Build your Shopify eCommerce store today by applying for the PSG.
To support local SMEs, the Singaporean government has been actively providing government grants, subsidies, funding, and tax deductions that small businesses can take advantage of at any time.
One such grant is the PSG. Small businesses use this grant to launch their eCommerce store and digitise their online operations.
What’s the PSG?
PSG is the short form for Productivity Solutions Grant.
It’s undoubtedly one of the most talked about government grants in Singapore, and for a good reason.
The PSG is a government grant focusing on adopting digital technology solutions in several industries. These industries include finance, retail, food, engineering, landscaping, etc.
The grant brought together three existing government grants: the national parks board’s landscape grant, Media Development Authority’s SMEs Digital Programme, and Spring Singapore Innovation Voucher.
How does the PSG Works?
The government introduced the PSG to provide Singapore SMEs with up to 70% funding support. The idea was to establish Singapore as a digital-centric country embracing technology and equipment instead of manual labour.
Although the grant doesn’t eliminate the need for physical work in your operations, it does enhance productivity and efficiency with the help of technology.
The grant proves Singapore is ready for the future of digitalised businesses. Businesses should consider taking their operations online or risk being left behind. The good thing is that the government is ready to support any business that wants to make a bold change toward digital transformation.
Reasons to Apply for the PSG?
The reason to apply for the PSG is to gain access to various ecommerce solutions for your business. In other words, you’ll be provided with enough funding to support the various aspects of your e-commerce business, including website creation, maintenance, and revamp.
The government understands how far your business could get with a little financial boost. They have created a public coffer that any eligible business entity in Singapore can apply and claim up to a 70% discount.
The PSG serves as an avenue for businesses to make long-term technology investments. Applying for this grant can get up to 70% of funding support.
Is Your Business Eligible for the PSG?
SMEs can apply for the PSG provided their businesses meet the following criteria:
- The business is registered and operates in Singapore
- You’re planning to purchase, lease or subscribe to an IT solution or equipment that will be used in Singapore: You can’t qualify for the PSG if you intend to use the purchase IT solution or equipment elsewhere
- 30% of the company’s shares must be local and owned by a Singaporean. If foreigners own more than 70% of the company, then there’s no need to apply for the grant because you do not qualify.
Who Shouldn’t Apply for Grant?
- Charities or Institutions of Public Characters (IPCs)
- Voluntary Welfare Organisation (VWO)
- Religious Organisations
- Government agencies and their subsidiaries
You shouldn’t even bother applying if your business falls under these categories. Otherwise, your application will be rejected outrightly.
Thinking of Setting Up a Shopify Ecommerce Store?
If you’re considering setting up an online store, you might have to consider a list of all the tasks under your direction. Financial management, data analytics, SEO services, and e-commerce web design are just the tip of the iceberg.
There’s more to developing an effective e-commerce website than we can cover in this article.
Applying for the PSG allows you to receive financial support for your digitalisation project.
By engaging with one of the pre-approved vendors, you’ll be engaging with a company specialising in that particular aspect of e-commerce development. In other words, you’ll work with pre-approved professionals with a track record and experience to deliver the best ecommerce solutions or equipment – no guesswork.
Shopify is one of IMDA’s pre-approved vendors of the PSG.
If your business is eligible, you can save up to 70% of Shopify’s annual advanced plan, which translates to about U$5600.
What can the PSG do for Your Shopify Ecommerce Platform?
The PSG was created for SMEs in many industry sectors. Engineering, food, wholesale, and retail are among the industries benefiting from the grant.
The PSG levels the playground for SMEs looking to take their operations online. It gives them the financial muscle to compete with big brands on the same scale.
The grant can do wonders for your ecommerce store.
It’s a highly recommended grant for any ecommerce store kickstarting its operations. It’s also a viable financial solution for any SME looking to maintain and revamp their ecommerce websites.
Whether you’re looking to build your ecommerce store on Shopify from scratch or migrating from Magento, WooCommerce, or Squarespace, the PSG is up for the taking.
All you need to do is check out their eligibility criteria. If your business fits the bill, you’re free to go ahead and apply.
6 Benefits of Applying for the PSG for Your Shopify Ecommerce Store
An Opportunity to Take Your Business Online and Expand Your Reach Globally: Taking your business online means extending its reach to a global audience. You don’t want to restrict your business operations to a locality you’re in.
