Читать книгу Wake Up and Sell the Coffee! - Martyn Dawes - Страница 30

The GEIF then called and asked if I could send them my business plan. A few days later they called me again and invited me to present at the next forum, which was in May 1999. “When!?” I bellowed down the phone. “I’ll be bust by then, surely you’re running an event before then?” They were, the following week, but it was already full.

Something in me had changed. I had the test market sites performing well and I felt confident, really confident, for the first time. “I don’t care, put me on in the coffee break, I don’t care, I’ll do anything,” I said. I really wasn’t going to take no for an answer. I wasn’t rude, just confident and a little cheeky.

I didn’t have long to wait for an answer. They called me back later the same day and asked if I could present to the board of GEIF the next morning in Cambridge. They asked all presenting entrepreneurs to go through this so that they could then coach them in their pitch. When they heard what I had to say they didn’t want me to change anything, not a word. I could not have been happier.

The day of the big pitch arrived. I felt confident and was sure I had all the ingredients together this time. There were eight companies presenting and it was a packed auditorium of mostly business angels, but with some banks, venture capitalists and advisers.

“It’s fresh, it’s frothy, it’s Coffee Nation coffee!”

That was my opening line. I didn’t say it, I shouted it. No one was going to nod off in my presentation. If I at least got everyone’s attention I’d surely increase my chances.

“You’ve seen the success of other coffee companies – Starbucks in the US (value $3bn) and Coffee Republic (floated on AIM this year) – Coffee Nation is set to become the next coffee revolution.”

Investors (usually) look for an emerging trend, wait for signs of success and then invest. This line was a deliberate play to this. They wanted to know what had already happened in the peer group. This would – I hoped – provide reassurance. Then I told them, super confidently, we would be next.

“Nestlé are forecasting exponential growth in premium quality out-of-home food and beverages well into the next decade.”

I wasn’t buying Nestlé coffee any more but it didn’t stop me from quoting their research. After all, they are one of the largest food companies in the world.

“We are creating an entirely new market category, no one else has the experience we do of developing this and it is giving us a distinct competitive advantage.”

Talking about customers, I said:

“We got a quote from a customer in Manchester. ‘Best coffee in Manchester – we don’t go anywhere else! It’s nice not to have to queue.’ ”

We were indeed now getting great customer feedback with some regularity. My aim was to reassure the audience that it worked for the consumer and not having to queue underpinned a benefit of this new category.

I helped them with that a little:

“This customer called us on our freephone number to give us this feedback. When was the last time you went in to a convenience store and had such a great experience that you went home to call the company and tell them?”

This was an ace. I could almost hear people thinking “Wow, all for a 99p cup of coffee.”

“We have four concessions that have been trading for a combined 40 months so we don’t need your money to test, research or prove the concept – we seek straight roll-out funding. We’ve already done the hard bit and we now seek investors who share our vision and want to join us on the journey.”

The aim here was to reassure them that there weren’t going to be endless rounds of further fundraising where these investors would get diluted.

Finally, I also projected my vision forwards and invited the audience to consider what success might look like. I explained that I was going to read out a section of a hypothetical newspaper article written about Coffee Nation. The date is July 2000:

“Little Coffee Nation stations are popping up everywhere giving the urban customer what they want when they want it. No hassle, no queues and no need to speak to anyone. Suddenly it’s hip to help yourself!”

Of course it was actually November 1998 and this article had yet to be written but it was believable. It brought everything I had talked about to a point, a singularity that they could all get their heads around.

I finished comfortably within the 12 minutes allocated. You know when you’ve nailed it. I knew it before I even finished. The applause was very different to that for the previous companies’ presentations. It wasn’t out of obligation to be polite – it was because what they’d just heard had impressed them. It had been a very long time in the coming but on that day it finally came together for me. I had learnt when and how to raise money for a young business, just in time.

As I sat down and the founder of the eighth and final company took to the stage his opening remark was, “How can I follow that?” Even the founder of another company was still selling my proposition for me.

After the presentations, investors could meet with presenting companies face to face. I was mobbed. I took names, addresses and answered questions. I wasted no time in asking directly if they wanted to invest and how much. I was offering 20% for £100k. I had to maintain the momentum.

The day was a complete success. My bank had also now set out an offer in principle of a £90k Small Firms Loan that was 75% underwritten by the government. This would be available if I was able to match that debt with an equal equity investment.

I followed up with the prospects and had £75k committed by the end of the week. Once some angels heard others had committed they were prepared to invest themselves. The balance was shored up and I soon reached the magic £100k required before the Small Firms Loan could be triggered.