September 14, 2021, by aczjb1
Scale 2021 – Izzie and Sam’s story
This summer, Ingenuity Lab members took part in the second cohort of our annual accelerator programme, Scale. The programme is designed for members who are eager to take their business to the next level.
Scale helps to ensure Lab members’ businesses are viable, innovative and scalable, with online seminars running throughout the summer and expert advice on hand from business mentors.
Sisters Izzie and Sam Hurst, who run clothes-swapping platform Dopplle, took part in the programme this year. Through their app, they aim to give students an accessible and easy way to stop buying fast fashion and create less textile waste.
“Since joining the Lab, we have benefited from being able to view our business from areas that we hadn’t initially taken the time to look at before,” said Izzie. “Using the Business Model Canvas has helped us see an overview of our spending costs as well as seeing how long and achievable it will be to start to create revenue. We hadn’t realistically thought about the time it would take for us to start to create revenue and to cover all of our initial start-up costs. It has been a very beneficial experience and we look forward to continuing next year as a Lab member too!”
They took part in the 2021 programme to get further support for their venture, and were able to identify key areas of improvement to help them grow as a business.
Izzie and Sam Hurst
“We had a different mentor each week, and this allowed us to acquire a range of advice from experienced mentors that have expertise in different sectors,” said Izzie. “Within the first two sessions we realised that we had been viewing our problems with the wrong outlook.
We thought the main barrier for our business was that we weren’t getting enough users on the app, but after taking a step back and reviewing it, we realised it was actually our promoting and marketing that wasn’t working, and that had a knock on effect to how many users downloaded and made an account on the app.”
The sisters have also successfully applied for funding from Scale to help them overcome these barriers.
“The funding will help us grow our business by running stalls at Freshers Fairs, connecting with the student community and keeping up our relationship with them by running regular events throughout the year!”
You can find out more about Dopplle at dopplle.com
“This year’s Scale programme has been a driving force for our members, launching them into the next stage of their ventures,” said Lab Manager Dr Terri Holloway. “The 2021 cohort began the course with enthusiasm and expectation, and completed the programme armed with a new level of practical knowledge and passion for the future.”
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