I Raised Over $1.2 Million 💰 How To Crowdfund Your Business Like a Pro

Dan, co-founder of Unbound Merino, shares his experience in running three successful crowdfunding campaigns, generating over a million dollars in revenue. He outlines the process of planning, preparing, and launching a campaign, including tips for fulfilling orders and transitioning into a self-sustaining business. He emphasizes the importance of creating a compelling pitch, which includes a video, catchy slogans, and clear benefits to customers, comparing it to an infomercial. Additionally, he discusses the necessity of understanding the entire business model, including value proposition, manufacturing, branding, pricing strategy, and sales copy, as part of the campaign preparation.

The paragraph details the process of finding a manufacturer for Unbound Merino's products. It involved using Alibaba due to a lack of connections in the apparel manufacturing industry. The goal was to find a supplier with minimal order quantities that were feasible. The team evaluated potential manufacturers based on photos, pricing, and perceived establishment, eventually narrowing down to around 80-90 candidates. They then sent a tailored questionnaire to each, aiming to assess the supplier's capabilities and willingness to work with them, which included questions about product variety, material composition, pricing, production time, factory visit opportunities, branding options, wool sourcing, and sample ordering.

Dan explains the importance of establishing strong relationships with manufacturers. He shares his experience of reaching out to potential suppliers and how they selected those who responded positively and were open to a factory visit. The paragraph highlights the significance of face-to-face meetings and the value of trust and respect in business relationships. It also touches on the prototyping process, the importance of testing materials, and the eventual selection of two manufacturers who met their standards. The narrative underscores the time and effort invested in building these relationships, which contributed to the success of their crowdfunding campaigns.

The paragraph discusses the decision-making process behind choosing Indiegogo over Kickstarter for their crowdfunding campaign. It was based on the advice of a mentor who highlighted the benefits of Indiegogo's account support and the potential for marketing through their email placements. The account representative provided valuable insights and promotional support, which contributed to the campaign's visibility and success. The summary also advises on the importance of early negotiation for email placements and establishing a good relationship with the account representative.

This paragraph delves into the strategy behind setting campaign goals, explaining that while their public goal was $30,000, the actual minimum needed was $75,000. The lower goal was set to achieve 100% funding quickly, which is attractive to potential backers and helps in securing promotional support from Indiegogo. The summary also covers the importance of early momentum, leveraging friends, family, and acquaintances to reach the initial funding target. It describes the creative approach of making personalized videos to ensure support and the strategy of avoiding non-committal thank you perks to encourage actual product purchases.

The paragraph explains the importance of building an email list prior to launching a crowdfunding campaign and the potential costs associated with it, such as using Facebook ads to drive traffic to a lead generation landing page. It discusses the benefits of testing brand messaging and ad copy, as well as the financial considerations, including the cost per email and expected conversion rates. The summary also touches on the decision to invest in advertising mid-campaign based on a clear ROI and the advantages of working with an advertising partner, including access to their targeted lists and the ability to measure the effectiveness of ad spending.

This paragraph focuses on the analysis of weekly metrics from an ad company to understand the ROI of their crowdfunding campaign's advertising efforts. It includes details on total revenue, costs (including commission fees), margin, average customer value before and after fees, and the true take-home value after all expenses. The summary highlights the importance of considering the lifetime value of backers and the indirect benefits of driving traffic to the campaign page, which can lead to additional backers outside of the advertising partner's commission structure.

The paragraph serves as a cautionary tale about the harsh realities of fulfilling orders after a successful crowdfunding campaign. It describes the overwhelming workload of packing and shipping over 2000 orders to various countries and the issues encountered, such as slow packaging speed, technical difficulties, and the frustration of impatient backers. The summary suggests setting realistic delivery expectations, practicing the shipping process beforehand, and considering the costs and logistics of fulfillment in the campaign planning stage.

This paragraph discusses the proactive steps taken to ensure the quality of the mass-produced products by personally overseeing the production process in Shanghai. It highlights the decision to travel to the manufacturer and the benefits of this approach, which included maintaining quality control and potentially deterring manufacturing errors. The summary also mentions the value of the experience, both in terms of business and personal growth, and the importance of budgeting for such trips as part of the campaign strategy.

The paragraph emphasizes the importance of financial planning for the months following a crowdfunding campaign. It suggests creating a six-month budget that includes allocations for various business aspects such as marketing, hiring, taxes, legal fees, and contingencies. The summary advises on the benefits of early legal preparation to avoid potential issues and the value of having a clear financial roadmap to navigate the post-campaign phase of business growth.

In the concluding paragraph, Dan reflects on the crowdfunding journey as a valuable and rewarding process for aspiring entrepreneurs. He encourages hard work and full commitment to the endeavor, highlighting that the worst outcome is not getting funded, which is far less risky than traditional business ventures. The summary also mentions the benefits of using platforms like Indiegogo to prove product-market fit without significant financial investment and ends with a call to action for viewers to support and subscribe for more business growth tips.