Kobicha Home, LLC | Application Preview
Kobicha Home, LLC is seeking government grants to support its home decor business focused on Afro-contemporary aesthetics. The funding would be allocated towards marketing and public relations, including equipment for content creation, professional photography and videography, SEO copywriting, and website optimization. Additionally, the funds would help with inventory and storage needs.
The business aims to drive growth through strategic marketing over the next five years. In the initial two years, Kobicha Home plans to invest heavily in organic and paid marketing on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook while building a community. By year three, the company aims to diversify income through hosted events. In year four, the focus will shift to generating revenue from Google AdSense for YouTube content, while year five will see the establishment of brand partnerships.
Kobicha Home emphasizes its commitment to social responsibility, with a portion of profits dedicated to aiding organizations that support Black and brown LGBTQIA+ individuals facing homelessness. The founder, a Black American woman, also highlights the importance of building wealth for her family and creating a positive economic impact within her community.
In terms of competition, the business identifies three key players: Jungalow, Apartment Therapy, and Etsy. While Jungalow focuses on global aesthetics and partnerships with large retailers, Kobicha Home aims to support individual designers and artisans within the African Diaspora. Apartment Therapy relies on user-generated content and advertising, whereas Kobicha Home will balance a media arm with its own product offerings. Unlike Etsy's vast marketplace, Kobicha Home offers a curated selection tailored to its followers' tastes, ensuring that customers can find specifically what they are looking for.
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General Information
Business Registration Number: 10-725-9048
Location: Farmers Branch, TX, United States
Length of Operation: 1-5
Number of Employees: 1-10 Employees
Annual Gross Income: Less than $100k
Annual Gross Expense: Less than $100k
Open to Loans: YES
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Funding Usage
Marketing and PR (equipment and materials for organic content creation, hiring photographers and videographers for organic and paid content, SEO copywriting assistance, optimization of the website and search engine indexing, etc.) Inventory Storage for inventory
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Business Plan
I sell home decor for the Afro-contemporary home. My plan for growth is heavy on marketing and PR for top to mid funnel behavior (gaining awareness, consideration, and conversion), while building community around this brand to breed retention and brand advocacy/evangelism. Focuses by Year to Maximize Growth Year 1 and 2 - Heavy organic and paid marketing on instagram, tiktok, and Facebook and community building on all three platforms Year 3 - Growing year 1 and 2 efforts and adding a stream of income - events Year 4 - Growing year 1-3 efforts and adding another stream of income - Google adsense on YouTube content Year 5 - Growing year 1-4 efforts and adding another stream of income - brand partnerships My home decor business has a greater purpose than just making me money. A portion of all proceeds are donated to organizations trying to fight the rise in homelessness among black and brown lgbtqia+ people. There are so many people who have been denied jobs, housing, and basic human decency because of their sexuality and gender expression and, as I build my business, it's important to me to help those most marginalized become upwardly mobile again. Also, as a black American woman, writing my own ticket is crucial to changing the course of my life and my family members' lives. Building a business helps me establish wealth for my family and help my family members establish their own wealth which, byproxy, positively impacts the economy. I have a very large family.
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Self Identified Competition
My business model is a little different. So, I'm going to list two different types of competitors: media outlets and furniture and decor retailers. Jungalow - They have mastered the global, bohemian aesthetic. Their items are not only sold on their own site; they sell them wholesale to large retailers like Target and West Elm through branded partnerships. Apartment Therapy - They've been able to create a rich content offering by mining their followers for beautifully-decorated spaces. They've built a content strategy that is mostly user-generated content, while also tapping subject matter experts to provide tips/direction to achieve a beautiful home. This rich content has brought in so much traffic that they are able to successfully incorporate an array of digital advertising experiences across their site and social platforms. Etsy - Etsy is essentially Amazon for unique items. Though you may not be able to put African baskets in Amazon and trust that your results won't produce a bunch of items made in China, you can definitely find the type of pieces I would have in my store on Etsy and in more abundance. Jungalow is spearheaded by a designer, whereas I'm wanting to buy items from individual designers and artists to support their businesses, as well. I also have a desire to achieve a collection of items that are mostly made by artisans and designers within the African Diaspora, whereas Jungalow is more globally inspired. Apartment Therapy's business model is mostly reliant on banner ads and affiliate marketing. Though I plan on building out a media arm, incorporating banner ads, affiliate marketing, and brand partnerships, I will always have my own products that followers of the brand can purchase. Etsy is a marketplace of lots of sellers and the buyer is at the mercy of the search results when they are looking for something specific. You may be able to search Afro-contemporary decor and get lots of results for nice items, your chances of finding what you're looking for may be more slim the more specific you get. And, with a marketplace like Etsy, you'd have to get very specific to hone in on the look of the item you're wanting or you'd be given a daunting amount of results to wade through and the majority of them wouldn't be what you want. The upside of being a small decor shop like me is, if you're following my work, you've already bought into the aesthetic. So you can just search the word blanket and feel more confident that the results produced are going to be what you're looking for.
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