This a great question and one we love to answer, because the truth is, the Return on Investment (ROI) depends on who you are and what you invest – it isn’t always about the money! At the moment, though it kind of is because we are crowdfunding and we need financial support to start the bid adventure – delivering FREE community membership, skills and support to our nation’s SMEs through a network of coffee shops for business people.
If you’re a business person, and you invest your time (by coming to your local Business Cafe, chatting to other members, showing empathy and sharing your experience) you in turn receive business friendship and support, a familiar face if you’re feeling lonely, a bigger network of associates and collaborators and more awareness of local business networks and support schemes. And for a reasonable price you’ll get great coffee, amazing choice of teas, lovely lunch or a cracking glass of wine.
If you’re a town, you get another little bit of class added to your high street, another coffee shop destination to bring new people and footfall. Your business failure rates – we very much hope and expect – will start to lower, growth rates will increase and there will be even more start-ups as confidence grows. In Peterborough (Gail’s home town – initiatives that encourage businesses to come together have already shown their benefits and we hope to add to this very soon).
If you’re a member of the local community, not necessarily a business person, but perhaps one that supplies to small businesses, then you have a channel to market, a bunch of cats herded, and a place where you can chat and make friends with sole-traders rather than just feel obliged to sell to them. You may find employment at The Business Cafe, either as catering team or a Digital Friend, manager or Community Manager.
And if you provide a digital application for business users, you can become part of our Making Business Digital campaign and get on the Digital Menu, like all the brands below, who are amazing and enlightened and recognise that to give is to get and by paying to be there they increase awareness of their presence, demonstrate their support of small business and help them hugely by sponsoring free skills delivery.
All very good reasons to invest your money, from £10 upwards. Nothing in life is guaranteed, but Penny and I, and a few amazing private investors have funded the progress of The Business Cafe for the last three years and we want to deliver an amazing return to those who invest. We have thought it through, tyre-kicked, drawn on our own experience and heaps of advice from some incredible people and will work every harder to unite our business communities, never competing with business networks or business suppliers, but always signposting, promoting and collaborating.
You can see our model from our Investment Summary which you can request via the pitch page or directly from us pennyandgail@thebusinesscafe.co.uk.
In whatever way you invest, money or otherwise, we hope the return keeps on coming back to you in spades.
