Breaking news! Here's how the subsidies to watch in 2019 are changing

On February 7, the second supplementary budget bill for fiscal 2018 was deliberated and passed by the House of Councillors.
With this, it has been decided that subsidies that can be used for developing sales channels and making capital investments will again be open for application this year.

Three subsidies that have become widely known in recent years

• Monozukuri (Manufacturing), Commerce and Service Subsidy
• Small Business Sustainability Subsidy
• IT Introduction Subsidy

What exactly will happen with these? And if you want to apply for and make use of them, what should you do? Here is a quick breakdown.

In fact, applications for the Monozukuri, Commerce and Service Subsidy already opened on February 18. The first deadline was February 23, so that one has passed, but the second deadline is May 8, so there is still time.
That said, if you are thinking of using it, you need to start preparing right away.

For the Small Business Sustainability Subsidy and the IT Introduction Subsidy, neither the call for applications nor the guidelines have been announced yet, but both are likely to have short application periods, so you should start planning and preparing for these right now as well.

A quick overview of the three subsidies

Monozukuri (Manufacturing), Commerce and Service Subsidy

[Overview]: Subsidizes capital investment and other expenses needed for innovative service development, prototype development, and production process improvement.
[Subsidy amount]: 1 million to 10 million yen
[Subsidy rate]: 1/2 of expenses
[Key points]: This fiscal year's budget is said to be 90 billion yen, so there is real momentum behind it. In addition to machinery and equipment costs, half of the expenses for technology introduction, transportation, expert fees, cloud service usage and more are subsidized.

Small Business Sustainability Subsidy

[Overview]: Mainly supports measures and initiatives to expand sales channels.
[Subsidy amount]: Up to 500,000 yen
[Subsidy rate]: 2/3 of expenses
[Key points]: Applications flood in every year, so many people may have the impression that it is hard to be selected. In fact, the average adoption rate is said to be around 35–40%, so that impression is understandable... However, this fiscal year the budget has doubled to 20 billion yen, so we expect it will be somewhat easier to be selected than in previous years.
It can be applied not only to promotional materials such as websites, signage and flyers, but also to costs for renovating stores or introducing mobile sales vehicles.

IT Introduction Subsidy

[Overview]: Supports the introduction of IT tools (software, cloud services, etc.) that improve operational efficiency and boost sales.
[Subsidy amount]: 400,000 to 4.5 million yen
[Subsidy rate]: 1/2 of expenses
[Key points]: This fiscal year the budget has been cut sharply to 10 billion yen (down to one-fifth!). However, the subsidy amount has risen substantially from 500,000 yen to 4.5 million yen, so for companies considering introducing fairly large-scale business management software, the benefits of using it are greater.
It can be applied to the introduction of business management software and web apps for sales, purchasing, attendance, costing, finance and more, as well as to website creation.

What to prepare right now if you are considering using a subsidy

Having explained the features of each of the three major subsidies, let us now talk about what you should start working on right away. Even for subsidies whose application periods have not yet opened, there is often not enough time if you wait until applications open to start preparing.
Especially when applying for a subsidy of one million yen or more, the number of documents you need to gather increases sharply, leaving you far short of time.

That said, covering everything would make this extremely long. So here we will introduce the bare minimum you should take care of.

1. Consider which subsidy matches the business you want to use it for
2. Draft a rough business plan
3. Obtain Omotenashi Standard Certification
4. Obtain certification for a Management Capability Enhancement Plan

From there, you gather the documents required to meet the criteria of the subsidy you intend to apply for.
In particular, with subsidies such as the Monodzukuri (Manufacturing), Commerce and Service Subsidy or the IT Introduction Subsidy, the higher the amount you apply for, the more approvals—known as bonus-point items—you will need to obtain.
In other words, the more money you try to receive, the higher the hurdles become.

You need to keep these points in mind as you consider your options.

For help with application preparation and procedures, please consult Merci.

If you are thinking of using a subsidy to run your business, please feel free to contact us first.
Our consultations are, of course, free of charge.

For inquiries, please click here, or feel free to call us at 0120-413-756.