Our story and how IQoupon came to be is one that many small-business owners can easily identify with.
Inspired By The Coronavirus
If it wasn’t for the coronavirus pandemic of 2020, it’s likely – well, almost certain – that IQoupon would never have been born.
IQoupon is owned and managed by the 2 Chris’s. There’s me, Chris Hawkins Snr & my son Chris Hawkins Jnr. We’re a UK-based father and son team.
We’d been selling our own range of physical products online since about 2013 and had plans to extend our brands into global retail.
But, early into the global lock-down, sales plummeted, we had to stop our manufacturing and production, cash-flow took a hit and our livelihoods were suddenly threatened for the first time since I could remember.
But, of course, the situation wasn’t unique to us.
The media soon reported on the sad plight of restaurant, bar and pub owners, cafes and coffee shops, beauticians, barbers and hairdressers, hotels and guest houses, cinemas and theaters, gyms and fitness clubs to name a few, whose businesses were not only threatened but, maybe, would never open again. The sad fact is that many were forced to close during and after the pandemic.
We could probably manage our situation, but my thoughts soon turned to how we could help our favorite local cafes, bars and restaurants. These businesses were central to communities and had been established thanks to years of hard work and dedication. And now they were seriously threatened.
At that time, their biggest problem was cash-flow. In short, they had none. They couldn’t pay rent, their suppliers and, worst of all, staff were being laid off with no hope of finding new employment soon.
So, unable to sleep at 3am one morning, I made a decision to build a system where small, service-based businesses could offer some kind of prepaid business voucher or eGift card. This way, businesses could benefit from cash-flow today but customers could spend when they liked.
From Conception to Birth
And, following a series of intensive 70/80 hour working weeks, IQoupon was born. We’ve since expanded the technology to include any type of digital coupon offer and recently introduced gamification including digital scratchcards and slots.
We believe the digital coupon marketing & eGift cards should be a cornerstone of every service-business’ online presence and social media strategy.
Our technology is guaranteed to increase engagement, power social reach and ultimate drive bottom line profitability.