People
Published: June 1, 2023 | Updated: 31st May 2023
Over the past few years, times have been tough.
Between political turmoil, the recent cost of living crisis and a pretty huge disruption in 2020, more businesses than ever are struggling to stay afloat.
One person who knows this all too well is Maddy Alexander-Grout.
Maddy set up her first business, My VIP Card, in 2017. Starting out as a way for parents in Southampton to save money, it quickly spread to the rest of the county then, following a rebrand to My VIP Rewards, the whole of the UK.
“It was going amazingly,” Maddy explained. “We had won 15 business awards in two years, doubled our turnover year-on-year and were growing exponentially.
“We launched a franchise offering with the aim of engaging with small businesses across the country though local franchises. We’d spent around £20,000 setting this up, we had the right branding and bought on 19 franchisees really quickly.
“Then the pandemic hit, and essentially overnight we lost it. I struggled on for over a year because I felt the weight of responsibility from those who had invested in me, but eventually I had to accept it was no longer viable.”
Since the new app launched less than a month ago it has already achieved more than 1000 downloads.
Instead of burying her head in the sand and hiding from the world, Maddy got back on her feet and channelled her difficult experiences into a new venture: Mad About Money.
“For around a year I had been building a personal following on TikTok. It just came to me: ‘I can make a brand of myself’. And so, as my name is Maddy and I talk about Money, Mad About Money was born.
“It gives me the opportunity to talk about something I know and care about.
“I talk about all areas of money and one thing I’m really passionate about is getting people to have the difficult conversations in this area, because people don’t talk about money enough, especially when they are struggling.
“When I was in my early twenties, I ended up in around £40,000 of debt. I felt ashamed and couldn’t talk about it.
“I could have really benefited from somewhere to learn about saving money and a community to cheer me on. So, that’s what I’ve created.
“It’s not just about helping consumers though, our target audience includes businesses because they often need advice on how to grow their business.
“Over the years as an influencer I’ve become a bit of a visibility expert.
Maddy is a regular guest on BBC Radio Solent, where she talks about money saving tips
“I’m always in the press, I’m a regular guest on BBC Radio Solent, I’ve got own magazine column – people know who I am.
“Now I teach people, in a business scenario, how to be more visible.”
The community Maddy is building includes a number of experts in a variety of different fields, including qualified finance specialists such as mortgage advisors, financial planners, accountants and finance experts.
“These are people who are amazing with their money and there to help and support.
“People can come to learn to be better with money and there are loads of freebies on there like inventories, trackers, debt planners and budget planners.
“We also run a discount club for £1 a month and the money from that goes back into a monthly cost of living giveaway in which everyone on the app is entered into a draw with the chance of winning shopping vouchers.
Business can also sign up to offer this as an employee benefit, helping their employees with cost of living.
“The more people who are involved the better it will be. What we’re really looking for now is sponsors.
“We’re looking for local businesses who fancy sponsoring and having their company promoted to my 40,000 TikTok followers and 20,000-strong LinkedIn audience, as well as the nice mushy feeling of helping people out.”
Businesses can also join The Madhouse, Mad About Money’s Business Club, which gives them unlimited advertising in the Mad About Money app, group coaching sessions from social media experts, networking opportunities with other business owners, and ongoing support and accountability.
While Mad About Money is still at an early stage, it’s already picking up steam. Since launching three weeks ago the app has had more than 1,000 downloads.
“We’ve done this with no marketing budget, and now we’re getting ready to raise seed investment with around £20,000 already committed.
“I’m looking for investors who believe in my journey. I’m a second-time founder and my first business was doing really well until we had the pandemic. The new business is built on a model which works – and its already getting traction.
“I want people to see that there’s no such thing as failure, just lessons learnt to push you on to the next level.
“When my previous business went under it was one of the most difficult times of my life and one of the things which hurt me the most was that other people lost money.
“But I’m now doing what I think I’m supposed to be and I’ve learnt from what went wrong previously.
“There’s still a long way to go, Facebook wasn’t full of people when they first launched and look at it now.
“I think this has really got legs and is so needed right now.
“If anyone in Hampshire wants to support an incredibly passionate entrepreneur, come and talk to me about my investment round and make sure you download the app and come and say hi!”
@madaboutmoneyofficial I just registered with @SeedLegals for my angel investment round! Scary!! But i am raising some investment! We have already had 20k committed to the round! Which is super exciting! If you want to get behind a startup that is making a difference and helping to sort peoples money problems get in touch! #seedlegals #madaboutmoney #angelinvesting #angelivestment #seis #investorswanted #seedinvestment #madaboutmoneyapp #investors #fyp
