / things have been funded.

The list of things you included are indeed, as a rule, things that the competition doesn't fund unless you can really prove to the judges that they will really make a difference to your business (ie in the case of a website / PC or very specific equipment such as cameras and computer programmes which will enable you to do a specific project etc).

Innovative, quirky and unusual ideas are what the judges are looking for.

Cheers,

Anna

[Jarvooo]

Anna has cleared it up very well - plus i think, i know its not a requirement but alot of people would do themselves more favours if they were more recognised to people with their business concepts and ideas, 1 post just to ask about the award is just going to make people thing "hmmm i have no clue who they are" so sometimes, it can be an advantage to show yourself around etc

[dcairns]

Good luck in your application! I'm one of the March winners so if you want any help in the process just let me know. Mine is going to go on advertising and I did indeed also ask to use the money on a website for SEO services etc so I don't think it's set in stone other than simply to pay the rent etc.

Good luck!