written by
Edwin Ting

Grants Due Dilligence

Business 1 min read

I was looking at Singapore's IMDA Digital Solution packages for companies and discovered most packages offered were too over the top for the small businesses in SME. Packages typically include saas software bundled together with services that goes for thousands of dollars.

Strangely, for Shopify, which most small e-commerce business use, PSG is only for the top tier Advanced and Plus plans, starting from USD$299/month. (As of 8th April 2019, Singaporean businesses will be eligible for up to 70% off the total cost of the Annual Advanced Plan (70% off $3229.20) and up to $5,600 off the total cost of an Annual Plus Plan.) Even with the grant, I would paying more per month for my current regular Shopify plan.

I also had another business owner share that he was setting up a POS system in 1 retail location, and the package was closed to $10K, after subsidies, he would be paying about $5K-ish. In my mind, a Shopify POS app and an iPad might have done the trick.

So, even as we are scrambling to get grants and subsidies from the government, I submit to all business owners to look at your actual technical requirements and determine the best solution, not one that is PSG approved.