Crowdfunding is one of the ways to get enough funds to start your business. You can create a video explaining your business plans in a few minutes and allow others to see it. If they feel impressed and would like to invest, they will contact you. Since you placed your ideas out there, you have more chances of finding an investor. It works well for someone like you who never ventured into any business before, and you don’t have enough money to keep the ball rolling.
Although several entrepreneurs succeeded through this strategy, you should still be cautious. Crowdfunding doesn’t always work, and you might end up with terrible results.
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Other people can steal your ideas
Putting out a video regarding your business ideas can be tricky. You want to be clear so that anyone who wants to invest in you will know what you intend to do. At the same time, you don’t hope to give everything you have. There’s a chance that someone else will steal your idea and run with it. Before you even have enough money to keep your business rolling, someone else is already profiting from it. Unless you can find the right balance of giving a teaser without necessarily offering everything, you have to reassess your plans to do crowdfunding.
Your ideas could be unclear
Time is of the essence when crowdsourcing. You want to put your ideas out there before someone else does. The problem is that when you rush the process, you could end up with something that doesn’t appeal to anyone. When people see the video you put out, the message is unclear. Instead of attracting attention, you get ignored. The key is to wait until you already have a polished business plan before placing information for everyone to see. Also, if there are questions regarding the business plan, you can provide a detailed response. Some people might feel interested to invest, but due to the lack of clarity, they change their minds.
You might be stealing other ideas
Copying business models has always been a huge issue. Even top tech companies are at each other’s throats since it’s unclear who started certain ideas first. Before you place your video for everyone to see, you should check if someone else already has it. Otherwise, you might get accused of stealing ideas. Apart from the legal liabilities, your reputation is also on the line. Once you already have a reputation of copying others from other entrepreneurs, it would be difficult to recover. You will lose trust even before you commence your business.
It could be frustrating
If it’s been a while since you first placed your ideas out there, you might start to feel frustrated. Just because no one funds your business idea doesn’t mean it’s terrible. It only means that you are yet to find the right person to fund you. As a result, you could give up on your plans. You’re throwing away an excellent idea because you felt it would fall apart even before trying it. Besides, finding someone who will fund the entire business plan is rare. Investors will probably look for other platforms to scout for investments, and crowdsourcing sites aren’t among them.
People might laugh at you
You should only start putting your videos out there if you are confident that you have an excellent idea. If you come up with something that people will probably laugh at, you might have to reconsider your plans. Once your videos are already out there for everyone to see, you can’t take them back. Even if that plan didn’t push through, your future business ventures could be on the line. Your reputation as an aspiring entrepreneur might end up getting hurt. People won’t believe in you anymore since you came up with something crazy.
There are other people who crowd-source money
Although some people succeed in asking for money online, it’s not always the case. You have to compete with lots of other potential business owners and find a way to stand out. Even if you feel like you already have the best ideas, someone else might do better. You will end up feeling frustrated. You even judge your success based on the number of people who decided to invest in you. The lack of investors might make you believe that you don’t have a good business plan at all. The truth is that you are yet to find the right person who will believe in what you want to happen. You can’t lose hope because no one gave money to your crowdfunding efforts.
If you still plan to pursue this idea, you need to craft the right introduction video. Make the video short and straight to the point. You also have to highlight the strengths of your business plan. Avoid giving all your secrets and give people a reason to get to know you more and ask questions. Wait until you’re confident about the plan before you let everyone see it.
Apart from crowdfunding, it would help if you also considered pitching to investors in person. Invest in a projector mount to make it easier to present. Check out unicol.com for the best choices. Send your ideas to these investors and let them know that you’re open for a meeting. If given the opportunity to present these ideas in person, you have to come prepared. Present every detail to convince the investors to fund your business. Answer tough questions and show your personality. Apart from your business ideas, you also get judged as the person to run the business. If you show that you have what it takes, these investors will believe in you.
It takes time to find sufficient funds to support your ambitious business plans. It’s not about how fast you start, but how long your business would last. You might succeed in getting enough funds, but it means nothing if you can’t keep your business open for long.
