Any suggestions on raising funds on kickstarter (or other crowdfunding) for a business innovation model as opposed to a product innovation model?

Okay so I am going to lead by saying I have a bias regarding crowdfunding. Now on to my answer:

Kickstarter is for products not companies. If you create a good product and do a kickstarter campaign you will be able to use the funds raised for the product to build your company.

https://www.crowdfunder.com/ however is for businesses so it might be a better bet for you.

https://www.prosper.com/ would be my recommendation because it is crowdfunded loans. This is real money without strings attached other than the fact that it is a loan. They cap out at 35,000 so if you need serious capital then you should look at a bank or an investor.

In general (with prosper being the only exception) I hate crowdfunding sites. There are a couple of reasons but this article sums it all up pretty well: http://www.zdnet.com/article/despite-its-popularity-i-hate-kickstarter/

Prosper is very different in that you are getting a loan, a non predatory interest rate (6.68% to 35.97% APR depending of course on your credit score, the amount you are asking etc.) and you get the cash in days that you can use without lifting your skirt so to speak.

To disclose here, I am a member of Prosper and help fund loans. However the only reason why I do is because I believe in their company more than any other crowdfunded site out there. Unlike sites like Kickstarter, the site is overseen by the SEC, has accredited investors, people that actually put there money into the site to fund loans have to deal with the IRS and the SEC so you as one getting a loan are protected like crazy.

I would love to discuss more about your business and help guide you through the process if you are interested. Give me a call.

There are other crowdfunding groups that would take a business innovation but let's not start there if you have not gotten your idea to a certain level and secondly there might be some better approaches.

You need to set up some basics first to test your idea and get some real time customers or not. I don't want you wasting your precious time and anything that can't test out first.

Call me and let's see if what you has merit and the best approach to get it off the ground which I have had many that have worked and not worked it's all in the testing on the cheap to see if you should go to the next step without spending a wad of money first and finding out then it was a bad idea.

Call me and let's look at the options.....Ken Queen IncomeForBabyBoomers.com

Kickstarter is a great platform for doing both. If you were trying to raise money for the development of a tangible product or invention, Quirky is a crowdfunding platform made specifically for this but I've had a successful campaign on kickstarter raising money for my invention, so that works too. Kickstarter is more known.

The biggest mistake most people make raising money through crowdfunding is that they don't give enough value in return for the amount of money they are asking for their pledge levels. That goes for a business innovation model or product innovation model. For each you need to prepare your campaign a few months ahead of time, have a great marketing plan in place, tell a great story with a great quality video, and also give backers reward levels that they can't turn down.

If you want to take your campaign seriously you should have a dozen members on board and plan to spend over $10,000 on campaign.

Treat crowdfunding as if you were running a business.

Hope this helps!