Still too much budget remaining for “subsidy for installing IT systems”

If you apply for 500,000 yen subsidy program appropriately following the guideline, you can probably get it …

Starting a business in Japan is tough, so some governmental organizations are offering subsidy programs for small & medium enterprises (SME).

I’m working with SME consultants, and they sometimes give me good advice on which subsidy program we should apply for.

A subsidy, IT導入補助金* (subsidy for installing IT systems)” has such a high acceptance rate this year.
*Official name : サービス等生産性向上IT導入支援事業

Let’s just call it “IT subsidy” for now.

The budget for the IT subsidy increased about fivefold from 10 billion yen in FY2017 to 50 billion yen this year, and the number of the applicants increased about tenfold.

They set three application periods in 2018 (in May, July and October-now!), and only 10% of the expected number of applicants applied in May. Therefore, too much budget is still remaining but the governmental organization has to spend all of it by the end of FY2018.

BIG CHANCE TO GET ACCEPTED.

There are bunch of IT system providers registering to this subsidy project, and the applicants of IT subsidy have to choose either one of the providers on the list.

You already have a specific IT system providers that you want to work with?

There is a way to let them register on the list (as far as their company is based in Japan). The registration deadline for the system providers is on October 23rd.
And the application deadline for the applicants is on November 19th.

Most likely the budget will be reduced next year. The amount of IT subsidy is not a lot, just 500,000 yen, but if you will need cloud service to restore your data, security software to protect your business from cyber security, or CRM system soon (and if your time allows, of course), this is the right timing to apply for this subsidy.

As always all the information about subsidy programs is written in Japanese, and it’s tough to reach out the information.

IT subsidy allows the applicants to register online and submit the documents online, so it’s one of the easiest subsidies to apply for.
For more information, I and TOSBEC team is thinking of setting some individual sessions in this month with one of the SME consultants, who has the highest acceptance rate of IT subsidy.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment, questions, or thought on this blog!