Entrepreneurs turn £10 social media posts into six-figure business without investors

The founders went years without paying themselves before discovering their platform was generating up to £10,000 a month

Two graduates turned £10 social media posts into a profitable six-figure business without taking a penny from outside investors.

The Shade Borough has now recorded six-figure revenues for five consecutive years after its founders built the platform alongside university and full-time jobs.

William Smith and Helena Okunzuwa launched The Shade Borough (TSB) in 2016 after spotting a gap in the UK media market.

The digital platform, which covers Black British culture, entertainment and current affairs, has since grown into a profitable six-figure business.

Speaking exclusively to GB News, the founders explained how they built the company without investors, grants or any other outside funding.

At the time, Mr Smith was preparing to begin the final year of his social work degree. Ms Okunzuwa had recently graduated with a first in biomedical science and was looking for work.

She initially took a job at Travelodge before becoming a laboratory assistant at the NHS, where she completed her IBMS portfolio.

The pair built TSB around their existing commitments, sometimes publishing content at 3am because it was the only time they had available.

Ms Okunzuwa said: "There was no office, no team, no funding. Just a phone, a page and a community that wanted to see themselves represented.

"Within days of launching, Skepta was already sharing our content. That was the first signal that there was a community waiting for exactly this, we just had to keep showing up."

The audience continued to grow, first reaching 5,000 followers and then 10,000. Even before the platform had a large following, individual posts were attracting thousands of comments and users were sending messages asking for content to be published more quickly.

The engagement convinced the founders that TSB had the potential to become more than a side project.

Its first income arrived within months of launching, although the amounts were initially small.

Mr Smith said: "The first ever fee we charged for a promotion was about £10 for a weekday post and £15 for a weekend. Something ridiculous like that. And even at those prices we were booked out."

Because both founders were earning salaries elsewhere, the money generated by TSB remained in a separate business account rather than being used for their everyday expenses.

Mr Smith explained: "Eventually we used that accumulated income to build the website, do the branding, do everything. Very bootstrapped, very lean. No investors, no grants. Just the business funding itself from what it earned."

The founders did not pay themselves for the first few years. When they began paying team members, contributors and interns, those payments were prioritised ahead of their own.

The turning point came in 2020, when they sat down with an accountant and examined the company's finances properly.

Mr Smith said: "We realised TSB had been generating between £5,000 and £10,000 every single month and neither of us had touched any of it. It had just been sitting there."

Once the founders calculated how long the accumulated money could support them, they realised they had enough financial breathing room to take the business full-time.

Ms Okunzuwa made the move first, with Mr Smith following around one month later. Both accepted a significant pay cut, but the platform's growth and high level of engagement persuaded them that it was time to focus on the company.

Ms Okunzuwa said: "One day sitting in a miserable work meeting the thought hit, why put all this brain and energy into someone else's business when there is something of our own growing every single day that genuinely needs more attention?"

She made the jump first, and Mr Smith followed about a month later. They both took a significant pay cut, but neither has looked back.

The Shade Borough has now maintained consistent six-figure revenues for five consecutive years running, a feat the founders are particularly proud of given the tough climate for independent media.

Ms Okunzuwa said: "We have been a six figure business for the past four to five years consistently and the business has always been profitable and self-funded. Our revenue has remained stable in a period where many independent media platforms have struggled to survive at all, so the growth is something we are very proud of."

The platform's income primarily comes from brand partnerships and record label campaigns, with the team weaving sponsors into their everyday content through storytelling rather than disruptive adverts.

Their main Instagram page drives the bulk of brand deals, though they also earn directly from the platforms themselves. Among the names they've partnered with are Nike, JD Sports, Martell, Sony Music, Warner Music and Netflix.

The platform recorded more than two billion views across all its social media accounts in 2025, including more than 1.4 billion views on Instagram.

It currently has a team of around seven people across full-time and part-time roles, alongside a wider group of contractors and contributors. However, the founders admitted that their early financial approach created missed opportunities.

Mr Smith said: "The biggest financial mistake we made while building the company was letting money sit doing nothing. In the early years every pound that came in just sat in the business account looking pretty.

"Looking back, that money could have been working for the business, buying assets, building a financial foundation from day one. We had an asset building mindset for our personal lives but we were not applying that same thinking to the business early enough. The other big lesson was around pricing confidence.

"We were charging £10 a post, eventually increasing to around £250, and still being booked out at that rate. For years we were undercharging because we did not fully understand the value of what we had built.

"Once we understood that no brand can buy nine years of community trust in six weeks, the pricing confidence came. But it took us longer than it should have to get there."

Cash flow and staffing costs also created challenges as the company expanded.

Mr Smith said: "Just because your business brings in good money does not mean you are protected. You have to plan for the quiet months and the unexpected costs."

He warned that employing even one person creates an ongoing financial commitment that a business must be able to meet during weak months as well as successful ones.

The founders urged other entrepreneurs to understand both the money entering their business and its regular costs, while building up a financial cushion before it becomes necessary.

Mr Smith also recommended finding an accountant who understands the company and the type of income it generates.

The pair said knowing their audience has been central to turning The Shade Borough’s reach into a sustainable source of revenue.

Mr Smith said: "We can tell a brand exactly who our community is, how they think and what they respond to. That is what turns an audience into a revenue stream."

His advice for aspiring platform builders is refreshingly straightforward: get crystal clear on what you're creating, who it's for and why, because those answers will keep you grounded when distractions inevitably arrive.