The logic goes that to make a first sale, all an entrepreneur needs is a ready to market product and a buyer. If this is all one needs, then why is it that entrepreneurs tend to over rely on funding? Simply put, access to financial security is a primary necessity for a business to scale and become sustainable, a necessity that many entrepreneurs will say is near impossible to access. Funding not only allows for entrepreneurs to develop market ready prototypes, but from it, entrepreneurs are able to secure large orders whilst also covering operational overheads. Imagine that a large retailer discovers your product and chooses to give you a chance by placing 10 000 items on their shelves, this is the equivalent of a dream come true, the chance you have been waiting for to turn your backroom business into fully fledged enterprise. But when the excitement eventually settles, and the penny finally drops you realize that you don’t have the financial capacity to meet such a large order. You thereafter realize that failure to deliver on this commitment of 10 000 samples could potentially blacklist you as an unreliable supplier.
Funding is arguably the make or break of small businesses, it is because of this that many public and private organizations have funding opportunities available for entrepreneurs. Yet in spite of a surplus of funding agencies, the requirements for funding applications, associated red tape and paper work, tend to make the process both arduous and tedious, without any guarantee of results.
To this end entrepreneurs have chosen more innovative alternatives to traditional methods of sourcing funds. One such entrepreneur is Fontis Organic SkinFood. Incubated at BioPark@Gauteng, Fontis Organic Skinfood is passionate about natural skincare and has taken a holistic approach to beauty. They produce Skincare products with carefully selected aromas, specialty blends and organic supplements. Their skincare products are handmade with extra effort made to ensure the production of products are of the highest quality. They source the purest natural ingredients just for your skin. Most of their ingredients are organic certified. Fontis progressively searches for ingredients from sustainable and socially responsible upliftment projects where possible. The products are produced from herbs, plants and oils infused together to improve the health of skin, hair and body. Fontis uses high quality essential oils originating from certified botanical plants that are 100% pure, 100% natural, 100% unaltered, 100% integral and GC/MS tested. Only 5% of essential oils globally match these criteria.
Fontis Skinfood was founded by Ms Denise Bierman, who is a certified essential oil coach. The company came into incubation at BioPark in 22 June 2018.
In April 2019, Ms. Bierman was chosen as 1 of 20 Women in Business awardees by the Cherie Blair Foundation for woman to receive an international mentor for one year. The main focus of this mentorship is sales and fundraising. She was also featured in Bloss magazine in April 2019, access the full story through this link https://www.bloss.co.za/7-luxurious-local-beauty-brands-that-you-didnt-know-about/ .
Ms. Bierman started a crowd funding project to help her raise funds to kick start her business and get the business more exposure. Link to the crowd funding platform below: https://www.gofundafrica.com/campaign/skin-supplement-manufacturing-funds-needed/.
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