WEDDING SUPPLIERS ARE GOING TO LOVE THIS VALENTINE’S DAY OFFER!
WANT TO OWN A PART OF BB BOUTIQUE? WE ARE NOW OPEN FOR INVESTMENT!
Have you ever had a business idea but insufficient funds to get it off the ground? Or perhaps you have already started your business but need money to grow? Well that is what happened to us 2 years ago. Sat on a sun lounger in Mexico (that’s how all great stories seem to start around here!) I read ‘How To Build a Business From Your Kitchen Table’, written by retail experts Sophie Cornish & Holly Tucker founders of Notonthehighstreet.com. Their story was incredibly inspirational and I totally related, as we too have always been extremely passionate about championing small, unique & innovative wedding businesses on Bespoke Bride.
I thought about how awesome it would be to create a similar platform for weddings, not only selling stylish and personalised items, but also promoting creative services such as photographers, venues and videographers. When I got home I shared the idea with Jess and she was instantly onboard. For some time we had been chatting about how impractical traditional blog advertising had been for our couples and thought this would be a fantastic tool to effectively help couples find the best suppliers to make their weddings personal and unique.
As we started our search for a web designer we soon realised our business idea was going to be costly and we would definitely need a lot more cash. We exhausted our own savings, took out personal loans and even borrowed money from family but it wasn’t long before that had run out too. By chance we happened upon a competition being held by Upstart Women, looking for women in startup tech businesses like ours to enter for the chance to win a place on a business incubator and a £10,000 investment. This was the first time we had ever seriously considered investment, and we certainly didn’t take it lightly. So after a lot of research we finally decided if we were ever going to grow this little business idea of ours, we would need to take the leap. To our surprise we ended up winning and since then a business idea born on the beaches of Mexico is finally a reality.
Arrow Cinema Sign by Hey Style Hire
So why raise more investment?
Since its launch, it was soon obvious that we desperately needed more manpower if we were to make BB boutique the success we had always wanted it to be. Some also rather unforeseen circumstances meant we were forced to release a beta version of our site instead of the more complex software we had originally planned, which meant it wouldn’t be long until we would need to find more money to help evolve our software and that is where we are at right now and is why we have turned to ‘crowdfunding’.
We already have an extremely supportive community here at Bespoke Bride, many of you have shared your words of encouragement for both our blog and BB boutique and have told us how excited you are to see us grow! You guys are our ‘Crowd’! And a pretty rockin’ crowd at that!
Photography by Sarah London Photography
Platforms such as Seedrs allow you to create campaigns to pitch your idea to your ‘crowd’ who can then in turn invest money in return for a share of your company. We are looking to raise a target of £80,000 for 11.49% equity, so you can invest anything from £12.32 to £80,000 in return for a share in BB boutique. If the campaign is successful your money will be subject to the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme which means you can claim a proportion of your money in tax relief, if however the campaign is unsuccessful your pledged amount will not be taken.
Pink Summer Bloom Wedding Invitation by Nina Thomas Studio
The success of our campaign really relies on our crowd! Even if you can’t invest you can still support us by sharing our campaign on Facebook & Twitter, any help you can give us will really make all the difference. To find out more about our campaign and our plans for the future check out our profile on Seedrs and for more information about crowdfunding head here!
We know you are just as passionate about supporting small businesses as we are, which is why we hope you will help us in the bid to create a rockstar wedding platform, full of the ultimate suppliers that will make wedding dreams come true!