All you need to do is engage a pre-approved vendor and use the PSG funding to get up to a 70% discount on their charges.
That means only 30% of the amount they charge will come from you. The rest will come from the government – how cool.
24/7 Services, Anywhere
Taking your operations online means customers can shop for anything they want anytime from wherever they are as long as they have a stable internet connection.
In other words, your business operations won’t be restricted by time and geographical boundaries.
An Opportunity to Use Digital Marketing to Drive Traffic to Your Website and Increase Sales
The PSG can be an excellent opportunity to work on your online visibility. Use the grant to increase brand awareness, drive more traffic to your website, and, most importantly, increase sales.
Streamline operational Processes
The PSG also allows you to work with pre-approved PSG vendors, scoped for their experience and portfolio.
Use this opportunity to include essential features in your ecommerce store.
24/7 Store that Never Sleeps
Having an ecommerce store means you have no closing hours, even when you’re sleeping, and there’s no one in the office to attend to your customers.
Customers can browse your store at any time of the day and even place an order without any human intervention.
Reduce Operational Expenses and Increase Profits
Having an ecommerce site means you don’t have to deal with rental fees, utility bills, and other expenses.
You can even run the entire business alone, without employing store attendants and other staff members.
MediaOne is a Shopify Expert
MediaOne is one of the leading creative agencies and an official Shopify Partner in Singapore. Their experienced Shopify developer will work with you on the most suitable ecommerce design for your company and products and even recommend cost-effective Shopify apps that meet your requirements.
Shopify Development Services to Use the PSG On
Shopify Web Design: You can apply for the PSG and use the funding to set up your Shopify ecommerce store. You can work with an experienced pre-approved Shopify vendor to design an ecommerce store for your company. Let them help you design all the features you need for your ecommerce store.
Shopify Theme Development: You can use the grant to hire an experienced Shopify developer to design a theme for your Shopify store. Use the developers to add more features to your store or upgrade your Shopify theme.
The developers will help you improve your purchased theme or create a custom one from scratch based on your store requirements.
Shopify App Development: Use the PSG to offset part of the cost of hiring an experienced Shopify app developer. The developer will help you build a custom Shopify app based on your exact business requirements.
Ask them to include special features that allow your store shoppers to browse products. The developer will also help you create a loyalty program and link it to your POS, ERP systems, in-house systems, etc.
In other words, there’s no limit to what an experienced Shopify developer can do, and the PSG is how you offset up to 70% of the quote they serve you.
Why a Shopify Store?
Shopify is an ecommerce CMS and builder that makes it easy for both experienced and newbie developers to build and manage their online stores.
But let’s not forget it isn’t the only option. For all we know, you can build an ecommerce store from scratch with your own customized CMS. You can also use alternative CMSs such as Magento, WordPress, WooCommerce, Prestashop, etc.
Options abound. But why choose Shopify?
Here’s why:
Professional and Unique Designs: Shopify has a broad selection (tens of thousands) of professional themes created by world-class designers. Feel free to choose a theme you like and let your web developer help you set it up and customize it to your unique business needs.
Mobile Commerce Ready: Shopify works flawlessly on mobile devices. And most of their themes are fluid enough to adjust to any screen size and make your content readable.
SEO-friendly: Shopify is one of the most SEO-friendly CMSs you’ll ever find. It supports the best SEO practices like H1 tags, Meta tags, and titles. Just develop your website and populate it with high-quality content, and your site will start ranking for all the relevant search terms.
Web hosting: Shopify is a one-stop shop for building and hosting an online marketplace. It’s also the first hosted ecommerce solution ever to use a Content Delivery Network (CDN).
Even better, their hosting comes with unlimited bandwidth, 256-bit SSL certificate, unlimited email forwarding, and is Level – 1 PCI compliance.
24/7: The best part about working with Shopify is that you can count on them for support regardless of the time of the day.
How to Apply for PSG Grant for Your Shopify Store
Follow this link to go to Shopify and start your free trial. Follow the instructions to set up a free account and get your site up and running.
Step 1: Get a Quote for Shopify
Submit your business details here at MediaOne, and we’ll provide you with a quote for an Advanced or Plus Plan.
You’ll need this quote when applying for the PSG, so we suggest you start by getting it first before you proceed with anything else.
