FUNDED: Brilliant Entrepreneurs and Founders
At the heart of their towns and cities, wonderful local businesses and social enterprises are the vital spark in their communities. Our guests may all be brilliant but they're also real and relatable, with practical insights and tips to share.
All are united by one factor: they had a dream to grow, and used finance from the Business Enterprise Fund, a non-profit social enterprise, to make it happen. And our guests give us the inside story about their business journeys and all the lessons learned on the way in these fascinating and candid interviews with people facing the same business challenges you do.
FUNDED: Brilliant Entrepreneurs and Founders
A Wizard who turned down a Dragon: Ben Fry, The Potions Cauldron
Ben is Chief Enchantment Officer of The Potions Cauldron Group which incorporates The Hole In Wand mini golf courses in Blackpool, Chester, Seaham and York, The Potions Cauldron – magical "emporiums and experiences" in Edinburgh and York, and a website selling drinks across the world.
He and business partner Phil Ponder turned down an amazing offer (and then an even MORE amazing one) on Dragon's Den. He tells the story, explores the pros and cons of equity and debt finance, and describes why they approached the Business Enterprise Fund.
Ben, York's Town Crier, covers:
• why he and Phil are passionate about the communities where they run their businesses
• why manufacturing is harder than expected – but gives a retail business more control
• how the pandemic led to diversification to mini golf courses
• the media, especially the power of local media
• what he'd do if he could wave a magic wand for business (which, er, he can)
• insights on getting investment
• the "secret sauce" to stand out as an immersive, experiential business
It's a spellbinding episode (sorry).
What next?
• More about The Potions Cauldron https://www.thepotionscauldron.com/
• More about The Hole In Wand https://www.theholeinwand.com
• More about the Business Enterprise Fund (BEF): https://www.befund.org/about
FUNDED: Brilliant Entrepreneurs and Founders is a podcast by the Business Enterprise Fund a social enterprise dedicated to breaking the "finance shackles" faced by many small and medium-sized enterprises & social enterprises.
Find BEF online at https://www.befund.org and on LInkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/business-enterprise-fund/
• This podcast is produced and edited by Jamie Veitch https://www.jamieveitch.co.uk/
• The music is "Aerosol of my Love" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Artwork design by Research Retold https://www.researchretold.com
