I will cover the basic things you need to know if you decide to raise money through crowdfunding for your business. First of all, crowdfunding is definitely not fitted for every business and many projects which try to raise money do not collect the required sum.
So before deciding to do crowdfunding campaign you should carefully consider if your business is fit for success. The crowd funding campaigns work the best for product based businesses or creative projects. If you business does not fall into those two categories you could either choose a specialised platform (there are platforms which specialise in social businesses or renewable energy etc) or do not do it at all.
Raising money through crowdfunding is a very time consuming process so you should either take the time and do it well or do not do it at all. So what are the ingredients for success?
First of all if you decide to create a crowdfunding campaign you need to very clearly define your target audience – who will be your investors and why? What value do they get? Is it just being first to buy your product? Do they participate in a bigger vision? Do they become part of your community? Think very carefully and this is key – what will you offer as returns for which amounts of money. The reward has to be worth it and engaging. People have to know that they are supporting something awesome.
Write a description following the instructions of the platform of your choice. Another key is filming the intro video – this is the place to bring over your story and the unique value proposition. Use all your creativity to stand out and present an authentic story. Tell people why you are doing what you do, what makes you excited about it and why they should invest in you. The more creative and authentic the video is the more chances you have to succeed.
After you have completed the profile and published it the work does not stop, you have constantly promote your campaign(it is easier when you have an existing community or have communities where you belong to, local newspapers, blogs) Use your friends and family to spread the message in the social networks, but stay focused on your goal and value you offer. Try to be more targeted – where can you reach your potential investors? Keep the audience engaged and informed, inform them about all your news and what is happening to your business, answer all the questions they might have and ask them to spread the word. Your first investors – are your best advocators, because they already believed in you. Use this resource.
If you complete your goal it is great, if you do not do not be too upset, because in any way it will be a great experience to get first feedback from the market and your potential customers/investors. Keep track of all the feedback and learn from it to improve your business and the communication.
You need to make a lot of marketing and pr to inform the people its a downside you need to constantly interact with people
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