Finding Investor For Startup

[ZillaBoom]

Hey guys, iv been searching this for weeks now and always come up trumps, before I go into any details about the start up let me tell you a little about my past.

So, my business name is ZillaBoom, it's been many things in the past, a forum, retail site and various other little projects that never really took off until I started a T-Shirt business with it about a year ago.

Basically the T-Shirt business was going pretty well, was making some good money with it & all I was doing is selling custom made T-Shirt, id design them, send the designs to a printers and they printed the shirts then id go and pick them up from the printers ( the printers was about 3-4 miles from my house ).

However, back in July I had to stop doing it as the printers went out of business and the only other printers I found wanted 3x as much money for printer the shirts, which there was no way I was going to pay.

Anyway, after that closed I had to go back to work to bring in some work & the only job I could get was at a Bakery ( which I love and I'm still there ), but now the Bakery is closing and I'm going to be out of a job again.

Anyway, I digress, I'm looking to get back into the T-Shirt business and after doing some research iv found that it's really not hard to print on the shirts myself, iv looked into what equipment id need and how much it would cost and the money is to much for me at the moment.

In total I would be needing about £1,500 which I cam't get with a business loan as I don't have any recent numbers on how much the business will be bringing in.

So does anyone know a place to find an investor or 2? I'm looking to either pay back monthly or offer a % of how much the business earns.

 

[Ian J]

In total I would be needing about £1,500 which I cam't get with a business loan as I don't have any recent numbers on how much the business will be bringing in.

The sum you are looking to raise is probably too low to interest outside investors.

The traditional response to a request like yours is normally either to borrow on credit cards or else try family or friends

 

[ZillaBoom]

Thanks for the response, unfortunately I'm the type of person that doesn't have any friends or family that have that sort of money and I'm not 100% sure on how credit cards work, how much would I pay back a month and what not, a credit card might not be the best way to go.

If the problem would be getting a small amount of money I could always loan more than £1,500, it would help but the £1,500 is simply the minimum id need to get it going.

 

[ricky776]

I guess your going to have to save every penny

The problem is for an investor it's a low sum not much interest for them to make etc

£1500 is this just for the printing stuff

What about website etc how are you going to sell the t shirts

 

[ZillaBoom]

Like most people I was planning to sell on eBay, wasn't to bothered about a website to begin with but I'm a web designer myself so wouldn't cost much for me to get a website going.

I suppose to make a good go of it with good starting stock I could do with around £3,000.

This would pay for plain shirt, transfer paper and premises and what not.

 

[Core List]

Hi Zillaboom,

I would definitely go for a credit card. It is not worth getting an investor, as mentioned £1500 or even £3000 is a small amount. Business loans are a pain in the butt and have high fees and interest. A consumer credit card will have similar fees and some have good introductory periods of low interest and/or fees. There are plenty of online calculators to work out your monthly payments. But for £3000 if you paid around £75 a week, it will be paid off in under 1 year.
Maybe try your current bank and ask which consumer credit cards they have. Also have a look at some comparison sites for other low interest/fee cards. Consumer cards are so easy to get, I have heard of alot of successful startups using them to buy tens of thousands of pounds to get stock and still turn a profit.
Also another plus for this is you won't have to answer to anyone else, you can run the business how you want instead of have a partner telling you what to do.
It can be hard to get started out with no money, but getting resourceful and standing on your own 2 feet will teach you far more about business in the long run.

Good Luck.
John

 

[ZillaBoom]

Thanks to the reply, I think a credit card could be a good way to go, would help starting up but I think I'll have a problem getting one as at the moment I only get paid around £140 a week.

 

[Socio South West]

So you are a web designer.... There is plenty of freelance work about for web designers, and it wouldn't take you many weeks to earn the £3k you need - Have a look at People Per Hour or other similar sites. There are always people advertising for complete sites, or part sites, conversions and other website work that you should be able to get work from

 

[businessfunding]

Have you tried the Government sponsored Start-up loan scheme.

 

[URBAN COLOUR]

What about looking at one of the crowd sourcing sites

 

[beasty]

OK

He is NOT a webdesigner as a webdesigner would not work in a bakers!

He knows how to do web design, the world has too many web designers already!

You went back to the bakery as you lost your printer, so is this not going to be a problem again?
or have you found a better deal?

You might want to consider this time that you should line up a 2nd printer, keep them keen for the business in case the same happens, it helps to plan for worst case even if it is not on the horizon

Last. I would think this is ideal for crowdfunding.. you do not want much and you can do T SHIRTs as rewards at a low value each..

How about

HE GOT THE BUSINESS AND I GOT THE T SHIRT!

You could also go to the either way up and down the supply chain and cut a deal with them to get you going

 

[PaulThompson]

Have you looked at KickStarter?

 

[Sham31]

If you still looking to raise some money try indiegogo you don't have to raise full amount and with T-shirts in return you do have a chance!

 

[amandamorris]

I see you need an investment amount of £1,500 and you need an investor too. Well I would like to suggest you to look at various crowdsourcing sites. You will just have to put your information. These sites can help you in finding the potential investors and you need to show your work and passion towards it.

 

[emulsja]

1,500 seems not to be a big investment. It sould not be hard to save such amount.

 

[nandhrap2]

I may be interested in financing depending on the project


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