At MCN, we believe that one should treat government funding opportunities the same way any other business opportunity is treated.
Behind any government assistance program, there is always public policy objective, key performance indicators to measure the progress, and certain compliance requirements the participants need to adhere to. So if you understand why the program is in place, what is being measured, and what specific requirements you need to meet, there is not much difference between working on a commercial project and working on helping the government to achieve its public policy objectives. In both cases you can expect to be paid.
The key distinction is that, in most cases, the government is less concerned with what you do in terms of the product/technology/process, but is very much concerned with how you go about doing it. So you can work on your own commercial project and, at the same time, help the government with achieving its policy objectives. So you get paid twice.
At MCN, we coach our clients to treat government as a customer. Together with the client we decide what programs we go after, set objectives, plan and execute. You will always decide what commercial project to undertake, but we show you how to undertake it so that a large chunk of the project costs is covered by the government.
For more information about how MCN can help your organization, please email us or contact us.