A small business owner has expressed dismay after applying for a business booster grant of up to $15,000 only to have the application time out after 40 minutes.

Helen from Complete Skin and Beauty at Fairfield said they were desperate after being hugely impacted by the pandemic.

“What happened was, you could get your answers ready, but then the grant [form] went live at 9am on Monday morning,” Neil Breen explained.

“You had to jump on at 9am and fill in the grant form, and at 9.40am, they cut everybody off, who hadn’t finished filling in the form.”

Ms Clifton said there were a lot of questions to get through.

“It just times out, and you get a notification to say ‘sorry too late’.”

250 businesses will get chosen from the applicants.

“We just missed out based on how quick your computer runs or how quickly you can cut and paste answers into the document,” she said.

She said they were “desperate” and needed support after lockdowns.

“Annastacia Palaszczuk doesn’t mention small business in her press conference … she has no idea the suffering it causes.”

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Statement from the Department of Employment, Small Business and Training:

“This round of the Business Boost grants was part of our $25 million Business Grant program announced earlier this year.

“Small business grants are always very popular, and applications close once enough are received for a competitive application assessment.

“We appreciate the disappointment when the popularity of the grants means some businesses miss out, especially when they’ve spent time preparing an application.

“Throughout the Small Business Roadshow hosted by the Minister for Employment and Small Business Di Farmer earlier this year, businesses advised they wanted more notice and time to prepare to apply for grant programs, so the guidelines and application requirements for the Business Boost program have been available online since 15 July.

“This has given eligible small businesses time to prepare the required information and documents, so they were ready to make an application when applications opened at 9am on 30 July. That so many people were ready to go with strong applications, especially as this grant requires a co-contribution, is a testament to growing business confidence.

“A second round of the Business Boost Grants program is planned for next year and other financial assistance is available to small businesses including $5,000 COVID business support payments and $20 million to help exposure sites.”