What is Kickstarter?

The web has transformed many sectors over the past two decades. The music and film industries have battled piracy, high street shops have seen increased competition from online stores and digital marketing has increased the revenues of many businesses. However one area which had not been fully exploited was business funding and this is where Kickstarter.com comes in.

Kickstarter is a start-up for crowd funded ideas. The site describes itself as “a new way to fund creative ideas and ambitious endeavours.”Users simply post their ideas on the site with an estimate of how much money they need to turn their concept into a reality and users around the world can make their dreams come true. Instead of giving away a percentage of their business the creators offer their funders a product or a special service in return for their investment. Examples include a user creating an art book offered to draw an image for each investor and a company producing REM enhancing masks offered laser cut coins for every pledge. 

There are only two small negatives to the site. If your project is not fully funded then you do not receive any money and Kickstarter will take a percentage of the money invested in your business. However these are relatively small negatives compared to the positives which users gain from posting their ideas.

The website not only offers creators money but also exposure to a potential large audience. Several sourced projects have hit the headlines recently after being placed on Kickstarter. One example is Double fine, the creator of point and click adventure games. The company posted a new game idea on the site and gained $1 million in just 1 day. If you have a great business idea and have been looking for a way to fund the project this may well be your best option.