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Tim Aikin is CEO of Boxwish…read on to hear his story
1. What was the inspiration to start Boxwish?
Boxwish actually started as a very different concept to what it is now. I was looking for a way to find and purchase products I’d seen on TV and in movies. Unable to find what I was looking for I noticed a gap in the market, did some research, wrote a business plan and quit my job. Six months later I had funding, a small office, three employees and the first version of our website.

2. How did you get funding for it?
Well, it wasn’t easy (or quick), that’s for sure! Prior to quitting my job I spent a number of months writing a business plan, using every spare second I had to research my idea, produce a clear plan for making it happen and testing the concept with friends, family and colleagues. I then spent another four months sending my plan to every Angel investor I could find, joining Angel investor networking sites, looking up investors on LinkedIn, speaking to everyone I knew that might have a wealthy backer in their network. When I did finally meet my first investor it was actually a fairly quick process, about 3 weeks from first meeting to cash in bank (although it doesn’t always happen that way). Since then we’ve added a further two angel investors, simply by using the existing network of my first investor.

3. What advice would you lend someone thinking of starting their own business?
I could probably write a book on all the things I’ve learned over the past three years, so it’s a little difficult to pick out one key thing. But if I had to it would probably be to stay fast and flexible. We started as a content driven social shopping website (http://boxwish.com/) and now we’re a web design agency (http://www.boxwishdesign.com/) – that’s a long way to go for a company in such as short time, but it’s the key to survival. Very few start-up success stories you hear about started with the exact concept they have now (Twitter, for example, was a spin-off idea from a totally different and less successful business). It’s only by learning what doesn’t work, not being afraid to fail quickly and pick yourself back-up and try again, that you will be able to get to that idea that really works.

Thanks to Tim for his insight.

Check out Matt www.matthewrobinson.co.uk and Tom www.tomwrigglesworth.com

Check out her site for more brilliant work : http://cargocollective.com/daniellejeffels#