Please visit our Kickstarter campaign!
Our first Kickstarter campaign was not funded successfully because we didn’t reach our goal of $10,000. When we reached a point that we realized that we may have been reaching just beyond our grasp, we sat down and reanalyzed our budget and reconsidered our list of needs.
We decided that while a few pieces of the equipment would be really nice and definitely put to good use, they were not absolutely necessary to the function of the business. We could get by without a couple of those items for the first few months of operations until we got up and running and then we could reinvest in our business and get those items we needed.
The same is true for the inventory order that we were looking to place. We were looking to get a bit more than was needed for a modest start because it was my initial hope that we could get enough inventory to keep us going for at least two or three months so that I wouldn’t have to place a lot of orders. We’ll have a lot to do in those first couple of months and I figured the fewer things on the to-do list, the better.
But I realize that anything worth doing and anything worth having is worth the extra work to get it. So, we cut back on the extras and we streamlined our budget and reduced our goal. And we’ve launched a new Kickstarter with this fresh, new frame of mind!
Our new ‘start up’ date for our first tea of the week would be June 1st!
Please support our Kickstarter Campaign by clicking here. Remember, every little bit helps! And we aren’t asking for a hand-out here! For contributions as little as $5, you’ll receive a pouch of tea! We are asking for your support and in return, we’ll gladly send you some tea!
Thank you!
The Time is NOW!
For those of you who are waiting for the right time to check out my Kickstarter Campaign and contribute, that time is NOW! We are nearing the end of the campaign, and we still have a LONG way to go to reach our goal!
So, I thought I’d take a moment to answer some questions that you might have.
If you have other questions, please feel free to ask them in the comment section!
Why have we launched the Kickstarter campaign? What’s it all about?
A couple of months ago, I was approached by Frank from 52Teas (aka the Chief Zoomdweebie!) and he asked me if I was interested in taking over the 52Teas line. He wanted to focus his efforts on his iced tea business. You can check out his Indiegogo campaign to support his iced tea endeavor here! And please do!
Anyway, he wanted to focus his efforts on his passion, which is iced tea. My passion is hot tea. So, I was very interested, but also a little hesitant, until I talked to my daughter, Amethyst, who told me that she wanted to do this thing with me!
So, we have the passion for tea. We have Amethyst, who is very detail oriented and all about making sure things are done right, right on time! She’s going to be the one keeping the numbers crunched and the orders fulfilled and the inventory in stock so that I can do what I do best: tea.
But what we don’t have is equipment or inventory. That’s where the Kickstarter campaign comes in. If we’re successfully funded, we’ll have the funds we need to buy the equipment and the inventory we need to be able to get this business off to a running start.
But we can’t do it without you and your support!
Why do you need so much money?
Because, as I said, we need the equipment and inventory to get started. We need tea, we need the ingredients to create the unique flavors of teas that 52Teas is known for.
We need the equipment to make the business go. We need the pouch sealer, we need the pouch filler. Oh, we’ll need the pouches too. We need the shipping label printer and labels for it too. We have the passion and the ability to make the business go, but without the inventory and the equipment, we won’t get very far.
What do I get in return?
TEA! And seriously, is there any better incentive than that? You get tea. How much tea and what kind of tea is totally up to you. Check out the incentives list on the sidebar of the campaign for more details of what kinds of teas are available.
What happens if the campaign isn’t successfully funded?
Well, according to Frank, if we’re not able to take over the business as of March 31st, 2015, 52Teas will be no more. So, if the campaign isn’t successfully funded – if we don’t get the money we need to take over the business, it will wither and die. It will cease to be.
We can’t take over the business without the startup capital that we need to get the equipment and inventory.
I know it seems like a lot of money. But it’s for a good cause – it’s to support a small business and to support a mother and daughter team to help them realize their dream. And it’s about TEA.
Please support our campaign: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/497705217/the-great-52teas-take-over
Also, please support Frank’s Indiegogo campaign to help him build his iced tea business: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/southern-boy-teas-organic-flavored-iced-teas
Every little bit helps! Please take a moment to help spread the word. Tweet about this blog post, tell your friends and neighbors, post it on your facebook. But most of all, take a moment to contribute because without the contributions, we simply won’t reach our goal!
Thank you!
Together, We Can Save 52Teas!
OK, if you’re a regular visitor to this blog, then you probably are already aware of the fact that I have a Kickstarter Campaign going. I’m trying to raise funds to be able to buy 52Teas from Frank Horbelt (the chief Zoomdweebie!) and also purchase the equipment, inventory and supplies that I’ll need to get the business ‘kickstarted’ under new management.
My daughter, Amethyst, will be the one running the business. She’s a very smart and business savvy person. She’s detail oriented and she’ll be just the right balance for me. I’m the artist. I’ll be creating the tea blends. And if you’re interested in some of the ideas that I have for future tea blends, check out this update where I listed April’s teas – should we happen to get this Kickstarter campaign funded!
