Kickstarting experience/expertise

[kkein]

Hi, so i have a (patented) product that after some iteration feels ready to hit the market.
However, being it fairly innovative for a not much innovation-friendly sector could turn into a disaster if someone without experience (like me) attempts it.
I have been considering crowdfunding, but i also lack experience there.
So i wonder: are there companies/professionals that set up crowdfunding campaign for a living? Does anyone in the forum have experience with crowdfunding?

 

[Sols]

How much do you need? Without going into too much detail, what field is it?

Check out to Brand Refinery, Agency20, Glide, and Backercamp. I can't vouch for them. Just names I've come across in tangentially related undertakings with influencer/social media marketing.

Very limited experience with crowd funding but quite a bit of experience with fund raising.

0—50,000: own savings + raise funds from family and friends.

50,000 or more: same as above plus bank loan, and try to raise money from angel/seed investors.

For figures approaching a million, it's a different story. I'm guessing that's not the case here, though, if you're considering crowd funding.

If you have a social media following, crowd funding might make sense. Building a presence is hard work that takes time, and while there are agencies that can help, the agreements and invoices I've seen from such companies still require quite a lot of capital.

 

[kkein]

How much do you need? Without going into too much detail, what field is it?

Check out to Brand Refinery, Agency20, Glide, and Backercamp. I can't vouch for them. Just names I've come across in tangentially related undertakings with influencer/social media marketing.

Very limited experience with crowd funding but quite a bit of experience with fund raising.

0—50,000: own savings + raise funds from family and friends.

50,000 or more: same as above plus bank loan, and try to raise money from angel/seed investors.

For figures approaching a million, it's a different story. I'm guessing that's not the case here, though, if you're considering crowd funding.

If you have a social media following, crowd funding might make sense. Building a presence is hard work that takes time, and while there are agencies that can help, the agreements and invoices I've seen from such companies still require quite a lot of capital.

I am happy to discuss/disclose more details in private if you are interested!
In any case thank you, as always, for the very useful pointers and info!
But yeah, i have 0 social media presence, and it's not only about the money, but also for marketing/preorders/gaining product exposure

 

[Sols]

But yeah, i have 0 social media presence, and it's not only about the money, but also for marketing/preorders/gaining product exposure

So even if you managed to raise all the money you need on Kickstarter or GoFundMe, you'd need someone to help you with getting the whole sales and marketing aspect?

I think what you need isn't (just) investor/money, it sounds more like you need a co-founder. Someone who has skills that are complementary to yours. If your strengths are engineering, analysis, and product development, your co-founder should be someone who understands sales, marketing, and ecommerce (maybe licensing the product to larger companies?). You'll have to give up a percentage of your business, but it's better to own 75% of a profitable multi-million business than 100% of something that barely breaks even.

 

[kkein]

So even if you managed to raise all the money you need on Kickstarter or GoFundMe, you'd need someone to help you with getting the whole sales and marketing aspect?

I think what you need isn't (just) investor/money, it sounds more like you need a co-founder. Someone who has skills that are complementary to yours. If your strengths are engineering, analysis, and product development, your co-founder should be someone who understands sales, marketing, and ecommerce (maybe licensing the product to larger companies?). You'll have to give up a percentage of your business, but it's better to own 75% of a profitable multi-million business than 100% of something that barely breaks even.

True, and i would love that, but sadly i haven't been able to find any such figure so far.. I am aware that, even with the best crowdfunding campaign, at some point, if alone, i would have to continue doing the marketing myself (or pay someone to do so), and do the sales myself (or pay someone to do so).
But again, unless i'm lucky enough to find the right cofounder, kickstarting would at least provide some fuel and PR and pre-orders to start the business and then possibly hire people with those skills instead?

 

[Sols]

But again, unless i'm lucky enough to find the right cofounder, kickstarting would at least provide some fuel and PR and pre-orders to start the business and then possibly hire people with those skills instead?

You're right that there are Kickstarter success stories. But Kickstarter is like OnlyFans in that way. For every millionaire you hear about, there are a million who barely make anything.

If you make it big on Kickstarter, yes, it can be a good launchpad. You get a capital injection and possibly even some media attention.

But out of all the big Kickstarter successes, how many sustained? And how many didn't meet expectations, fell behind on deliveries, and ultimately failed? You have to know what to do with the money and how to capitalize on the momentum. An agency — like the ones I mentioned before — can help with with the momentum but you need a different kind of help for turning that momentum into a business.

Is this a product that's best suited for self-operated ecommerce or do you have more to gain from getting your item stocked in industry-specific retailers (online and/or physical)? Ecommerce is tedious but you get the money faster. Being stocked in a retailer has more upfront costs but if the product sells, you might be looking at fairly easy long-term income.

Industry trade shows can also be a good place to network or — if you have the funds — rent a booth and showcase your product.

 

[daniels27]

Sounds very interesting indeed. Kickstarter is certainly a good place to raise money in case you do not have any. But then the question come.

1. If nobody knows about it, also nobody will go and pledge. You still need to do the marketing yourself to have success.
2. If you have success, copies will come faster than you can open the next post here. Check out magtame.com. I met the guy and I also met the 100 copies at the same trade show. If you have a good parent, you can sue.
3. Being able to sue does not keep off the cheap copies. They often come faster than you can sue.

That being said, it really, really depends on what the item is and what your goals are. If you want to grow and sell, a Kickstarter is more interesting than if you want to grow slowly and have margins to sell. If the item is cheap, things are different than for higher priced items. Who is the target group and how can you reach them. Often a good entry to a market is more valuable than having a Kickstarter as the Kickstarter still requires something to enter the market. In other words, if you are giving away free samples to press to report about you, you can do this with and without Kickstarter. If you use Kickstarter, they may be more inclined to report and customers may be more inclined to buy asap at discount. But then who will buy at full price after launch?