Would you invest £20 to £5000 in a local financial forecasting consultancy?
Pilot Cottage Associate Simon Thompson has just raised £15,000 from 22 investors in 28 days via crowdfunding.
In a 3 minute online video, Simon pitched his business proposition and explained that the cash would be used to develop a financial forecasting software product that could used to speedily create an SME’s financial plan.
Two of the investors were business owners that each invested £5000, whilst the remainder were members of the public investing varying sums from as little as £20.
As with any kind of business fund seeking, a successful crowdfunding pitch needs a robust business plan, appropriate business experience and goals that investors can believe you are going to achieve.
One of the huge advantages of crowdfunding however is the convenience that it brings to early stage or start up entrepreneurs, who may otherwise have to spend days attending meetings with investors or their representatives, only to find that they were not shortlisted.
I’ve been tracking the early progress of crowd funding for investment for some time now and noticed that along with other peer-to-peer media initiatives, there is beginning to be some real traction. So I decided to set up a crowdfunding web platform specifically for entrepreneurs and investors in the Greater Cotswolds area (readers of Cotswold Life will recognise the geographical boundaries!).
Why the Greater Cotswolds? Because our clients are mostly Cotswold based and it has been my personal experience that people generally prefer to invest in businesses that are less than two hours drive away.
It will be a few weeks until our new site is launched, whilst I review the business processes that [Pilot Cottage] crowdfunding will need to follow. However, it will be powered by the same platform and investor syndication that supported Simon Thompson’s pitch and will enable members of the public to invest and receive shares in UK-based companies that register online to raise finance.
Instead of competing for limited bank finance, small businesses in the Greater Cotswold area will be able to use our crowdfunding web platform to connect with ‘armchair dragons’ – ordinary people who provide investment in exchange for equity.
If you are ‘business ready’ and need to raise £10k to £75k to get your business idea up and running, please do get in touch.
Michael Howes | Business Pilot