Money Talks Part 3: Crowdfunding 101 to kickstart your business
"Money Talks" is a three-part series including interviews, workshops, and panels brought to you by For Working Ladies. The events will take place over three nights from May - June with the aim of creating a space to demystify the world of personal and business finance. In part three, we'll be chatting all things crowdfunding to kickstart/grow your business. If you’re a female entrepreneur, crowdfunding can be one of the best ways to raise the finance you need to grow your business. In 2016, one-third of all deals into female-founded companies came from crowdfunding. Research shows that women are more successful at crowdfunding than men, 17%of male-led campaigns reach their finance target, compared with 22% of female-led campaigns. This event is set up as part workshop, part panel talk with four extraordinary female entrepreneurs.
Sonder & Tell a content and communications agency that helps story-driven brands find their voice and express themselves will be sharing a talk on “How to tell your story.”
Sonder & Tell was co-founded by the dynamic duo Kate Hamilton and Emily Ames. Clients include Airbnb, Good Hemp, Jigsaw and Sacla. They were recently recognised in the Forbes 30 under 30 European list for the great work they have produced and have recently published a book in partnership with Women for Women UK and Inside Jigsaw, titled “Comfort Zones”.
Meet Ifeyinwa Frederick, a creative spirit who sees business as one of her creative outlets. With a desire to see her culture celebrated on the world stage, she turned down a graduate scheme offer to become the co-founder of Chuku's- the world's first Nigerian tapas restaurant.
With a background in marketing and PR, she has built Chuku’s 9,000 strong brand community and she led the company’s recent crowdfunding campaign to raise £30k in 30 days.
Her campaign leadership saw them achieve 120% of their target, raising in total over £36,000 from nearly 600 supporters. She has also secured the award-winning restaurant coverage in over 20 national and international media outlets, including Time Out, London Live and Bella Naija. Starting Chuku’s without any hospitality experience, she is fast gaining a reputation as an industry pioneer, featured in Forbes’ list of 100 Women Founders in Europe, recognised as one of the 15 Most Exciting Food and Drink Entrepreneurs in the UK by the Great British Entrepreneur Awards and a finalist in the 2017 Black British Business Awards and 2018 Great British Entrepreneur Awards.
Alongside Chuku’s, in 2016 she took up writing for pleasure and discovered an unknown talent. She is now a critically acclaimed writer, and her debut play The Hoes was staged at Hampstead Theatre in 2018.
When not working or writing she’ll be indulging in her first love – dance – and can be found in a dance studio, getting her endorphins from a heels dance class. Excited to hear Ifeyinwa share her experience on crowdfunding!
Bex started the award-winning, all natural, vegan breakfast company Bexfast in 2015 after changing her unhealthy lifestyle, in the hope that she would be a positive role model for her daughter, Tyler. Having been addicted to cake throughout the pregnancy, Bex wanted to find a way to cut the cravings without forfeiting the taste or satisfaction and that is when she began making the first versions of the whole food, breakfast pots.
Daily posts of her breakfast on Instagram soon sparked the demand to buy Bex’s ‘no junk’ creations and after a few months she was selling the basic versions of her Bexfast Pots at a friend's bootcamp on Clapham Common. As well as being popular with the bootcamp goers, people who had seen the pots online also started turning up after the classes to get their hands on them and soon it was clear that this was going to become something very special.
After becoming ill with Chronic Fatigue and using a plant based diet to successfully aid her recovery, Bex is now a huge advocate for eating food that works to help the body function at it’s best.. whilst tasting like it should be bad for you!
From bootcamps to tube station drop-offs, winning 'London's Hottest Food Entrepreneur' and successfully crowdfunding over £23k and now manufacturing from an industrial kitchen in East London with a small team, this small business is becoming big news.
Bex has built this well-loved food company against all the odds, with her daughter by her side and is now focusing on the fast growth of Bexfast whilst maintaining the passion for sustainability, incredible taste and powerful mornings. || On the night Bex will be talking about the challenges of running a business and a crowdfunding campaign side by side and all the things that it takes to make it a success.
Meet Abi & Liha, the pioneering women behind Liha Beauty, fusing natural ingredients with Yoruba tradition. As well as handcrafted African black soap and coconut oil, their line of artisanal products includes pure golden shea butter, a strain rich in vitamins A and E that’s particularly great for treating extra-dry skin types.
Founded in 2014, all Liha products are handmade at their workshop in Cheltenham, England, however, they are heavily inspired by practices and ingredients from Africa.
In 2017 they launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter in which they successfully raised just over £10,000. On July 4th they’ll be sharing the importance of content and how it drives the success of your campaign.
Agenda:
7:00 - Doors Open, mix & mingle!
7:15 - What is crowdfunding? A look into the different types of crowdfunding.
7:30 - The Art of Storytelling presented by Sonder & Tell.
7:45 - A Panel discussion with three female entrepreneurs who have successfully crowdfunded, including Founder of Bexfast, Liha Beauty, Chuku's and more.
What you'll learn about:
- The different types of crowdfunding
- What are the risks and rewards?
- The important steps to take for a winning crowdfunding campaign
- How to use storytelling to boost your crowdfunding campaign, think video, founder interviews and more.
- Crowdfunding success stories from four female entrepreneurs and how they did it.
- Plus the chance to get one on one feedback from on whether your business is ready to crowdfund!
Project Tags
Companies
For Working Ladies
- Publishing
Sonder & Tell
- Marketing & PR