What’s your idea?

This web-based product will encourage people to form clubs to invest small regular sums (e.g. £100 pcm) in small and micro-businesses in their own community. This will encourage them to support and promote the businesses within their community as each business success equates with an investment success.

Small businesses will pitch for a sums to cover particular expenses e.g. to employ admin staff during a period of growth in return for shares or interest returns. Emotional engagement with community businesses will strengthen the community while it strengthens the economy, incentivises success, and helps secure local jobs.

What’s the social need or challenge your idea could address?

Small businesses are closing as a result of the financial downturn and this is affecting our communities. While most of us agree that we should use local shops and services, most of us don’t. There are so many reasons, but mostly it is just about convenience of the larger franchises and globals’ on every street corner. We need to engage more with our community in order to help it succeed. If every person in a city committed to invest a small amount of money in their own community dramatic changes would happen in our society.

What’s really new about your idea?

This product is different because it targets established communities, where investors may already know, or can easily get to know the people behind the businesses they are investing in. The aim is to strengthen community as well as provide practical help for small businesses, which often only need small amounts of money in order to succeed.

Zopa.com is perhaps the best known online product for small investors. However, it specialises in personal loans. The relationship is likely to play out entirely online, and does not impact community relationships.

From 1-5, what stage of development would you say your idea is in?

Initially I aimed to help women get back into work after maternity by finding a way to help them fund projects that would act as a bridge for future employment or to start a small business. As the financial crises started to have an impact on my community I realised this idea could be developed to help small and local businesses and many more of the people around me.

My idea is at Stage 1. This is the first time I have written about it! I have been mulling it over for about 9 months and have discussed it with close friends. I did a review of online products around 4 months ago.

What can we do for you?

My priorities are:

1. Geek
2. Mentor
3. Funder

For the mentor I would need someone with Banking, financial investment and business expertise. I am ready to take ownership of the idea and turn it into a sustainable business.

This idea was submitted by Morna Simpson. 

Morna gets really excited about creative ideas and technology. She somehow ended up lecturing at the University of Dundee on the BSc Interactive Media Design (IMD) course, which spans the School of Computing and the School of Design at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design (DJCAD). She is also one of the founders of Girl Geeks Scotland.