The fact that you’re reading this particular post means you’re at least interested in the thought of creating your own e-commerce app. You probably already have a great idea locked away in that creative brain of yours – you might even have a fully fledged plan in place covering everything from what you’d like it to do and how you want it to look right up to its name, whether you’ll be offering a product or service, how it’ll make you money (and how much profit it could make), how you’ll market it, how it’ll grow, and how it’ll delight your users at every stage of the customer journey. 

That’s awesome. It takes a great deal of imagination, commitment, intelligence and tenacity to get this far, so take a second to pat yourself on the back. The hardest part is done and dusted – now it’s time to get that all-important funding that’ll allow your idea to take root and flourish. 

Funding an app

No matter what size your company may be, from start-up to established business, this kind of thing costs time and money. When you’re building an app to drive your operation forward, costs can grow according to the level of customisation and design work you’ll need for your project. 

Enter, the e-commerce Grant Scheme, an initiative co-financed by  the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and tailor-made to encourage Malta’s most business-minded citizens to embrace tech and all the ways it can enhance their brand – and their profit margins. What this means for you, ambitious app-maker, is that you can spend up to €10,000 and get a maximum of €5,000 back – a significant sum for fledgling entrepreneurs and bigger businesses alike. That might sound almost too good to be true, and you may be asking ‘what’s the catch?’ at this stage, but this does exactly what it says on the tin. 

What does the e-commerce Grant Scheme cover?

To qualify for this funding, your finished app needs to be compliant with the latest industry standards and any e-commerce security practices required to keep you and your customers safe from cybercrime. The grant will help you cover the costs of that, of course, but it can also be used to support the design, development, roll-out and launch of your app, complete with a content management system (CMS), analytics, and online payment gateway. 

Let’s take a closer look at what this initiative supports: 

• Technical requirements (e.g. everything you need to get started, including a CMS, secure payment integration, visual product/service catalogue
• Development, implementation, and delivery of any necessary communication channels.
• Integration of suitable analytics software to allow you to get detailed reports on traffic to and users of your app 
• Design elements for the app that’s aligned to your brand identity
• Compliance with, at the minimum, W3C Level A accessibility guidelines

Don’t forget! If you’re enlisting the help of a service provider to get things up and running, remember: they need to be registered with the Measures and Support division.  Don’t worry – you can find a list of approved names on their website.

To find out if you’re eligible for the grant, or if you’d like some help preparing your proposal ahead of applying for it, send me an email, I’d love to help your ideas take flight!