Financing

Business start up tips…

• https://www.gov.uk/starting-up-a-business/get-funding
• http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/jan/05/money-businesses-start-up-entrepreneurs

Arts Council Funding: We don't qualify for a grant from the arts council, as you have to have been trading for 18 months to apply. Could be useful later down the line though if we need a boost!

• http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding/apply-funding/apply-for-funding/creative-industry-finance/

Big Lottery Fund: If we could prove that we are going to benefit local communities and fall into the third sector rather than just private, we could apply for a grant from the lottery fund. However, we are more leaning towards being a private business so this might not work.

• http://ask.biglotteryfund.org.uk/help/england/a4a/who_can_apply_a4a_eng

Crowd funding schemes: Crowd funding schemes that are unlikely to be a scam, as many people have used them. These have been recommended as the best crowd funding websites.

• https://www.crowdcube.com
• http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk
• https://www.kickstarter.com

Researching potential vehicles

I found a really good website for second hand vans and buses. They have a range of sizes and types to compare from and they are all pretty cheap. Buses are cheaper than old food trucks and vans, but might be to big for what we want at the moment (could get a bus later down the line as the business expands). Some need a lot of maintenance but many say they are working and ready to go, which is what we would probably want as none of us is a mechanic and we can't afford to spend loads on parts at the beginning. 

http://www.ncass.org.uk/ncass_catering_equipment_for_sale.aspx?id=1

http://www.usedcoachsales.co.uk

Summarising our brainstorms...

Our business concept:

A portable print van that drives around the country, bringing simple print workshops to festivals, schools, community events and fairs. 

Printing types involved; potato, rubber stamp, lino, basic mono and basic screen.

The types of printing involved will vary from event to event, based on how long we will be there (e.g. a festival could be three days whereas a fair could be one). We will also vary it based on who we will be printing with, for example children would be better suited to potato, rubber stamp and mono, whereas adults may want to try lino or screen as well.

We will pre make easy snacks and food to take with us, to sell alongside the printing, such as sandwiches, easy cakes like flapjacks and banana bread, including vegan and gluten free options for the hippies.

We want to spread our mutual love of analogue printing to areas of the UK that might not be that involved in the arts, as we believe it is important to be taught about it when many schools fully focus on maths and the sciences.

The charges will also vary depending on the event; for example, a spot at a festival gives customers the option to print and buy T-shirts or tote bags, as well as buy ones we have pre-designed and made, alongside paper prints and food. Day workshops could be a single charge for a full day and let the participants print as much as they want, or pick a specific theme and outcome for the day (e.g. today is jungle theme, you will design your own prints and then print them onto a T-shirt, or just let children go mad with stamps and paper). 

We will have various promotional platforms, such as social media (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter) to show everyone what we do and so people can view photos from the printing they have done. We also want to create a sort of publication, like a zine, featuring the highlights of the month and including prints from customers. 

There is a lot of stuff we will need to consider…

• How we will make the printing work in such a small space? We might need a simple marquee and tables to set up next to the vans for more space? An extra vehicle to transport materials? How will we wash the inks/screens/stamps if we are in a field with a limited water and power supply? What is the maximum size we can work with screen printing? Will we have an exposure unit based somewhere stationary (Fennell's Garage?!) or will we stick to stencil screen printing? What are the health and safety regulations with selling food, especially when there are chemicals around? How do we get round this? 
• COSTS: Insurance, van purchase and maintenance, safety checks, petrol…
• Competition and how we can work with this. 

I am really excited; I think it is a different business and so far our research hasn't found much else that is similar. It is looking relatively cheap to start up and could be loads of fun, as we would never be doing the same thing every day!

Business Concept and Manifesto

It was useful to be able to properly break down our business concept into sections and have a proper look at what the strengths and weaknesses of it are; when it is just floating around in your head it's hard to be able to see how rational the idea actually is and if it could actually work. It also helped us define what we actually want to get out of the business and what we want to achieve, for ourselves and potential customers! 

I am quite excited by our idea; if we can properly work out all the costings, space and safety issues and demand for our idea, it will all start falling to place and give us the bones for a professional presentation/pitch. 

Stuff to do
Find transport/vans and look at pricing (van/insurance/petrol etc.)
Look at pricing of printing materials
External power sources
Look into health and safety regulations
Make maps/'floor plans' of the van and how we can make the most of the available space
Find specific target customers/clients (festivals, schools, fairs etc.)
Look at competetion in depth and work out how to work with/around them
Start thinking about advertising
Look at start up grants for creative businesses 
Sketch design for van
Think properly about food (and if we are going to do it)
Website mockup
Logo

Life's A Pitch - Brainstorming ideas