Frame Again

Idea

Introduction

Frame again prints, frames and delivers photos next day in a single online service - our customers will never queue again.

We have designed the frames to fit easily into the home or office of our target demographic of young smartphone users. A key part of our business value is that the magnetised frames look better the more you have.

Frame Again is a London based startup working to get people printing and displaying photos again. We believe in bringing printed photos back into the home and with your help, we hope we can really take the business to the next level. We want to put the permanence back into photography.

Our interactive framing process allows users to customise frames in order to curate their photos. Our modern frames are modular so they can be displayed in groups and our service is what smartphone photographers are looking for - allowing them to make an order that we print, frame and deliver the next day straight from their computer, phone or tablet.

Please note that the first £35,000 invested in this campaign will be eligible for SEIS tax relief. If you invest after the campaign has hit this target, then your investment will be eligible for EIS tax relief.

Intended impact

At the moment people are frustrated - it's so easy to take a photo and yet the process of getting them printed in one shop and framed in another is too much hassle.

The quality of frames and design are more suited to your nan's mantelpiece than the wall, desk or sideboard of the people actually taking photos. The printing and framing industries have not kept pace with the younger generation.

As a result we have a massive loss - millions of people who wish they had more framed photos on display but they aren't doing it because the marketplace is not providing them with the products or services they want. We're changing that. We're making it cool, quick and easy to get photos printed and framed again and looking to disrupt an industry while we're at it.

Substantial accomplishments to date

We've already got the business going with our first few hundred sales out the door. Our website for receiving and processing orders is live and our social media marketing operations have been building momentum.

When we launched a pop up shop in Camden the local press came down and we ended up selling out of many of our frames. It was the most fun we've ever had and we learned a lot from the direct customer feedback. We anticipate running more of these popup shops in the future to help drive word of mouth in our key target markets.

Monetisation strategy

Our main ‘cost of goods sold’ are frames, printing and delivery. The frames need to be purchased in batches whereas printing and delivery are a purely variable cost. Our online retail model provides for a decent margin that scales well.

Our main ‘overheads’ include modest staff salaries (we believe in paying our interns), office expenses, internet expenses and marketing expenses. We will be investing in growth using the investment raised.

The long term monetisation options for the business include partnerships in the printing and framing industries. We believe this business can be profitable in and of itself. It is also disruptive to a number of stale industries, which makes it a potential acquisition target.

Use of proceeds

The capital raised will be allocated to marketing to grow the business.

Planned marketing activities include more pop-up shops, pay-per-click online advertising campaigns, media, PR and brand partnerships.

Our frames lend themselves well to social media, are a great tool to attract PR and celebrity attention and can take a roll in the personalised gifting market if we can invest in the outreach necessary to make this happen.