No matter what your dream is, it’s going to end up costing
money. The problem is, that if you don’t
have rich parents or a significant other to pay for it, you might end up
working multiple jobs or taking out countless loans to get it started. That is, until now. There is a thing called, crowd funding, that
basically gets other people to fork over the dough in order for you to get
started on something you’ve always wanted to do.
Now, I know it sounds too good to be true, and there is a little work you have to
do in order to get the funding, but it is quite simple. First
off, it’s probably important to explain what crowd funding is, so here’s a
little description. According to Oxford
Dictionary online, crowd funding is “the practice of funding a project or
venture by raising many small amounts of money from a large number of people,
typically via the Internet” (Oxford Dictionary Online n.d.). A lot of musicians and
filmmakers use crowd funding in order to get their projects financed. At the same time, entrepreneurs use it to get
their businesses started as well as scientists to help get funded for
research.
There are a number of crowd funding websites to turn to for
multiple projects. I want to list a few:
And the list goes on and on.
You can check out this list, plus more at, http://www.crowdfunding-website-reviews.com/.
Crowd funding is a lot like presenting your business
proposal to investors, except your presenting your ideas to regular, everyday
people, in hopes of getting your project funded. However, just like with any other business
deal, there comes the fee. The fees for
the crowd funding websites are all different, but nonetheless, there will be
fees. Some examples would be taking a
certain percentage of your sales, once you start making money. Or, another example would be to charge a flat
percentage rate of your total fund.
These are just a few examples of the fees of crowd funding, but at the
same time, the most popular ones.
Lastly, it’s all about strategy when it comes to funding
your big project. Like anything else,
you must do a lot of research before making a huge step like this, especially
if trying to borrow $1,000’s of dollars.
Also, most of these transactions are done over the Internet, and with
all the scams going on these days, it’s even more important to be extra
cautious. So be careful!
Until then, Happy Crowd funding!
10 Crowdfunding Sites To Fuel Your Dream Project. (n.d.). Design Tips, Tutorials and Inspiration - Hongkiat.com. Retrieved April 27, 2013, from http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/crowdfunding-sites/
Best Crowdfunding Websites Reviewed | CrowdFunding Website Reviews. (n.d.).Best Crowdfunding Websites Reviewed | CrowdFunding Website Reviews. Retrieved April 27, 2013, from http://www.crowdfunding-website-reviews.com/
Definition of crowdfunding in Oxford Dictionaries (British & World English). (n.d.). Oxford Dictionaries Online. Retrieved April 27, 2013, from http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/eng
