FAQs

The Outsiders Co. is a multi-disciplinary creative agency that specialises in building and delivering impactful Branding and Marketing strategies for startups and enterprises.

The Outsiders Co. is a registered company in Singapore. We also have offices in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Yes, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Behance and Pinterest. We'll certainly be growing our presence on other social media platforms so watch this space.

We prefer to take on projects with a minimum lead time of 2-3 business days because having an adequate lead time facilitates better ideation and planning works.

Taking on projects with shorter lead times may still be possible but are subject to bandwidth and will require that creative briefs and content information are fully furnished on time.

Yes, for projects requiring shorter turnaround times, an express fee will have to be levied in order to prioritise your project.

For 48-hour turnaround times, our express fee is 1.5x the standard fee.

For 24-hour turn around times, our express fee is 2x the standard fee.

Turnaround times for standard projects range from 3-5 business days. Complex projects may require additional days. For complex projects, please get in touch with us via our contact form.

To better understand the way we work, please refer to our Project Terms & Conditions.

The more information we can gather about your project, the more accurate we can be when providing an estimate. Nonetheless, we understand that some projects don't afford such liberties and we'll only get to know more along the way. Under such circumstances, we'll do our best to help scope out the project and provide the closest estimates based on the information available.

When more information becomes available later in the process, we'll work in collaboration and agreement with you to adjust the scope, deliverables and costs. This is a common occurrence in large, complex and open-ended projects. To better manage this, we'll set specific project guidelines to help minimise the uncertainty of deliverables.

To better understand the way we work, please refer to our Project Terms & Conditions.

Quite commonly, clients wish to widen the project scope or request for additional features as they see the project develop. We fully understand this, and will always try to facilitate these changes or additions to the project during the process.

We will do our best to provide an estimate on the cost with the information we have available, and will make sure to let you know up front if details come to light that can affect the time and resources required to complete the project.

If material changes to the scope of work arise mid-project, we will discuss the new project plan, then adjust the project timeline and fees accordingly. We will ensure that we obtain your approval to proceed if changes to the project scope require additional fees, resources and/or time.

To better understand the way we work, please refer to our Project Terms & Conditions.

We understand that changes are bound to happen in design. To streamline the design process and keep changes to a minimum, we typically start by providing up to two (2) initial design concepts i.e. sketches, moodboards or stylescapes for selection before any actual design, execution or layout commences. These initial concepts are usually based on a few sample designs provided by clients so that we have a reference point to work from.

Once an initial concept has been accepted by the client, any amendment amounting to material change on the selected concept during the execution stage will have to be deemed as a new concept and may incur additional fees.

Upon delivery of the first draft, we offer clients up to two (2) standard rounds of revisions, based on consolidated feedback, and amounting to no more than 15% of the overall design.

Upon delivery of the final draft, clients may request up to two (2) more minor revisions limited to text-based amendments only. Strictly no amendments to the design layout will be permitted at this stage.

For clients that need it, additional rounds of revisions may be requested at the prevailing project rate.

For more information, please refer to our Project Terms & Conditions.

Once we have discussed and agreed on the scope of work, we will deliver a quotation to be accepted and endorsed.

To begin the project, a non-refundable deposit of 50% must be made.

To avoid delays, files required to complete the project such as logos, brand guidelines, content copy and photographs should be furnished in a timely fashion.

For design-related projects, sharing a few examples of design styles may also be required.

To better understand the way we work, please refer to our Project Terms & Conditions.

Files can be sent to us via email. As for larger sized files, we are happy to receive them through file sharing links provided by Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, WeTransfer, etc.

We rarely share our clients’ work or the names of our clients. Everything we do is 100% confidential. However, where we’ve received the expressed approval from any client to share samples, you may view them on the respective Capabilities pages.

To better understand the way we work, please refer to our Project Terms & Conditions.

Customer satisfaction and quality are the most important values at The Outsiders Co. If there has been any miscommunication before or during your project, or any other factor that adversely affected your experience with us, please reach out to us and we’ll get in touch with you to learn more.

EDG is the short form for Enterprise Development Grant. It is also commonly known as the EDG Grant. The grant was announced during the Singapore Budget 2018 to help local Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) develop capabilities under three key pillars – Core Capabilities, Innovation & Productivity and Market Access.

Eligible SMEs can get up to 80% grant on qualifying costs.

Prior to COVID-19, the original support level was 70%. To fight against the impending recession, the Supplementary Budget aka Resilience Budget 2020 raised the support level to 80%. Only SMEs severely affected by COVID-19 will get the maximum support level of 90% on a case-by-case basis and as determined by ESG.

Note: The maximum grant support of 90% ceased on 31 Dec 2020.

No specific end date has been set for the EDG. However, the higher maximum grant support level of 80% will cease on 31 Mar 2022. This announcement was delivered during the Singapore Budget 2021. The original deadline has extended from 30 Sep 2021 to 31 Mar 2022. After which, the support level will revert to 70%.

Enterprise Singapore (ESG) evaluates and approves the proposals submitted for grant support.

Projects covered under the EDG may fall under the following scopes:

1) Core Capabilities

a) Strategic Brand and Marketing Development

b) Business Strategy Development

c) Human Capital Development*

d) Service Excellence*

e) Financial Management*

2) Innovation and Productivity

a) Process Redesign

b) Product Development

c) Automation

3) Market Access

a) Overseas Marketing Presence (OMP)

b) Market Access

c) Pilot Project and Test Bedding*

d) Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A)*

Note: (*) Not covered by The Outsiders Co.

The final grant support value is dependent on the scope of the project. From experience, the size of the grant is correlated to the size of the company in terms of turnover and manpower. 

