Competition Time with a Difference...

Some of you may have noticed a little bit of falling silent on our part lately.  The Bath Bomb kitchen has been eerily still, the office has generated very little sound other than the echo of whirring brain cells and the occasional cough of an overworked printer.  Ok so the packing and dispatch rooms are still buzzing and occasionally rocking to the sound of good old Radio 1 but otherwise there has been a lot more silent working than usual.

Our week long 50% discount promotion has been left to run a while amid surely the sunniest ever Easter, a bumper crop of bank holidays and a bunting fuelled flurry of that wedding excitement. 

Why the silence then?  We've been swotting.  Maybe that should read "brainstorming". Perhaps a bit of both.

Grey matter has been challenged.  Ideas put on paper and properly costed.  (Accosted? Maybe!)

Plans have been drawn up.  Ideas have been given legs.  Concerns have been tabled.  Discussions have been had.  Heads have been scratched and excitement HAS finally BEEN unleashed.

What on earth is going on?!

We've entered a competition of our own.

Accustomed to organising competitions, I've found that it's quite scary being on the other side! 

So today as we finally clicked "upload" on our application to Barclays for the One Small Step competition, the first place I wanted to run was here.  Our entry isnt live on the Barclays website yet but I feel the need to scream our news from the rooftops. 

On the basis that behaviour of that sort would be a tad dangerous and a little eccentric even for Basingstoke, posting on this Blog seems a very good substitute.

Our plans for this year have been outlined in a summary which will form the public view of our entry along with a video (provided the god of computer gremlins was shining his happy face on us - we don't yet know if our upload was a success!) giving an insight into our vision for our business.

Behind the public side of the application was a raft of further questions concerning our business plan, costings and essentially the features and benefits of our offering, all of which will go under a panel of judges scrutiny, along with the entries from a great many other businesses.

In the end, 3 shortlisted candidates from 9 regions will go through to a public voting round with one winner in each region gaining £50,000 of investment from Barclays under the guidance of an appointed Business Manager and members of the Barclays Business Team.

The closing date for applications was today at 13:59 - (please don't ask us how close to that time we were) and our entry isn't yet live as I've said, as it has to be moderated before being published...

But here is the paragraph (written by Amanda) that will be on public view along with the video (created by Brian) ... let us know what you think if you would be so kind...

"We sell a unique range of kits at www.bathbomb.biz containing natural ingredients enabling anybody to create their own fun & functional bath & body products. Each kit provides an opportunity to learn a new skill, save money & have fun. All of the recipes have been devised for ease of use & compliance with EU legislation in exactly the same way as big brand bath & body products.

For 2011 our aim is to capitalise on demand at a nationwide level by developing a team of fully trained ambassadors. A team who share our vision & have the expertise to help our customers learn the skills they seek. Nothing beats a hands on demonstration - the opportunity to “have a go” when learning a new skill.

Our team will share their expertise & love of creating bath & body products with a wide range of individuals in a variety of settings; from Mums at home to schools, community groups, enterprise events & beyond.

Winning would enable us to recruit, train & manage our team whilst enhancing our range. "

Looking forward to your comments & appreciating you sharing this one around ... hopefully we'll be asking for your support with this again very soon!

Potential investors/mentors/partners wishing to see our full proposal are of course welcome to contact us