- What is my take on the concept of crowdfunding?
Is it a good idea to keep a business active?
Well, I do like crowdfunding.
I think crowdfunding with technology is a great invention
for any entrepreneurs who maybe have an idea,
but they're not so sure
if the marketplace is actually receptive for this idea.
Is there actually a demand,
is there a need for what you want to sell?
It is a very cost-effective way to find out, right?
You create a little, nice description,
maybe you film a little video,
and you can put out at a marketplace.
You can even run some traffic through it,
and see if there's actually people want to buy your product.
Because sometimes [inaudible] entrepreneur,
as a business owner, you come up with an idea,
you talk to your mom, your talk to your dad,
you talk to your friends,
"Hey what do you think of like, me selling this thing,
I've got an idea for this widget?"
And they say,
"Yeah, that's good son,
I think it's a great idea, I'm supportive."
Your friend's like, "Yeah."
They are saying like,
"Yeah, I think it's a great idea,
you should go for it."
Right, they always give you this kind of false hope
that you think,
"Oh yeah, I think all my friends think it's a good idea."
When you actually sink a whole bunch of money into it,
and you say, "Okay!"
Now I finally have that widget.
Now you spend a lot of money, a lot of time and effort,
and say, "Hey, do you want some?"
"Uh, no."
"What do you mean, you don't want some?
I thought you said it's a great idea."
"Yeah, it's a great idea."
And then they say they're trying to be polite.
Right, they don't tell you they actually think
it's the dumbest idea ever.
But they don't want to hurt your feelings.
But crowdfunding, you could go to Indiegogo, GoFundMe,
or Kickstarter.
You could go there and just create a campaign.
See if there's a need for an idea,
a little short film you want to do,
a little product that you want to do,
a little tech that you want to do.
It's awesome, right?
If there is a need, now it gives you
that much more confidence,
because people vote with their wallets.
Now they're actually putting some money into it.
And you could get started with that.
I think it's a great idea.
Now, to do crowdfunding to keep your business going,
now that is a dumb idea.
I'm not your friend, so I'm going to tell you
straight to your face, it's a dumb idea.
Because if you need that to keep your business going,
your business is not working.
It means that you have not cracked the code of
how do you actually get customers into the door?
How to attract those first group of customers.
This the only reason why you need to do crowdfunding.
Which I believe, the number one goal for any business,
the very first goal that you need to have,
is asking yourself,
how do you get that first profitable sale?
How to attract the first group of customers profitably.
Guess what?
It means sales.
Sales equals income.
You need to be able to sell your product and services.
You need to be able to sell
those first group of customers first.
If you have not cracked that code,
if you have not found a cost-effective way to do that,
you don't have a business.
You have an expensive hobby.
So that to me is not the way to go.
It means that you're a lousy entrepreneur.
You don't know what you're doing.
You might have a cool product.
Who cares?
If you cannot get that product in front of the people
who are willing and able to buy it,
all this is a pipe dream.
So crowdfunding, I like the idea,
but as an idea to keep a business going,
I think that's a very stupid idea.
That's my take.
Comment below, share with me what's your take,
if you have done any crowdfunding,
what's been your experience?