Birmingham businesses enter the fishbowl
Three entrepreneurs from Birmingham have been selected to take part in a ‘webumentary’ project. The three fledgling businesses will feature on inafishbowl.com, profiling the growth of their businesses over the next six months.
Soshi Games, Bean2Bed.com and Co-Go Coffee to Go fought off competition from businesses across the West Midlands for the chance to profile how they run their businesses - warts and all - for the next six months.
The web platform, founded by Midlands’ entrepreneurs Toby Reid and Andrew Springhall, is designed to help entrepreneurs learn from the experience of others.
The three businesses will communicate through the website using blogs, Twitter and video diaries. They will also receive free ongoing expert advice and guidance from a wide ranging panel of experts and celebrity mentors such as Apprentice star Claire Young and Secret Millionaire Ben Way.
Soshi Games, based in Birmingham Science Park, develops online social networking games with a difference. Launched in April this year by business partners Kevin Corti and Cliff Dennett, the company aims to build on the growing trend of social games while utilising them to help raise awareness of the world’s environmental and social challenges.
Bean2Bed.com supplies a range of innovative sleep solutions, specialising in “ beds within bean bags”. Matt Roberts founded the company with his business partner while they were both at Aston University. He said: “As students, we spotted a gap in the market for an affordable, space saving guest bed solution. Air beds were just inconvenient and we couldn’t afford futons! So, we turned down graduate jobs to follow our dream.”
The ‘bean beds’ were launched successfully at the NEC’s Furniture Show and now, Bean2Bed.com, which is based in central Birmingham, is selling and delivering them across mainland Europe.
Takeaway business Co-Go Coffee to Go was founded in a coffee-cup shaped pod situated on the Aston University Campus. The company supplies Fairtrade coffees, teas and hot chocolates from around the world.
