Being in business for more than 2 years now has made me realise how important funding is to grow your business to another level. Big companies start their businesses with millions of bucks in their pockets just ready to be splurged on marketing and all, but that’s not how FV started. We started with nowhere close to a million and as thankful as we are with what we have now, we know the growth would’ve been a lot faster had we gotten bigger funds from investors.

Truth be told, we had it quite easy with good response from Malaysians and the media because even with a relatively small capital we managed to establish ourselves as one of the leading online stores in the country. But we noticed the sales reached some sort of a plateau and we were making a profit but we had nothing left for marketing. We knew we needed money to grow.

The easiest option would be to ask for a loan from our families but Dean and I both wanted something more than just money. We wanted a strategic partnership with an investor who isn’t just giving out millions, but can offer us something more than that e.g. marketing opportunities, technical knowhow, manpower, expertise, network overseas… anything that can help grow FV to greater heights. And that’s the reason we turned to the public listed company MyEG and with thick faces we joined the reality show MyEG Make The Pitch revealing everything on national TV.

Basically, to grow a company, what you need is: investors.

I deal with a lot of local fashion brands that have crazy talents, but because of the limited resources, their reach and their production are not as good as it could be. Always have been a supporter of local talents, FV found a solution to this by linking arms with MyCreative Ventures Sdn Bhd, a company under MOF that gives funds to support local businesses.

Let me introduce….

FASHION PITCH

Picture from the press conference we had recently:

Fashion Pitch is a private pitching session open to any Malaysian (individual or company) with great fashion potential to get funds to start or grow their business nationally and globally. The funds available are from tens of thousands up to RM 2 million PER INVESTEE and is in the form of either loan or equity.

Dean and I had to gulp and sweat in front of the nation to raise funds, but you don’t have to with FashionPitch because the pitching is private with only the applicant and a panel of 3-4 judges who will assess/advise based on the business plan and projections.

If you’re interested, seriously, my honest advice is to not miss this opportunity to ask for funding. A lot of us wallow in self-pity and grumble about how we don’t have the money to start something great but there are opportunities like these right in front of our eyes that we let slip.

Who else is going to give you 2 million bucks? 

Download the application form or get more details on FASHION PITCH here.

Deadline for initial application is 31 MAY 2013 (very soon) so get to work!!!!