Krisi Smith is the co-founder and Creative Director of award-winning tea company Bird & Blend, who are on a mission to spread happiness and reimagine tea, with innovative and exciting flavours.
Krisi and her co-founder Mike started from small beginnings. After meeting at university and wanting to become entrepreneurs rather than going into the corporate world, they began selling blended tea from the kitchen at local markets.
They now have a team of over one hundred staff, 15 retail stores and a thriving international online business. Krisi always dreamt of having a direct to consumer model and brick and mortar stores and vehemently believes it's all about building the business you truly want. Even if that means turning down lucrative wholesale deals from supermarkets like they did.
Krisi has learnt a thing or two about successful crowdfunding. During their first campaign, Bird & Blend was overfunded in just 24 hours and most recently, they raised over £1m with over 1,600 investors.
In this episode you’ll discover:
- How building the business you actually want will give you success
- Why you should anticipate the impact of an investment raise
- Getting the right blend of your financials and storytelling