Tomorrow Bookstore: Turning Pages into Progress
Tomorrow Bookstore is an independent, general-interest bookstore in Indianapolis’s premier retail corridor. Founded by Julia Breakey and Jake Budler, Tomorrow is a majority woman-owned bookstore focused on human-centric global stories. They curate stories - about ourselves and the world around us - to create a stronger community and a better tomorrow.
Tomorrow Bookstore raised $30,000 on Mainvest in early 2023- read more about their fundraising journey.
Why Mainvest?
Seeking a fundraising solution that aligned with the bookstore's community-centric values, Mainvest stood out as an ideal partner for its capacity to engage local investors. As a pre-revenue business, creating banking relationships was a challenge, and Mainvest presented an opportunity to raise the funding needed for launch without relying on a bank.
More accessible than traditional lending
Main Street mission alignment
Referred by another business
The Fundraising Process
“It was really easy to connect and chat with the Mainvest team and get questions answered. Our fundraise was a great opportunity to connect and build our network. But fundraising is hard! It was stressful and a disconcerting experience to fundraise for a pre-revenue business. Notably - we were super proud to complete our raise in just about 2 weeks, and the large majority came from our own network”
As a pre-revenue startup, Tomorrow Bookstore needed to convince investors of its viability and the demand for an independent bookstore in the digital age.
Methods Used:
Direct pitching
Word of mouth
Social media (established following)
Tangible Results
The campaign enabled Tomorrow Bookstore to secure funding for its initial inventory and build out, and also helped increase visibility ahead of the grand opening.
“During the course of the last year we nearly doubled our revenue projections. We are on pace to repay our investors earlier than anticipated and provide a solid,meaningful return from a business type (retail books) that have super slim margins and is tough to make work.”
Follow along with Tomorrow Bookstore’s progress on Instagram at @tomorrowbookstore and online here.
Improved bankability
Increased visibility ahead of opening
Aligned incentives with customer-investors
Doubled revenue projections
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