I wrote this article below for my site earnsomeextra.com, I intended to start a blog with some ideas of how to save an invest. But I pretty much gave up with the site. Article: Have you ever watched programs such as Dragons Den in the UK, or Shark Tank in the US, and thought it would be cool if you had the opportunity to invest in start up companies? Well it is actually easier than you think, and you can do it from your own home. I use websites like Crowdcube and Seedrs to invest in start up companies. The best thing is that you can invest as little as 10, so really anyone can become an investor in start ups, and the potential next big thing. It works in a similar way to peer to peer lending, in that the funding is sourced from lots of individual investors. But instead of loaning the money to the company seeking finance you are investing for an equity stake of the company. There are obviously a lot of start ups that fail, but if you diversify your investments and spread your money across a wide range of star ups that you think have the potential to succeed then your risk is decreased and if one of the companies you invested in makes it to the big time, you might find yourself with a very healthy profit indeed. Out of the websites I searched, I found that both Seedrs and Crowdcube seemed to be the best for UK investments. I like the simplicity of the Seedrs website, it is extremely easy to use. Crowdcube pitches has more detailed information on them, and you can find information directly on the pitch page relating to the Entrepreneur's / Business seeking investment's finances, such as profit and loss accounts (if they are an established business), financial forecasts, business plan's etc. Although you can easily get this information from Seedrs by simply sending an email to the Entrepreneur's / Business seeking investment. Seedrs is only for start ups, and companies that have been trading a year or less, and Crowdcube allows more established businesses to also seek investment.
No seemed to think this was something interesting to do / a worthwhile investment? I know the risk is greater than other investments, but it also has a great potential. I have only invested in two businesses so far one of them being pixel pin, http://pixelpin.co.uk/ and the other being Wild Trail cereal bars. I was intending to invest in a lot of other start ups to diversify my portfolio, but right now I need money for my own business projects. I will let you know in 4+ years if my investment in these companies manage to produce a gain or not.
There is a lot of potential in new start-up businesses. However for me, in the current and pending financial climate - I will give them a miss. Good luck with your endeavours.
