Hello fellow business-minded people,
I try and write posts that have some relevance to you based on experiences I have on a daily basis.
Today we are talking about what happens AFTER a successful crowdfunding campaign (dealing with products). Common misconceptions exist as well as a general underestimations of the tasks at hand to succeed in the marketplace.
Feeding the backers
After your project on Kickstarter, Indiegogo, or wherever is finished and funded, you of course have to supply your backers. While everybody knows this, many manufacturers underestimate the time it will take to manufacturer all of the required products to meet the backers needs.
It can take months or longer than expected in which most of the hype for your product will have faded. In general, after a campaign is finished due to poor planning, especially with marketing, product sales drop significantly and can be hard to recover quickly.
Know the expectations of your backers as well as the time it will take to buy materials, manufacturer, work out kinks in the product or supply chain, and ship the items effectively.
Backers are fed! Now what..?
Congratulations, you`ve finally satisfied your brave backers by providing them with the promised goods. Only one issue.. you`re relatively low on funds and need to find a new audience to buy!
Seeing reposts of campaigns isn`t uncommon. What your crowdfunding business needs to understand is that momentum from initial sales needs to be streamlined and continued to new buyers.
New buyers can be found on 3rd party marketplaces like eBay or Amazon or potentially on your own website (if it gets a lot of traffic), however you should consider focusing on using your momentum to sell to select and qualified distributors in your industry.
Starting the retail journey – distributors
Yes I said it… distributors. Many small gadget manufacturing companies that I talk to often times will ask, “Can`t I get more from product sales if I sell directly to retailers?”
And that question is logical, but as you`ll soon learn retail can be vicious.
Many retailers, in particular big box retailers, will never consider working with small manufacturers like you. Why? Because it takes too much time and hassle to manage your products to make it worthwhile for them.
That`s just the truth.
Going through the appropriate distributor, who already deals with retailers you might want to target, is a great way to get your foot in the door and give your business a fighting chance to get into retail stores.
Don`t oversell!
Consequently, you usually would never want to sell to any and all distributors that will hear your sales pitch. If you deal with too many distributors or buyers in general, you will lose control of your brand, pricing, and profits.
Just like you did when you started developing your product – start small with your journey into retail!
Figure out what works and make progress from there. Don`t put all your eggs in one basket.
Where to find help as a start-up or entrepreneur
I help start-ups, small businesses, and entrepreneurs on a daily basis whether it`s coaching or taking a look at their marketing strategies.
Working with Retailbound, we have over 25 years in the retail and manufacturing industry and can easily help you get your manufacturing business up and running on the right track.
If you`ve successfully funded your product project online, you absolutely need to talk with an expert before you find yourself penniless wondering what happened
