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Donāt invest unless you're prepared to lose money. This is a high-risk investment.
You may not be able to access your money easily and are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong.
Take 2 mins to learn more.
We would like to take a moment to celebrate Ben Sunderland, founder of Trendi Switch. Ben has been a Crowd2Fund client since 2017 and has perfect repayment history. His most recent campaign was funded in 6 days. Trendi Switch provides functional plug sockets with a modern style and high-quality wire accessories. They've seen 30% year-on-year growth, been featured on BBC's "Your Home Made Perfect" and are selling online and in-store.
In this article, we shine a light on Ben's success to date and learn more about his journey.
How would you describe your business in one sentence?
A light switch & plug socket product design disrupter to a traditional wiring accessory marketplace.
What was your original vision when starting your company?
To offer consumers our Trendi design spin in their choice for their projects. Using e-commerce to gain traction on the delivery of our product to installation in people’s homes.
How has the company transformed over time?
We have grown from a handful of staff to 12, expanded online to in-store & now offer production here in the UK. Also, exports are growing, now accounting for 20% of total business, we are small, but trying to create a Trendi global brand.
What does winning as a business look like to you?
Obviously profit & loss, sales & cash are essential, without this, you cannot get to the ‘winning’ stage. The Ultimate win for me personally over the next few years is gearing the business up for my exit. However, my day-to-day wins come from customer feedback about the product & its design. In particular, I love meeting with the general public at trade shows, either their reaction & love for the design & products or the comments from people that have installed them and come to the stand with compliments for the brand & the service, that really feels like a win when you have created something from design to the market place.
What drove you to work with Crowd2Fund?
I am lucky enough to know Chris & the team for several years now, easy processes & a solid investor base has meant that this time we raised within a few days. I’m looking forward to the next 12-24 months, growing the business and maybe re-visiting / re-raising again. Fees & Interest are sensible, no complaints from me, well-done Crowd2fund!
How did the investment from Crowd2Fund impact your business?
Immediate investment into stock, our lead times with factories can be 30-90 days to build, 30-60 days on the water, and then landed here in the UK our customer terms, can be 30-120 days, so funding this time difference whilst growing is always going to be difficult. But this round funded a pre-CNY delivery, which will set us up nicely for 2023.
We want to build and cultivate a community of entrepreneurs and investors at Crowd2Fund. Seeing clients like Ben return is a win for us. We're proud to see his growth over the years and look forward to what the future holds for him as an entrepreneur.
Past performance and forecasts are not reliable indicators of future results. Your capital invested is not covered for compensation in the event of a loss by the FSCS. Tax treatment will depend on the individual circumstances and may be subject to change. Please see our Risk section before making an investment decision.
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Past performance and forecasts are not reliable indicators of future results.
Your capital invested is not covered for compensation in the event of a loss by the FSCS.
Tax treatment will depend on the individual circumstances and may be subject to change. Please see our Risk section before making an investment decision.
Risk summary for P2P agreements or P2P portfolios
Estimated reading time: 2 min
Due to potential for losses, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) considers this
investment to be high risk.
What are the key risks?
You could lose the money you invest
Many peer-to-peer (P2P) loans are made to borrowers who can't borrow money from traditional
lenders such as banks. These borrowers have a higher risk of not paying you back.
Advertised rates of return aren't guaranteed. If a borrower doesn't pay you back as agreed, you
could earn less money than expected. A higher advertised rate of return means a higher risk of
losing your money.
These investments can be held in an Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA). An IFISA does not reduce
the risk of the investment or protect you from losses, so you can still lose all your money. It
only means that any potential gains from your investment will be tax free.
You are unlikely to get your money back quickly
Some P2P loans last for several years. You should be prepared to wait for your money to be
returned even if the borrower repays on time.
Some platforms may give you the opportunity to sell your investment early through a 'secondary
market', but there is no guarantee you will be able to find someone willing to buy.
Even if your agreement is advertised as affording early access to your money, you will only get
your money early if someone else wants to buy your loan(s). If no one wants to buy, it could take
longer to get your money back.
Don't put all your eggs in one basket
Putting all your money into a single business or type of investment for example, is risky.
Spreading your money across different investments makes you less dependent on any one to do
well.
A good rule of thumb is not to invest more than 10% of your money in high-risk-investments.
The P2P platform could fail
If the platform fails, it may be impossible for you to collect money on your loan. It could
take years to get your money back, or you may not get it back at all. Even if the platform has
plans in place to prevent this, they may not work in a disorderly failure.
You are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), in relation to claims against failed
regulated firms, does not cover investments in P2P loans. You may be able to claim if you
received regulated advice to invest in P2P, and the adviser has since failed. Try the FSCS
investment protection checker here.
Protection from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) does not cover poor investment performance.
If you have a complaint against an FCA-regulated platform, FOS may be able to consider it. Learn
more about FOS protection here.
If you are interested in learning more about how to protect yourself, visit the FCA's website here.
For further information about peer-to-peer lending (loan-based crowdfunding), visit the FCA's website here.
