With just over 3 weeks left, you might like a progress report on possibly one of the most stressful things we've ever done.
Yep, this crowdfunding malarky beats that time Leanne launched a freshly baked cheescake across the room, before catching it sunny side up. There's something about throwing yourself at the mercy of people you hope love your business as much as you do, that sends you into a spiral of self doubt. It's all so public....
Feeling the Love Before we launched our crowdfunding campaign, we'd set ourselves up for rejection. We'd thought of every logical explanation for why you would not want to invest; I'm skint, I'm living day to day, I don't get it... What we were NOT prepared for was the love. I swear I personally spent that first week a sobbing, snotty mess. It suddenly became very apparent, that there is a LOT of it out there for what we are trying to achive and our journey so far. And it's coming at us from all directions. From the lady who spends a few quid once a week, to the businesses who've pledged substantial amounts. We've even had people pledging more than once; they REALLY REALLY want this to happen. Along with the pledges, we've also had help from people spreading the word. Newspapers, radio stations, social media groups and even Tik Tok users. It's been amazing. One of the biggest surprises has been subsequential support we've received from Barnsley Council, who are opening up other doors for us. As a result of our campaign, we are now the first business in Barnsley to sign up to Net 2045, the initiative to be carbon neutral.
Are we on track?
Well, after a few technical blips and a lot of head scratching (crowdfunding is a fairly new concept), honestly.... We're not sure. At the time of writing this we've raised just short of 7K, so have a VERY long way to go. BUT we are NOT quitters. So, we'll keep ploughing on, sharing our vision.
The Hard Sell
Since starting the campaign to replace our 20L refill drums for 200L barrels and extend our zero waste area, we've been dangling other carrots...that REALLY COULD HAPPEN if we hit the target.
a nut butter machine - press your own nuts, fill your own jar
a refill alternative milk station
a loose coffee bean station
a loose leaf tea station
a zero waste salts station
a build your own granola station
What if? One of the questions we get asked a lot, is what happens if we don't hit our target by 27th July?
We don't get the money.
Simple as that. The crowdfunding campaign is cancelled and all money is returned to pledgers (minus anything spent on their account). It's something we'd prefer not to think about, but it is a reality, that at some point we need to address. Probably in our case on July 26th...WE ARE NOT QUITTERS
If you would like to get involved in our campaign, you can register and pledge by following the link below.
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