Blog Post
E34. Catherine Bedford, Dashel - Go Big Fast or Take It Slow?
#fitness #SEIS #valuation #startuploan
£425k raised
Catherine started Dashel in 2017 when she spotted a gap in the market for a helmet that cyclists would want to wear with their regular clothes to get around town.
She started the business with her own savings initially, then got a start-up loan from Virgin which was useful, not only for the cash but for the help they gave her with the business strategy. Some entrepreneurs feel nervous about taking on debt, but Catherine believes in being relentlessly optimist.
Before the cycling helmet launched, Catherine received a £150K investment from Angel investors from her extended network. Dashel qualified for SEIS, a scheme making it tax efficient to invest in start-ups. Catherine highly recommends using this as investors will get an added incentive to invest.
Some investors suggested that Catherine may have undervalued the company and was asking for too little investment. The decision to go big fast, or take it slow can be difficult, but Catherine is happy that she chose to grow slowly.
In this episode you’ll discover…
- Why the start-up loan should be on your list of options
- The benefits of SEIS to you and investors
- How to make a balanced decision on valuation and investment amount
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