equity crowdfunding

This month I enjoyed a week in which week I met nine entrepreneurs at different ends of the equity crowdfunding spectrum. Six were seeking investors, three were sharing tips on having achieved successful results. The willingness to share experiences and support each other is a very positive characteristic of the crowdfunding sector that helped me decide to specialise as an independent crowdfunding adviser. And those tips apply just as much to donations-for-rewards crowdfunding as equity projects.

The six entrepreneurs ready to trade equity for investment presented to a panel of four advisers and an audience of over a hundred people gathered in Whitechapel, London E1. The audience included several potential investors plus other people who were planning how to conduct their own equity crowdfunding to launch or develop their businesses.

The meeting with the successful users of crowdfunding was organised by equity platform Seedrs and held in a function room at Camden Market, London NW1.

The Hopefuls
Here is a brief summary of the six companies and the diverse business sectors they operate in.

In Your Stride, founded by Shaun Lancaster, is a smart adaptive coaching platform. It matches runners’ individual abilities with a database of over 20,000 events to create a custom training plan that adapts with progress. It is compatible with a range of wearable technology for easy use. It is available through a personal subscription, and also supported by charities that stand to receive more sponsorship income if people running in events on their behalf achieve better results. In Your Stride has exceeded its £100,000 target on Crowdcube for a 15.8% stake in the business.

Unis Learning provides HR departments with the means to test the aptitude of potential employees and thus place them in the most productive roles compatible with their inherent talents as well as academic qualifications. They wanted £150,000 for 20% and would seek further investment two years on.

Leeds-based Perks Loyalty, represented by Commercial Director Whaleed Shihadah, enables local traders to co-operate and utilise electronic customer loyalty cards. It empowers the traders with affordable technology to build and maintain business traffic through customer tracking and dynamic and adaptable benefits. Perks Loyalty is currently seeking £130,000 through Crowdcube for 8% of the company. One of the panellists thought they weren’t seeking enough to establish themselves firmly in their competitive marketplace.

Two bespoke high-end men’s tailoring companies, Daniel & Lade and Edit Suits Co., utilise the benefits of electronic 3D imaging and laser cutting to create quality clothing at a fraction of the cost of traditional suppliers. Both want extra money fast to develop ahead of the me-too competition in this obviously highly competitive business sector.

Colony is a new management software tool to manage increasing numbers of staff working remotely. It helps new office-based companies set up without the need for as much office space as traditional businesses, if any at all. They want £450,000 for 20% and in 12 months they will be seeking further investment.

What all six have in common is harnessing the latest IT, developing its use to provide tangible customer benefits, and trying to raise funding to move faster than inherently slower existing competitors tied to older methods and perhaps dated software. If you have a business idea along these lines then perhaps you’d like to get in touch with me and we can explore the opportunities and benefits that equity crowdfunding could deliver for you.

The successes
The three successful equity crowdfunding users had all used the Seedrs platform.

• Shaken Cocktails raised £118,690 for 9.43% equity in March 2015
• Incubus is a business incubation service for start-ups provided on a converted double-decker bus. They raised £53,770 for a 15.95% stake in July 2014
• Brother Cycles make bike frames and builds custom bicycles for their customers. They raised £125,880 for a 16.22% stake in the business in July 2015

Ten tips the three companies offered.

1. Thorough planning and preparation is vital. Decide on who (the types of people) you want to tell about your offer, create in advance what you’re going to tell them (the content), and plan when to tell them (don’t overload demands on your own time by telling everyone all at once, stagger it).
2. Examine projects by other equity crowdfunding users in your business sector. Check for opportunities through your platform provider to identify and contact backers with a relevant investment history.
3. Build your own networks of relevant people for as long as possible before going live. Every person you have ever met is a potential investor! This crowd-building includes making professional media contacts to ensure a good response to press releases in your local area and sent to relevant trade/business sectors.
4. Pre-sell to your closest contacts and supporters so that you can count on at least 30% of the funding arriving in the first few days. This gives the project vital momentum and reassures other would-be investors.
5. Ensure you and your support team have adequate social media skills, or have a budget to access some.
6. Crowdfunding can be a fulltime role. Organise your day job, maybe by taking on temporary support, so you have the time to answer questions, send out information, and personally meet prospective backers. Don’t forget – people invest in people, get out and meet some investors.
7. Set weekly targets to monitor progress and check that you are doing enough, and establish what’s working well and what isn’t.
8. Make it easy for investors to tell their own networks about your investment opportunity, provide them with content.
9. Be flexible to accommodate other opportunities that arise, such as offers of retail distribution.
10. Invest some time on your new backers because they could turn in to important brand ambassadors for your business.

In short, you will need soft ‘people skills’ to engage with potential investors; an ability to segment audiences and identify key prospects; skills to harness the power of the written word; social media skills; an easy to deliver and understand SMART business plan (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timetabled); a budget to bring in any of these skills and any other requirements as necessary (such as video production, temporary office support staff); a campaign plan with KPIs; a campaign manager to oversee everything if you don’t have the time. These requirements are just as important for donations-for-rewards projects.

Or contact me, an independent crowdfunding adviser, at [email protected] or on 07788 784373.