Woodworking businesses are turning to crowdfunding - finding money online to launch a new wood product, or even machines and tools, online.
The idea of the internet as finance source may sound far-fetched, but is has actually succeeded for dozen of woodshops, and inventors of wood products. Sites like Shopify, Quirky and the widely-known Kickstarter mix self-promotion and consumer feedback to vet and improve products as they come to market.
In the case of Kickstarter, website visitors learning about a product offering are invited to contributed funding needed for production to being. In some cases, the funding goes to buying the actual product, once available; in others, a T-shirt or other souvenir is offered as a good will gesture in responsse to the funding.
On Friday, April 10 at Cabinets & Closets Expo 2014 I’ll recount stories of companies that tried this half-marketing, half-bank-loan approach, and tell you where to look to get started.
View full Cabinets & Closets Expo Demo Stage schedule.
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