I have recently come across crowdcube.com, a UK based company that enables the public to invest in new businesses. Entrepreneurs upload their pitch on the platform explaining their business idea , how much money they need and what they are prepared to offer in return. The public can then look at the investments available and decide whether they want to invest.
There are a heap of US versions of these ideas that have been around for awhile, the most famous being Kickstarter. I really do think these sites are really positive for entrepreneurs for the following reason:
1) Secure necessary funding. Ok, so it’s an obvious one! But, I have been in the situation where I require funding for an idea. I have sought investment from friends and I have also been on an accelerator programme that has enabled me to pitch to very wealthy investors. Nevertheless, in today’s financial age, investment is a struggle and further potential options to secure funding could be seriously fruitful. What’s more, small amounts of investment by a large number of people helps investment to become more feasible and possible as it is spread.
2) Develop a committed group of supporters. Shouting about your business idea to anyone who will listen, is vital, the more people who hear about your idea then the more you have a chance of people following you and supporting your idea. If a business can gain a number of ‘champions’ who will shout about the business on your behalf, before launch then this helps increase the chance of business success.
3) Reach potential ‘helpers’. Sharing your business through the likes of crowdcube really helps you to find like minded people who not only share your vision but who also have the vital skills that you need in order to make the business happen.
4) Provides a secure testing environment. I have had business ideas that I should not have launched. At the time I thought they were the best ideas in the world, naively and with the best of intentions. However, retrospectively, these ideas where not so good. If I had placed these ideas on the likes of crowdcube.com it would have enabled me to gauge feedback and wisdom from my potential customers and develop the business idea accordingly. This all important insight may have resulted in me not launching these businesses which could have saved a lot of pain, heartache and finances.
The nature of my first business, Tribewanted.com, was essentially crowd funded. Members of the public paid for their time on the island up front and it was this cash that was used in order to propel the business forward. We received a lot of criticism for this which left people wondering whether the whole thing was a scam. At the time, if Crowdcube existed I would have sought investors on such a platform. I remember, at the time, looking for a UK equivalent.
Crowdcube creates a safe environment for potential investors, it provides the credibility required to bring about the trust in order to invest and, if the full amount of investment is not raised then no money is taken from the investors accounts. Perfect.
One business has already secure 100% of their £75,000 required investment and you can read more about Bubble & Balm here. The only negative is that there are not a heap of businesses who are using the site yet but I am watching and waiting and when the right business comes along I shall invest, I shall become a ‘champion’ of the idea, I will offer my skills to help and I will tell you all about it right on this blog!
So, go take a look at crowdcube.com and if you invest in a business idea – let me know!
Yesterday I mentioned that I frequently put up #startup on Twitter with a call for anyone working on a startup to contact me, purely because I love to see what is going on. Well, after that blog went up I was contacted by entrepreneur Tom Packer. Tom is someone who I have known for awhile, a creative web programmer who has come up with some great ideas, some that have been great ideas but have struggled to take off. However, Tom let me know about an idea he launched and created at the weekend, bktrack.com which I love!
Bktrack is a website that enables you to see images of key moments in the world, in whatever year you choose to want to see. You may look at the year you were born, the year you got married, the year your parents met – whatever tear you choose. Bktrack is a crowd sourced idea meaning that it is calling up on the public to upload images of key moments of throughout the years.
I really like the idea, it is a sort of cross between instagr.am and wiki that has huge potential. There are many ways to monetize this site and, indeed, Tom has let me in on a few of these ideas. Some ideas that I could imagine include – brand sponsorship of brands key moments, advertising, merchandise around specific years and timelines such as T-shirts and posters and stuff. There are endless possibilities for development here from launching personal timelines, group timelines, being able to post your images on your blog and website etc. It is just a really cool idea.
Of course, the success of this business depends on the public uploading images so, head over to bktrack.com and get involved!
Like Bktrack? Hate it? Thinking of ways it could be improved? Post your comments I would love to hear!
Congratulations to Tom, cannot wait to see where this goes!
Recently I have started to throw out the following question on Twitter: Who is working on a #startup today? I would love to hear about it!. It’s awesome – people search for the #startup and so I get some pretty cool responses from people all over the world who are working on the ‘next big thing’. So, I decided to write a blog about the one’s that particularly catch my attention.
First up we have, payumi.com. It’s amazingly simple, this is a website for people who need to collect money from groups of people. I remember at Uni, in a shared house and whenever the time came to pay the bills it was always a pain to get money off housemates as individuals wrestled to keep as much beer money as possible! Of course the same situation occurs with the likes of mother groups, children’s activities like dance or football, holidays, for example. The list is endless.
All you have to do is set up an account, send payment reminders and the money will come straight into your paypal account.
I think it is an absolutely genius idea and has heaps of potential. The only question swirling through my mind is what the difference is between this site and simply using your paypal account in order to make a payment request? If there is absolutely no difference it almost makes the site redundant. I cannot even begin to describe how much I want there to be a massive difference. I will ask the payumi team directly on their twitter account @payumicom and let you know what they say. I will post an update as soon as I have one!