How did I pay for GLOWGUARD?
This is probably the second biggest question I get asked:
How does a university student actually fund a beauty business?
The honest answer is that it was a combination of saving, a lot of help from other people, and being very fortunate with some of the opportunities that came my way.
When I first moved to New Zealand, my first year of university was free, and I started working two jobs almost immediately. I enjoyed working and at that stage of my life, I was a pretty disciplined saver.
By the time university finished, I had managed to save around $60,000.
It felt like a huge amount of money to me and I ended up putting all of it into the business.
After that, I had to start figuring out where the rest could possibly come from because I had no idea how much it would cost, which is why I am sharing this too.
I really had no idea how people funded start-ups, so I decided I should try to find a mentor.
Somehow, I managed to get myself into a meeting with a group of angel investors.
I walked in and essentially gave them a very amateur New Zealand Dragons’ Den-style pitch for GLOWGUARD.
Except I was not actually asking them to invest. I was asking if one of them might mentor me. They laughed a little and said they gave checks not advice. I walkd out of the room and realised it just wasn't the right room.
But one thing I learnt quite early is that when you are trying to build something and you do not have all the answers, you have to become comfortable asking people for help.
So our small team started applying for grants, accelerators and incubator programmes.
There were plenty we did not get, but I was incredibly fortunate that some came through.
We eventually received $20,000 through King’s Trust and around another $30,000 through Venture Lab.
That support made a huge difference because it was grant funding, so we did not have to pay it back or give away equity.
And then came the part that is the hardest to admit on the internet.
My grandparents agreed to lend me $100,000.
I know that is an enormous privilege and not something everyone has access to, and I would never want to tell this story without acknowledging that.
Their support gave me the ability to keep going through the expensive years of R&D and eventually fund our first shipment of GLOWGUARD.
So there was never one big investor or one clever funding strategy.
It was really a collection of things.
Money I had saved.
Grants we were lucky enough to receive.
Mentors who gave me advice and opened doors.
And a family who believed in me enough to take a very big chance on what I was trying to build.
That is how we funded the R&D and first shipment of GLOWGUARD.
Yours,
Melitta
P.S. Pics from the archives 🤍
