Top Crowdfunding Reads of the Week (7/17/15)
Recommended Read #1
After reviewing “New crowdfunding rules open doors for companies and investors,” it’s clear that crowdfunding is changing the way businesses will raise capital all over the world.
In Canada, the rules are changing for companies taking the world of crowdfunding by the reigns. The rules are slightly changing for Canadian investors, because at one point, crowdfunding only allowed accredited investors to partake in providing funding. Now, anyone is allowed to get involved, with minor restrictions on the amounts, of course.
These changes are already producing results, with an increase in equity crowdfunding campaigns. Some of these changes even include an increase in the amount that companies can raise per year.
With these changes, it will be interesting to see what some of the companies do with their crowdfunding campaigns. Will the increased limits have a negative or positive effect on the potential investments?
Recommended Read #2
Too many small business owners think that crowdfunding is their magic solution to obtaining immediate funding for their ideas and products. While it is a great place to start, it still requires as much effort, if not more, that you would apply to any other method for receiving funding, such as a loan from a bank.
Even for your crowdfunding campaign, you will still need a solid business plan to succeed on a crowdfunding platform. A business plan will offer you several important benefits that will have a positive effect on your business.
Nobody’s product or business is perfect, and a business plan will point out all of the flaws that should be addressed before you release a campaign to the public. You don’t want them to have a poor judgement of your product because you didn’t work out the issues before you went live.
Running a business requires money and utilizing crowdfunding platforms also has its own associated costs. When these are known and addressed in a business plan, you can better financially prepare.
Don’t forget that a business plan not only helps you set achievable goals, but it helps you find how and where you need to target your audience. Your product isn’t going to sell itself, so you’ll need to create a marketing strategy, as well as what you want to achieve after your launch.
Without a business plan, you may wind up wasting your funding or leaving your potential investors with unanswered questions. A business plan will back up your ideas with information, goals and other items you need for your crowdfunding campaign to succeed.
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