StrawberrySocial wins its biggest ever client and doubles revenues after taking out an Esme loan

“We’ve always been careful with cash flow, but you need money to make money, and to grow the business, we needed a cash injection. As a digital service provider ourselves, we champion innovation and new ways of working, so we wanted to try an online lender - and we’re so happy that we chose Esme. We’ve received excellent service at every step of the journey and the rapid access to funds gave us the resources we needed to win our biggest ever client. We would definitely recommend Esme to other small businesses considering a loan.” Rebecca Fitzgerald, Managing Director, StrawberrySocial

StrawberrySocial is an online brand protection agency that provides organisations with the resources to monitor, moderate and engage its audiences 24/7. It also has a new service which mixes community management with customer support. Founded by Rebecca Fitzgerald and based in London, Rebecca and her team pride themselves on offering a highly personalised and personable approach when working with clients. StrawberrySocial manages social media moderation, engagement and online safety for busy in-house client teams, this includes charities, brands and other agencies.

As with any business, one of the biggest pressures faced is the challenge to simultaneously survive and grow. StrawberrySocial’s expansion could only be achieved with marketing investment and team expansion. Despite Rebecca receiving a loan from Government Enterprise, StrawberrySocial still faced some financial difficulties relating to business expansion.

Rebecca decided to apply for another loan, however, recognising that securing one as a small business could be challenging and may involve waiting for an unspecified timeframe before being approved.

Esme offers unsecured business loans to businesses from £10,000 (or £25,500 for sole traders) to £250,000 over a one to five year repayment period, with no set-up fees or early repayment charges. Applying for a loan with Esme was easy and Rebecca completed an online application in less than 20 minutes with no additional paperwork before being approved for the requested amount. Rebecca received the funds quickly and the terms and conditions offered by Esme were a good fit for the business.

Rebecca brought in new team members with valuable additional skills to evolve its service offering; including a social strategist to support the curation of the agency’s marketing and strategic provision. Elsewhere, Rebecca invested in website development for StrawberrySocial and in providing a new (and highly successful) service mixing community management with customer support for internet app brands and their customers.

Ultimately, access to this loan has reduced stress for Rebecca, by providing peace of mind through financial security. By growing the team and investing in its own marketing, StrawberrySocial has secured lucrative new business contracts. This includes a major lifestyle brand and StrawberrySocial’s biggest client to date, which has doubled its overall revenues. Valuable new customer references like this, generated through improved cash flow, will help to drive long-term growth for StrawberrySocial.