Crowdfunding: What To Expect!

You’ve come up with a great idea, something that no one has ever seen before! But where do you begin? The first step is to have a tangible product that you can test and make sure it really works. But that costs money…

If your product functions just the way you want it to than you’ll want to get some IP (Intellectual Property) around it. But that costs money too…

And say you’ve conquered these two steps and now you’re ready for manufacturing. How do you come up with those funds?

Crowdfunding! Crowdfunding is a way to utilize social media to finance your invention idea. But, keep in mind it also puts your product on display for the masses, some of which may want to knock it off, and can do so before your crowdfunding campaign even ends. But, if you decide you’re ready to move forward than first you must choose a crowdfunding platform:

Kickstarter – Presently the most popular site. Projects can range from crafts, design, fashion, games and technology among several other categories. It’s very easy to use but expect a significant wait time while they check your credit and finances.

Indiegogo - Unlike Kickstarter, Indiegogo approves donation-based fundraising campaigns for inventions, music, hobbies, personal finance needs and charities amongst other things. This site is ideal for the first time inventor!

Crowdfunder -Crowdfunder is for raising investments and has one of the largest and fastest growing network of investors.

Rocket Hub –Rockethub is donation-based funding for a wide variety of creative projects.

Once you’ve chosen your crowdfunding platform you have to decide what you’ll offer your “funders”. Maybe it’s the final product, equity or a simple tee shirt. Perhaps their investment level gets them a different offering.

Ultimately, your goal should be to get people so interested in your product that they’ll put down their own money to see it succeed. And if you can’t raise the funds, perhaps you should ask yourself why? Or ask a consultant, such as Lightning Launch, who can help answer those tough questions for you!

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