The premise of the Bizitalk hashtag phenomenon is simple. After each tweet you use the #bizitalkhashtag, and your tweet will be re-tweeted by other people also dedicated to using that hashtag. The whole premise relies on everyone re-tweeting each others tweets in what becomes a web of re-tweets. This is twitter social networking at its finest.
Now, we have been using #bizitalk for around 6 months now, in various disguises. What we have found, is that many will just use it for the free re-tweets without putting in much effort to chat or “network”. However, anyone that watches the stream over time will see a reasonable sized dedicated core group of extremely active businesses that interact and become well known to everyone. When they speak, people take note, and certainly they would become the first port of call to many needed that particular service. To them, and even fairly inactive ones, #bizitalk is the one thing that makes Twitter for their business easy, and worthwhile.
The Twitter account behind #bizitalk (@bizitalk) now has 18,846 followers, which whilst reasonable is not that significant in relation to many other twitter accounts. However, what makes this work, is that the people using bizitalk are mostly businesses, and therefore all interested in networking (why else would a business be on Twitter?). This highly targeted following list enables any tweets they re-tweet to be effective in reaching other businesses in the UK. And of course, that account does re-tweet…. A LOT!
But, this networking is not just about Twitter, they have also arranged meetups and following all the success seek to further expand with the launch of a multifunctional Bizitalk website that seeks to cater for small businesses around the UK. Whats more, they are seeking to fund this new venture via crowd-funding.
The way the crowd-funding will work is that small business will be given the opportunity to purchase a small number of shares in the new company in blocks of 100 at £1 each. This allows them to share in the profits if it is successful. In addition the website will highlight founder members, who will play an important part in the running of the site, and allow them to put forward ideas to improve the service.
We inquired about purchasing some shares and received the following response:
The total share capital will be 1 million shares at par of £1. We have set aside 50,000 shares for outside investors by way of the ‘brick’ offer. Over 50% of these have been taken up so far allowing us to proceed with phase one of the website launch which we anticipate by January. The second phase will not be until Q2 of next year and that is already part funded by the existing share take up. All shareholders will become Founder Members and listed as such on the web site for the foreseeable future.
The directors are looking to an exit strategy of 3 years when it is anticipated the company will have grown significantly enough to be an attractive investment for a much larger company to take over and invest the funds necessary to take it to the next stage. This will also allow enough time for investors to take advantage of the Enterprise seed investment scheme where share disposal does not attract Capital Gains Tax if held for 3 years. The initial investment also attracts 50% income tax relief.
It is clear from this, that it is a well thought out strategy, and not just some amateur trying to make a few bucks. It further indicates that take up has been strong, despite the company valuing itself at one million pounds. As of 6th December there were still some shares available.
Now, one question that has to be asked… Is the business worth one million dollars? We can only speculate. It is not uncommon for social media start-ups to vastly over-value themselves, because the potential for such a business to do well is there. However, with just 18,846 followers for the main twitter account running this, we do think this may be on the optimistic side (although we are far from experts at valuations, and if the site takes off, it could prove a bargain!). However, this does not mean the investment is not worthwhile. We can see some key points that make any investment a bargain regardless of its valuation.
- By having its core users invest in the business, it will automatically have a core group willing to continually work hard to make the business a success. This core group, whether they can add value to the shares, will be there actively help promote businesses (and in turn promoting themselves) using the bizitalk hashtag.
- The opportunity to get increased exposure after becoming a founder member. Depending on how they do this and whether investment is a requirement, £100 could be cheap for the kind of promotion you will receive.
- By being involved in the running of the bizitalk site, there will be increased networking available with similarly minded businesses.
- By investing in the business it may encourage you to be more active in social networking.
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