Designing Queensland SME grants in the post-pandemic era

Luke Hawley

doi:10.1108/JSIBR-05-2025-0055

Purpose Queensland redesigned its small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) business grants after the pandemic; this paper aims to assess whether the fixed micro-grants (Basics), mid-tier systems grants (Boost) and capital-equipment grants (Growth Fund) align with owners’ risk profiles and lifecycle stages (QSBC, 2024). Despite gains in productivity, funding and leverage, succession readiness is neglected. The author proposes policy adjustments to extend the persona-aligned architecture and specify KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to evaluate whether triage “worked”. Design/methodology/approach The author triangulates open administrative datasets for Queensland grants (2018–2024) to derive year-on-year volume, value and geographic metrics; overlay QSBC personas to test behavioural alignment; and benchmark against peer-reviewed evaluations and official guidelines (Xiang and Worthington, 2018; Srhoj et al., 2021; NSW Treasury, 2022; ACT Government, 2023; DESBT, 2024). Analysis is descriptive and includes case vignettes. In preparing this paper, the author used OpenAI’s ChatGPT as an assistive tool for background literature searching, summarising publicly available documents, preliminary data exploration and drafting initial outlines. The tool was also used to check grammar and consistency across different sections. All content generated by the AI was critically reviewed, verified against primary sources for accuracy and extensively edited by the authors. No confidential or sensitive data was input into the AI system, and no content was taken directly from the AI outputs without author oversight. The author confirms that they retain full responsibility for the integrity, analysis and interpretation of the data and for the final wording of the manuscript. Findings Grant counts plummeted after 2021 while average cheques and co-investment ratios rose, signalling a shift from triage to capital deepening. Uptake patterns mirror personas: vigilant operators cluster in Basics, competitors in Boost and entrepreneurs in Growth (QSBC, 2024; DESBT, 2024). Regional networker grants deliver low-cost peer learning outside South-East Queensland. Research limitations/implications Administrative data lack counterfactual revenue and long-run productivity measures, and behavioural alignment is inferred rather than tested experimentally. Future work should use matched quasi-experimental designs and randomised nudges to test uptake and track succession outcomes beyond two years (Srhoj et al., 2021). Practical implications The author outlines checklists. For managers: identify a 90-day capability gap; document handover assets (SOPs, CRM); invest in durable systems. For policymakers: add a succession readiness voucher to Boost; set tier-specific leverage floors; expand Regional Networker with outcome pay; create a one-front-door portal; and schedule post-grant diagnostics at 6 / 18/36 months Social implications Behaviourally tuned micro-grants can widen inclusion and efficiency, spreading capability beyond metropolitan cores. Enhancing succession readiness protects local jobs, preserves community-embedded firms and prevents wealth destruction during ownership transitions (QSBC, 2024). Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study to merge open grant data with a behavioural taxonomy of owner personas, showing how instrument design shapes who applies and which capabilities are built. It reframes post-pandemic grants in terms of leverage and succession readiness, offering a replicable template for federated systems (Xiang and Worthington, 2018; Srhoj et al., 2021).

Designing Queensland SME grants in the post-pandemic era

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