I think you’ll agree with me that opting to run your own business means NOT opting for the easy option. There’s a huge degree of resilience required, which one needs to develop along the way to cope with the difficulties. As the bank said no to lending to the business, we moved on to (another!) personal loan.

Now it’s all about moving forward... due to a grant we got from the East Midlands Food and Drink iNet, we were able to have a PR agency work with us for a few months. This means we were able to write our first newsletter and we also sent loads of samples to magazines and newspapers. I had my first interview with a glossy magazine yesterday which will hopefully mean that there will be more awareness for the products nationally. We’ve had interest from other national magazines, and a large food magazine is talking about writing a feature on us which would be fantastic if all this happens.

I am also meeting a large possible client tomorrow...can’t disclose details but it’s very exciting so watch this space! We are feeling positive...

Labels: bank lending, fishbowl2, grants, marcela, personal loan, PR

Well, guess what. I have finally heard from the bank, after 3+ weeks. Inefficiency? Procrastination? Whatever it may be, but the bank said no. At this point I could “U” turn and just get a job, a salary, and pack it all iin. But I KNOW there is something out there that will work, a stone that has been left unturned.

This is a hard knock on my fund raising effort. Now we have gone so far. Larger contracts placed and I can’t develop new products without the funding I was counting on. What next?

I spoke to my neighbour, a successful, experienced builder who is going through a difficult time at the moment. He said exactly the same thing. He needed bank support to make a new project a reality. The equity was there to secure the loan but the bank said they didn’t want to make him homeless- can YOU believe it??! I’ve no words to explain my frustration.

I have been speaking with a couple of investors but they want to take their time, and my time is now. How do I say “now”, not later? How?

Do get in touch to let me know your experiences, advice, thoughts, and benefit other people in the process...

Labels: bank funding, finance, fishbowl2, investors, marcela

Just picked up the keys. Here is a sneak preview of the new food unit - no more cooking for Harrods in the kitchen at home!

Labels: fishbowl2, food unit, marcela, video

Who doesn’t like to save money? I certainly do, especially as we are trying to get our costs down so we can pass the savings to our customers. So...a couple of months ago, when we were looking at different options for our next purchase of packaging, we decided to go directly to the manufacturer as this would be much, much cheaper for us. This involved, of course, buying much larger quantities. This sounded like a really good idea at the time. The greater scheme was that we would sort our finances in November, and spending a larger amount of money upfront and have the cash tied up in work in progress (WIP) shouldn’t be a problem.

Well, now, as you may have read from my previous blogs, I’ve been going on and on about funding. Banks, investors, business plans.... all lined up, I thought. I’d been speaking with the bank manager for a while about what we need, to keep him informed and so I would understand what I need to produce to finance next steps. I had a couple of conversations with an investors’ fund too, and it all looked possible. But it all takes time. Time I haven’t got. In the meantime I need to ensure I have an overdraft facility because it looks like I’ll need it, and that is taking a while too!

Cash is king and all that. Well, that’s the lesson learned. It sounded like a great idea to reduce our costs and pay upfront but now I’m cashless... hopefully not for long. I can really see how WIP can kill viable businesses- game over when you can’t pay for the ingredients you need so you can’t produce to sell!

Labels: bank funding, bulk buy, cash flow, cash is king, finance, fishbowl2, marcela, start-up finance