To meet the eligibility criteria, you should:

1) Have a registered company and operating in Singapore;

2) Have at least 30% local shareholding;

3) Be a viable business with a track record; and

4) Be in a financially viable position to start and complete the project.

If you come from a big organisation, your organisation or group holdings should:

1) Have less than $100 million revenue; and

2) Employ less than 200 employees.

Based on our experience, a company is considered financially viable when it has maintained a reasonable amount of turnover for the past three years. Three years of audited accounts may be required when you apply for the grant.

While a turnover of between S$500k and S$1 million is considered ideal however all projects will be given the due consideration it deserves.

Companies that have successfully applied for the grant support tend to have five or more employees excluding directors, partners or owners.

If you are a Sole Proprietor or a company with fewer than three employees, the chances of a successful grant application are reduced. Based on our experiences, greater consideration is given to companies with plans to expand and hire more staff.

In general, startups are not eligible for EDG. If you are a startup looking for funding or grant support, you may find more valuable information at Startup SG.

Yes. With effect from 1 Apr 2020, SMEs will need to commit to improving workers' outcome, such as creating more jobs or increasing wages.

ESG requires firms to set targets on improving workers’ outcomes. Some of the more tangible workers’ outcomes are the creation of new jobs or the increase of wages. This applies to a Singaporean core, that is, Singaporean citizens and Singapore Permanent Residents.

"Average" is subjective – Our quotes are based on the needs of your business and scope of the project.

The lead or waiting time is dependent on the scope of the project. From experience, the timeline may range anywhere from two to six months. This does not include the time required to define the project scope and deliverables. Our average branding project takes about two to four months depending on the agreed-upon deliverables.

The usual process of applying for the EDG is as follows:

1) Discuss the project requirements, scope and deliverables with a certified consultant.

2) Obtain a project proposal outlining the scope of work and quote from a preferred consultant.

3) Build a business case to prepare your company proposal.

4) Submit the company proposal, project proposal/outline, project quotation and other supporting documents online at Business Grants Portal.

5) Await notification of successful application via the Business Grants Portal (the exact grant amount will be stated).

6) Accept the Letter of Offer.

7) Notify the appointed consultant.

Note: Company representatives may be interviewed by ESG prior to project approval.

ESG will assess the application, determine the feasibility and impact of the project and provide the final approval.

Common mistakes to avoid when applying for the grant include:

1) Including activities not supported under EDG.

2) Engaging consultants who are not qualified to handle the project in question.

3) Providing an incomplete breakdown of costs.

4) Not furnishing adequate productivity outcomes or tangible benefits.

5) Submitting a project scope that is too narrow.

From 1 Jan 2017, if you engage consultants, they need to be certified management consultants.

SMEs should ensure that the consultants they engage possess Enterprise Singapore-recognised certification. Failure to engage a certified consultant may disqualify applicants from successfully applying for the EDG.

In theory, there are no restrictions with regard to how many EDG-related grants you may apply for.

ESG allows you to apply and work on more than one EDG-related project at any given time. However, you can apply for an EDG grant within a specific area of work only once. This means that if you have already been awarded grant support for Branding and Marketing before, you will no longer be eligible for another grant support under the same category. You may however still apply for grants under other EDG pillars.

You may make your EDG application via the Singapore Business Grants Portal.

Please visit Enterprise Singapore's website.

The Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG) is a grant that supports Commercial Off-The-Shelf Solutions (COTS). Basically, COTS are more affordable and require little or no customisation work. It covers up to 90% of the solution cost. You may wish to learn more about the PSG here.

COTS may or may not meet your needs. For bespoke business solutions particularly in branding and marketing, please reach out to us.

Your application has been considered successful when you receive a Letter of Offer from ESG. In order to start the project, you must accept the Letter of Offer.

If however, you have not been successful in the application, you will receive an email to inform you likewise.

Certainly. To appeal against a decision, we recommend complying with the feedback provided by ESG's evaluating officer to improve the proposal and then submit the application again. By following these steps, ESG is more likely to treat the application as a new one.

Yes. ESG allows applicants to make advance payment claims of up to 20% of the total grant support amount. This means that you may request for an advance even before making your first payment or deposit to commence work.

You may try to make interim claims before full completion of the project. Do note that approval is done on a case-by-case basis.

After the completion of the EDG project, you will have to appoint an external auditor from a pre-approved panel. An auditor is required to ensure that the project has been completed with the proper transfer of monies between parties.

Yes. The audit fee is fully supported and claimable from ESG.

You can commence your claims process via this link.

It usually takes between one to two weeks for ESG to process the claims. However, claims processes have taken longer in recent times due to the volume of applications.

If you still need information on the EDG support for your branding and marketing strategies and initiatives, simply reach out to us via our contact form, WhatsApp or email and we'll be sure to respond to you.

Once we have discussed and agreed on the scope of work, we will deliver a quotation to be accepted and endorsed.

To begin the project, a non-refundable deposit of 50% must be made. We will begin work as soon as we receive an adequate creative brief and files required to complete the project such as logos, brand guidelines, content copy and photographs have been furnished.

To better understand the way we work, please refer to our Project Terms & Conditions.

We will deliver an invoice to your specified email address upon requesting for a 50% deposit to begin work on a project.

To better understand the way we work, please refer to our Project Terms & Conditions.

Yes, we accept credit card payments. However, merchant fees will have to be added to the final bill and borne by the client.

Credit card payments may be made via Stripe, an online payment platform that meet international standards in managing and storing your credit card information securely. This means that The Outsiders Co. is not able to access or read your credit card details. Please visit Stripe for further information.

We accept the following payment modes:

1) Cash payment at our office location;

2) Local cheque payment at our office or mailed to us;

3) Bank transfer to our company’s bank account;

4) Mobile payment via PayNow; or

5) Credit card (please note that merchant fees will be added to the final bill and borne by the client).