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Fund Your Home Product Idea With Kickstarter
Got a great home product idea but stymied by lack of funding? Put the power of the web and crowd sourcing to work for you
Houzz Contributor. I'm a Silicon Valley-based writer, columnist and blogger, covering technology and culture. http://elgan.com
Houzz Contributor. I'm a Silicon Valley-based writer, columnist and blogger,... More »
Where do good ideas come from? More important, where do they go? People have great home design ideas all the time. But most of the very newest ideas can't be bought at the store.
Have you ever had a brilliant idea and thought, "I wish somebody would sell this"? Here's another thought: "Why don't you sell it?"
The trouble is, in order to sell something, you have to make it. You need billing, online shopping cart software, plus a website. You need to know how to build it and test it. And for all that, you need money.
If you had the money, you could start a new business, hire the expertise you need, set up the infrastructure for selling and go into business for yourself sharing your idea with the world. If only you had the money.
I've got good news for you: If you've got a really good idea, you can get the money.
Have you ever had a brilliant idea and thought, "I wish somebody would sell this"? Here's another thought: "Why don't you sell it?"
The trouble is, in order to sell something, you have to make it. You need billing, online shopping cart software, plus a website. You need to know how to build it and test it. And for all that, you need money.
If you had the money, you could start a new business, hire the expertise you need, set up the infrastructure for selling and go into business for yourself sharing your idea with the world. If only you had the money.
I've got good news for you: If you've got a really good idea, you can get the money.
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Here Comes Kickstarter
Kickstarter is a website that can help you raise money for creative business ideas through crowd sourcing. This method of fundraising enables would-be entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas to the general public on the Kickstarter website. And the public can "invest."
Those seeking support typically offer various levels of contribution and list what contributors get in return. For example, if someone is writing a book, a $5 contribution might get them mentioned in the book, a $20 contribution could get them a free book, and a $50 contribution might earn them a free book signed by the author.
As part of the pitch, entrepreneurs set a fundraising goal and a deadline for reaching it. If they fail to reach the goal, all the donors get their money back.
Some reach the goal, some don't. Some who successfully reach their fundraising goal fail to release a successful product. But some succeed brilliantly.
For example, a graduating design student has come up with new ideas for using computer design tools and laser beams to manufacture computer-designed ceramics. He set a goal to raise $3,200 and exceeded that goal. Now he's in business.
Kickstarter is a website that can help you raise money for creative business ideas through crowd sourcing. This method of fundraising enables would-be entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas to the general public on the Kickstarter website. And the public can "invest."
Those seeking support typically offer various levels of contribution and list what contributors get in return. For example, if someone is writing a book, a $5 contribution might get them mentioned in the book, a $20 contribution could get them a free book, and a $50 contribution might earn them a free book signed by the author.
As part of the pitch, entrepreneurs set a fundraising goal and a deadline for reaching it. If they fail to reach the goal, all the donors get their money back.
Some reach the goal, some don't. Some who successfully reach their fundraising goal fail to release a successful product. But some succeed brilliantly.
For example, a graduating design student has come up with new ideas for using computer design tools and laser beams to manufacture computer-designed ceramics. He set a goal to raise $3,200 and exceeded that goal. Now he's in business.
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| Wide-Open Opportunity for Product Designers "Less a technology site, more a sociocultural movement, Kickstarter is changing how we make things, how we turn dreams into reality and make ideas come to life," says technology guru Om Malik. The home design community has been slow to embrace Kickstarter. The projects tend to favor media-based ideas like documentary films, books and comic books as well as good old-fashioned useful inventions. This presents an opportunity for home product designers. Why? Because Kickstarter proposals have to be approved by the owners of the site, then funded by the public. Some types of ideas have reached a saturation point, reducing the likelihood of new projects in the same category getting approved or funded. But the home design ideas are likely to have a better chance of success because there are relatively few proposed. |
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A Chance to Be First
Kickstarter is a great source for new ideas for your home and also a source for one-of-a-kind home design elements. The reason is that a project is unlikely to even be approved by owners of the site unless it's a truly new idea.
