BENNETT VERBY DRAWS CROWD FUNDING FOR COFFEE DUO

Stockport based accountants Bennett Verby has helped coffee pod duo ‘Grindsmith’ become part of the crowd and secure funding to set up an eco-friendly coffee unit in the heart of Manchester.

Grindsmith, which is the brainchild of Peter Gibson and Luke Tomlinson, has raised around £10,000 from crowd funding – a new way for budding entrepreneurs to raise finance for their business ideas.

Together with a £15,000 start-up loan and £5,000 of their own cash, the pair are now serving freshly-brewed coffee from their eight-seater wooden coffee pod in Greengate Square

The duo- Pete, (left) who runs an outdoor adventure business which operates mainly from March to October and Luke, who has a background in graphic design, met at a high rope course. Luke already had a mobile coffee unit which Pete often ‘baby sat’ while new dad Luke had his hands full with his baby. Two years later, the pair decided to move on to bigger and better things. Luke sold his wheels and the pair formed Grindsmith last November.

Their dream was to have an eco-friendly pod to provide a haven in the city for coffee lovers. They found a location that been developed by the council and set about raising funds.

Neil Jones, director at Bennett Verby, gave them lots of initial advice about finance and made sure that they checked all financial opportunities open to them included start up loans.

Pete said:

‘Neil gave us such great advice and all of accountancy work now goes through Bennett Verby’

The pair decided on crowd funding after financial planning/ forecasts showed them that their initial overheads would be very high if they just used a loan to finance the business.  It would have taken six months to a year to have seen a gain.

The pair researched crowd funding and the ‘Kickstarter’ scheme seemed the best option.

Knowing they only had a 30-day window to promote their project to potential backers, Pete and Luke spent six months planning the content.  They also backed other projects to experience what it was like to be a backer and to consider what to offer backers in return for their support.

Pete continued:

“We realised how crucial it was to get the video and wording format right. You only have 30 days to raise your target funds, if you don’t achieve your target you get nothing.

“After a slow start, the project gathered momentum in the last few days and in the end we got 89 backers  mainly from the North West although we even got one from as far as Australia.”

Pete and Luke hit their £10,000 target and used the funds to buy the espresso machine as well as cups, saucers, food and drink display units and bar-brew equipment. The coffee pod recently opened for business.

Peter said:

“Crowd funding was a way to protect the business. It enabled us to build up a following/ customer base right from the start with people wanting to come and experience the café because they had been supporting the business. We have even had a visit from an American lady – her father had seen their project on Kickstarter. ”

He added: “Kickstarter has allowed us to re-invest early and expand the business. We have just confirmed a location for a coffee trike on Great Northern Square serving straight onto Deansgate. It will be a mobile unit but still with Grindsmith’s great coffee and Eco-ethos.”