Kit Digital for restaurants and bars: an honest guide and how to check your supplier
Kit Digital is a Spanish public grant programme that helps small businesses, micro-businesses and self-employed people adopt digital solutions. For a bar or restaurant it can be genuine help, but it is also a field full of dubious promises. This guide explains how it works in broad terms, who can charge for it and how to check, without figures or dates that could be out of date: current conditions are always on the Red.es online portal and the programme’s official website.
01What Kit Digital is
It is a grant programme for the digitalisation of small businesses, run by Red.es with public funds. You are not given cash: you receive a digital voucher that is used to pay for digital solutions bought from companies authorised by the programme. Calls have deadlines and limited budgets, so the first step is checking whether one that applies to you is open.
02Who can apply and what the segments are
It targets small businesses, micro-businesses and self-employed people, and is divided into segments by number of employees. Each segment has its own maximum grant. There are also general requirements, such as being up to date with tax and social security obligations and meeting de minimis aid conditions. Amounts and segments can change between calls: check the Red.es online portal for the ones that apply to you.
03What it can cover in hospitality
The voucher goes to solution categories defined by the programme, such as website, e-commerce, customer management, process management or e-invoicing, among others. Not all hospitality software fits a subsidised category, and the same tool may or may not be in an agent’s catalogue. Before assuming anything, ask exactly which category the solution you are offered belongs to and get it confirmed in writing.
04Only registered digitalisation agents can charge it
This is the point that causes the most confusion. The grants are handled by digitalisation agents (agentes digitalizadores), companies formally registered with the programme whose solutions appear in its catalogue. Only they can sign the solution-provision agreement with you and collect the voucher on your behalf. A supplier that is not registered can sell you its software, but cannot apply Kit Digital. Tablezio is not a registered digitalisation agent, so we do not process or charge Kit Digital.
05How to check whether a supplier is a digitalisation agent
Do not trust a logo on a website. Check on the programme’s official website and the Red.es online portal that the company is listed as a registered agent, that the name and tax ID match whoever is making you the offer, and that the specific solution is in its catalogue under the category they tell you. Ask for the solution-provision agreement in writing before signing, read what it includes and its term, and keep all the paperwork.
06Red flags and alternatives
Be wary if they promise it is “free” without reading the conditions, if they ask for money up front to “manage” the voucher, if they pressure you with deadlines you cannot verify or if you cannot confirm the supplier is registered. And remember the grant need not be your only criterion: also compare the real monthly cost, lock-in and what each plan includes. With Tablezio you can start free and try Pro for 14 days without a card, with public pricing, no setup fee and no lock-in; if you prefer to fund it with Kit Digital, buy through a registered digitalisation agent.
Kit Digital can ease the technology investment for a bar or restaurant, but only if you go through a registered digitalisation agent and check the current requirements with Red.es yourself. Verify before you sign and compare the total cost, not just the grant.