Kickstarter - Have a Backup Plan in Place

2015 is about to begin and designers and inventors across the US and around the world have crowdfunding projects planned to fund their "first production run" in the coming year. Crowdfunding is a fantastic way to turn a product idea into reality. But there are many pitfalls. If you are considering a project on Kickstarter, Indiegogo or other crowdfunding platform where the goal is to deliver a product, you should read this Inc. article by Eric Markowitz about designer Seth Quest's Kickstarter experience.

The lesson is that you need to have all your ducks in a row before you hit the launch button. You need to have a working prototype and reliable sources for manufacturing and shipping in place. Your plans need to be detailed and contingency plans need to be made for when things go wrong (something always goes wrong). Things as simple as printing shipping labels can become a hassle.

Invention City can help you run the back end of your Kickstarter project including prototyping, engineering, sourcing and fulfillment. The first step to working with Invention City is to submit your project for a Brutally Honest Review.