I presented a workshop on crowdfunding for business for Business & Employment in Launceston last night and I wanted to share my slides and also the questions you must answer before you get started.
Once upon a time it was difficult to find the money needed to start a business or fund a project if you hadn’t saved it yourself or didn’t have an existing relationship with a bank.
So what other funding options are there if you want to get started in business but don’t have all the funds saved? There are no interest loans, like NILS, small business grants, funding and assistance from the government and crowdfunding.
You may have heard the term crowdfunding, especially in reference to people who are trying to raise money to share their project or business with the world, and wondered how it might work for you.
Futurist Thomas Frey from the da Vinci Institute said, “Crowdfunding is on the verge of taking on the banking industry”. And here’s why: the latest Massolution Crowdfunding Industry Report shows more than $16 billion was raised through crowdfunding globally in 2014. This figure is expected to more than double for 2015.
I’ve uploaded my crowdfunding presentation to SlideShare so you can see what we covered.
Here are some prompts to help you get in the right frame of mind for tackling a crowdfunding project:
1. What makes my project better than others that are similar? ie what will make it stand out amongst others on the platform?
2. Do I want to offer rewards or equity in return for funds?
3. Which platform is right for my project?
4. How long will I run the campaign for?
5. What can I offer as rewards and what price point will they be?
6. How much do I need for my crowdfunding campaign?
• Product/service development: $
• Rewards & postage: $
• Marketing: $
• Platform fees: $
• Bank/payment charges: $
7. How am I going to spread the word about my project?
8. How many other crowdfunding projects have I studied/donated to? ie do I understand the process completely?
9. Finally, am I ready for the rollercoaster ride that is crowdfunding?
Extra information
Leave a Reply