To Ian Herrington, owner of Leavened Bakery and Cafe in Cleveland, a bakery is a community thing. Thanks to a remarkable Honeycomb campaign, Ian was able to raise $43,550 from 57 investors to realize his dream of running his own bakery.
Not only did the Honeycomb campaign help Ian raise the capital he needed to get the bakery going, but it also helped get his name out there and get people in his neighborhood interested in the new business.
Ian thinks that people contributed to his bakery’s campaign because they really wanted a neighborhood bakery - a place to go to to get staples like delicious handcrafted bread or indulgent pastries and a coffee. Because his neighbors got to invest in the bakery, you know they’re going to keep coming back to support it, leading to the business’s continued success.
The positive feedback Ian received from his community was shocking, but it gave this bakery owner the confidence that his business would be okay, even though it opened in the middle of a worldwide pandemic.
“I think the pandemic has really made people appreciate the businesses that they have in their neighborhoods now because nobody is traveling anywhere,” says Ian. “You need to really get out in your community as safe as you can, meet and greet people, and make sure people know who you are and what your business is about.”
Now, Ian’s focused on building up his neighborhood bakery to be the best it can be and hopes to open up for indoor seating when it’s safe to do so! He’s really looking forward to watching his customers come to the shop, linger over a pastry and cup of coffee, and make the place feel like a neighborhood cafe.
Get your business up and rolling and make some bread through crowd-investing with Honeycomb
You can raise money to jumpstart your small business in potentially the time it takes to make a sourdough starter by looking to your community with a Honeycomb campaign! See what else a successful campaign can do for your business here: https://www.honeycombcredit.com/restaurant.
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