But those amazing teas can’t happen unless this Kickstarter Campaign gets funded! Every little bit helps! If you only have $5 or $10 to contribute, that’s alright, that will help me get that much closer to my goal – and remember, I’m not asking you to just give me your money here. You choose an incentive – you’re actually buying tea in advance from me:
- $5 will buy you your choice of one of the April Teas or one of the top five reblends (as voted on by Steepster) -or- one of the reblends that wins the ‘vote’ throughout the course of the campaign in the “taster” (1/2 ounce) size.
- A $10 contribution will buy you your choice of the top five reblends -or- one of the reblends that are voted on throughout the course of the Kickstarter campaign.
There are many different incentives to choose from. Some allow you to choose a reblend! Some allow you to create your own tea of the week -or- you can become an ambassador to 52Teas and create your very own VIT (Very Important Tea) which will be named after you (or perhaps after a special occasion – what a great gift for that tea lover on your shopping list!)
Please help us save 52Teas! Please help me get back into the art of blending teas and help my daughter and I become business partners in the process! Please help make our dream come true!
Just a Little Reminder…
Hi Everyone!
I just wanted to post a little reminder to everyone who reads this blog that I – LiberTEAS – together with my oldest daughter, have launched a Kickstarter Campaign – please check out the campaign here!
As I mentioned in my previous post about this topic, Frank of Zoomdweebies – which is the ‘parent company’ of 52Teas and Southern Boy Teas – wants to narrow his focus on his iced tea business (aka Southern Boy Teas). As a result of this decision, he asked me if I wanted to take over the 52Teas brand.
Frank is also looking to expand Southern Boy Teas, please visit his Indiegogo campaign!
Success with these two campaigns will mean:
- Keeping 52Teas alive (Frank has said that he plans on closing 52Teas if we aren’t able to take it over!)
- Helping Southern Boy Teas grow into a nationally recognized brand.
I’m very excited about this opportunity! It’s a chance to get back into flavoring teas – something that I’ve missed quite a bit since closing LiberTEAS. I missed it more than I thought I would!
Please visit my Kickstarter campaign and help us reach our goal! We can’t do this without your help!
The Great 52Teas Take Over!
Please visit out Kickstarter Campaign here and help us take over 52Teas!
So it’s been no big secret that I am a big fan of 52Teas! If you’ve read many of my reviews, you know that they’re part of my tea collection – a big part of it!
Recently, I was approached by Frank of 52Teas (he’s the Chief Zoomdweebie of 52Teas and Southern Boy Teas) and he told me that he wants to narrow his focus to the iced tea business, that his passion is iced teas. So, he has been trying to get things going for his iced teas so that he can take Southern Boy Teas to bigger and better things.
Please consider helping Frank raise funds to accomplish this by contributing to his Indiegogo Campaign.
But there’s still 52Teas. So, he asked me if I wanted to take over the 52Teas brand.
Wow!
What an opportunity!
Actually, what Frank said was:
Unless we take over the 52Teas brand that after March 2015, the five plus year mission to create a new tea every week will end.
I don’t want to see 52Teas come to an end. I’ve really enjoyed many of those teas. And there were some that yeah, I thought I could improve on – well, this opportunity gives me the ability to do that too!
My passion for tea is pretty obvious at this point, at least to those of you who have read my ramblings for any amount of time. I love tea. So, this is an outrageously amazing opportunity for me.
I was a little worried though, because I did try the tea thing once before as LiberTEAS. That’s how I got my moniker, I used to blend and flavor my own line of teas and sell them online. I closed that business because while I loved creating the teas, I didn’t love the business end of things. I didn’t love paperwork and making sure that my inventory was accounted for and filing taxes and stuff like that. Hated it!
So, I thought long and hard about this decision. Then I thought about it some more. Then I turned to my oldest daughter for advice. I went into the discussion hoping that she’d either tell me: Yes! You should do this … or NO! You shouldn’t even think about it.
What I didn’t anticipate is that she’d ask me: “Can I do this with you?”
And so, our partnership was born. Amethyst is a very focused, organized type of person that is just the kind of person I need to do the stuff that I wasn’t fond of doing before: She enjoys paperwork and all that other stuff. With her heading up the business side of things, that frees me up to stay creative and keep working on amazing tea blends. Because that’s what I do best.
When I started out in the tea business more than ten years ago, I can honestly say that I was very naive and I didn’t really know what I was doing. All I knew is that I wanted to create the best chocolate tea that I could. And I did that. And I also created some other amazing teas too. But I didn’t really have the contacts I needed to push those teas to the next level.
But in the last six years, I’ve been reviewing teas and that has put me in touch with some pretty remarkable resources. I am less naive and I feel like I’m going to be able to take 52Teas to new heights.
I want to be creating teas again! I want to be the person who is creating those unique and yummy flavor combinations like Raspberry Almond Cookie and Coconut Lime Cupcake.
The only obstacle is that we need money to get our project off the ground and that’s where you come in. I recently launched a Kickstarter Campaign and I’m hoping that I can count on your support to make my dream a reality.
I have the passion for tea. My daughter has the business sense and the drive to propel the business. We just need the ‘Kick Start’ to make it all happen.
Please help us make this happen! We can’t do it without you.
You can visit our Kickstarter Campaign here. Please help in any way you can – even five dollars will help us get that much closer to our goal!