One of the benefits of funding design projects is that you often get first crack at owning the products — often months in advance. Sometimes creative entrepreneurs even provide donors with unique versions of the product.
You also get the satisfaction of helping bring new works into existence. Your decorative piece or new design element comes with a story, since you've followed the creators through the process of raising money, creating their operation and shipping the product.
One newly posted Kickstarter project has been proposed by a guy who makes furniture in Maine. His idea is to draw whimsical items with crayons or sidewalk chalk, then build the objects with reclaimed lumber and nontoxic finishes while retaining a childlike, hand-drawn look. This child's writing desk is the reward for a pledge of $475.
You can't (yet) buy these in any store.
Kickstarter is a great source for new ideas for your home and also a source for one-of-a-kind home design elements. The reason is that a project is unlikely to even be approved by owners of the site unless it's a truly new idea.
One of the benefits of funding design projects is that you often get first crack at owning the products — often months in advance. Sometimes creative entrepreneurs even provide donors with unique versions of the product.
You also get the satisfaction of helping bring new works into existence. Your decorative piece or new design element comes with a story, since you've followed the creators through the process of raising money, creating their operation and shipping the product.
One newly posted Kickstarter project has been proposed by a guy who makes furniture in Maine. His idea is to draw whimsical items with crayons or sidewalk chalk, then build the objects with reclaimed lumber and nontoxic finishes while retaining a childlike, hand-drawn look. This child's writing desk is the reward for a pledge of $475.
You can't (yet) buy these in any store.
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Funding Your Dream
Sometimes the only way to make your dream a reality is to share it with others — for a price. For example, one photographer's dream was to spend a month traveling through New Zealand and photographing landscapes. So he quit his job, left his family and friends and made it happen.
He would love to turn his best pictures into large, ultra-high-quality prints to hang in his home. So to fund that part of the dream, he turned to Kickstarter. By selling his prints to others (and giving them to supporters who pledge), he's able to fund his dream.
This is a perfect model for an enormous number of potential projects that would otherwise never happen for lack of funding.
What's your dream? All you need is a great idea and the will to make it happen.
Sometimes the only way to make your dream a reality is to share it with others — for a price. For example, one photographer's dream was to spend a month traveling through New Zealand and photographing landscapes. So he quit his job, left his family and friends and made it happen.
He would love to turn his best pictures into large, ultra-high-quality prints to hang in his home. So to fund that part of the dream, he turned to Kickstarter. By selling his prints to others (and giving them to supporters who pledge), he's able to fund his dream.
This is a perfect model for an enormous number of potential projects that would otherwise never happen for lack of funding.
What's your dream? All you need is a great idea and the will to make it happen.
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| Here's a great idea: an alarm clock that works like a toaster (your iPhone is like the toast). You set the alarm on the phone as you normally would, insert the phone into the "toaster," and press down. When it's time to get up, the phone pops up and the alarm goes off. It's not rocket science, just an appealing and completely original idea. Here's a wonderful idea: a coat rack with a round minicubby for putting wallet, keys, sunglasses or whatever. It keeps a person's random stuff with the coat. You may have seen this successful project here on Houzz, but it started as a Kickstarter project. And here's a timely idea: a low-cost, environmentally friendly wall clock made of recycled chipboard. Each of these ideas is somebody's dream made real by crowd-sourced investment. And each of them is seeking to make fresh new products that you can buy for your own home. Kickstarter is an underappreciated resource for making home design dreams a reality. It's a great place to find truly innovative, original and beautiful items for your home. And it's an even better place to turn your home design ideas into a business. |
Comments
swimmer2000 Wow I want one of those toast phone things that is so smart! Doe it charge your phone while it's toasting? Haha
11 months ago · Like
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Ideabook updated on June 5, 2012.
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