Again, to qualify for the grant, you must meet the following eligibility criteria:
- Be a new subscriber to Shopify’s Advanced or Plus Plan
- Must be registered and operating in Singapore. If your business is registered in a different country or operates elsewhere, don’t bother because your application will be rejected outright.
- Your ecommerce store must be used in Singapore. You’re creating the store to serve the people in Singapore, not those outside the country.
- Your business or company must be 30% locally owned.
Step 2: Apply for the PSG
After getting your quote from MediaOne and establishing that your business meets the eligibility criteria highlighted above, you can go ahead and apply for the grant.
Go to Business Grants Portal to complete the application process.
Please consult this article for a detailed step-by-step guide on the application procedure:
PSG Grants: The Complete Guide
Be sure to gather the following documents when applying for the PSG:
- A quotation from a pre-scoped Shopify development service such as MediaOne. As we said, you have to reach out to us for a quote before proceeding with the rest of the application procedure.
- A copy of your company’s latest ACRA
- A copy of the latest audited or unaudited financial statements or management accounts for the past three years
- A copy of your company’s three months bank statement
- The estimated project cost, including a detailed breakdown of the software, theme, and implementation (where applicable)
Step 3: Purchase Your Annual Shopify Plan
By default, Shopify sets your account to monthly billing.
It would help if you changed it to annual billing.
Go to “Settings,” then click “Plan.”
Next, click “Change Plan.”
Review the plans available and click “Choose Plan.”
Select the annual billing and read the credit card charges you’re agreeing to.
Lastly, click “Start Plan” to accept the new agreement, and that’s it.
Consult this article for a detailed guide on how to change your payment plan.
Step 4: Submit Your Final Claim for the Grant
Submit your final claim to Business Grants Portal to have the grant reimbursed.
General Quotations About Applying for the PSG for Your Shopify Ecommerce Store
#1. Can My company apply for the PSG after signing up with Shopify and making payments?
No, you can’t.
You can only apply for PSG before you sign up for a Shopify account and make payments.
That’s one of the requirements for applying for the PSG. You’re not to make any payment to the supplier, vendor, or third party in relation to the purchase, lease, and subscription of the IT solution or equipment.
The vendor and supplier can only provide an invoice for the requested service, product, or subscription, not a receipt.
So, don’t be in haste to make payments. Instead, ask the vendor to give you an invoice, and you’re good to go.
#2. Where Do I Submit My PSG Claim Application?
You can only apply for the PSG via the Business Solutions Grant Portal. Follow this link and the instructions provided to apply for the grant.
#3. How Do I Purchase the Advanced or Annual Plan on Shopify?
Shopify billing defaults to monthly.
So, before switching to a paid plan, you must configure your account setting and set the billing to an annual plan.
Follow this guide to change your billing plan from monthly to annual.
#4. After Applying for the Grant and Getting it Approved When Next Can You Apply for the Same Grant?
12 months since approval.
After applying for the grant and getting it approved, you must wait for at least 12 months before applying for the next PSG grant.
Even more important, the grant must be for a different digital activity. For example, if you apply for the PSG to use it to develop your ecommerce store, you cannot apply for a second grant for the same.
But you can apply for the PSG next season to add more features to your ecommerce store.
#5. Can the Vendor Apply for the Grant for You?
Nope.
The vendor can only produce a quote for you, but they cannot apply on your behalf.
The company benefiting from the grant should be the one applying. No third party is allowed to apply for the grant for anyone.
#6. Is there a Cap to the PSG Grant?
Yes, there’s a cap.
A single entity or company can only apply for a maximum of SGD30,000 per entity per financial year.
SMEs can select the package they need, but they can only apply for a maximum of SGD30,000.
How Do I Make Inquiries About the PSG?
You can contact MediaOne to learn more about the grant and how to apply for it.
But if you have further inquiries concerning your loan application, approval, or the BGP portal, then it helps to contact the responsible party directly.
- For enquiries of the PSG: You can contact us for guidance. Here’s our email address: contact@mediaone.co
You might also want to contact EnterpriseSG for account-related problems (enquiries@enterprisesg.gov.sg)
- For enquiries about your BGP account or portal, contact enterpriseSG but via this email bgp_helpdesk@enterpriseSG.gov.sg
- To inquire about IMDA and pre-approved vendors, contact IMDA via info@imda.gov.sg.
- For enquiries about LOA (Letter of Approval) or to find out if your application went through, contact SME_Pre_Approval@imda.gov.sg.
