Editor's Note: Money there for the taking

As all astute business owners know there is no such thing as a free lunch. While technically an external party may pick up the bill for your food – and on the odd occasion liquid replenishment – a culinary invitation always brings with it the underlying sub-text of how the resulting tab will be repaid.

As experience will show more often than not, the returned “favour” winds up costing significantly more, either in time or in resources, than had you just elected to go Dutch from the outset. But that’s where the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Small Business Program is a little different.

While it’s not a free lunch per se it does present an opportunity for some of the sector’s smaller players to access government funds free of charge. As you will have read earlier in Ragtrader, several Australian fashion businesses have already cottoned on to the benefits of this program, with just under 70 of the 230 applications in the latest funding round finding success.

But if you think that’s rough, spare a thought for the Kiwi apparel companies, or many other Australian business sectors, for whom there is no dedicated TCF funding support at all. The reality is that clearly times are tough and there are many small TCF businesses struggling in the current economic climate, so every little bit helps.

Launched in 2006 and running through to June 2016, the TCF Small Business Program provides a total of $25 million in grants to Australian TCF designers, manufacturers and wholesale businesses that employ fewer than 21 employees.

Designed to improve the “business enterprise culture” of businesses in this sector, the grants program favours those who have clear financial growth and expansion goals and who can generate and manage change fairly self-sufficiently.

While successful applicants must show they are in a position to make a cash contribution to the project for which funding is sought, a maximum of $50,000 is available for any one project regardless of size or the cash contribution made by the applicant.

With just one funding round per year, past applicants have included womenswear brand Camilla and Marc, designer Stephanie Cranford and accessory label Agatha and Me, for projects as diverse as purchasing and installing printing machines to buying CAD/CAM software packages.

However the realms of eligible projects extend well beyond those outlined above with projects as diverse as mentoring, e-commerce and marketing activities also put up for approval.

Administered by AusIndustry, your guess is as good as mine as to when they will make the call for the next round of fund applications. But just for the record, the smart money is on those clever enough to have started thinking about preparing their submissions already.