After visiting the website Kickstarter.com on crowd financing, I will choose a sector and a venture of curiosity and explain the many details, including backer, offerings, the number of individuals, and pledges, to assess customer motives. The benefits of crowdfunding for startup businesses will be discussed, as well as how Kickstarter aims to create a network for them. The details an entrepreneur must supply to secure financing will be discussed, along with how Kickstarter gathers and distributes pledges. I will finish by stating if I plan to use this site and whether I would suggest it to someone else.
Upon doing some preliminary investigation into Kickstarter, I was somewhat let down. Since I had never visited the location before, I had higher expectations. I looked at the most profitable, well-liked, and well-funded technological initiatives and was startled to see that they were propelled by paper planes and improved earphones. I did find a category for anything flight-related, where I identified projects, I would be intrigued by. I chose a project called “Save the Airplane that Led the D-Day Invasion” after quickly scanning the website (Save the Airplane 2019). The Commemorative Air Force (CAF) was in charge of this operation, which involved rebuilding a World War II C47.
The massive paratrooper airstrike on D-Day, a significant event in chronology, was spearheaded by the C47. There was just one plane at first, Lloyd Nolen and a relative handful of Texas’ Rio Grande Valley veterans pooled their funds to buy a P-51 Mustang. The group later introduced a few F8F Bearcats to the P-51 Mustangs. The CAF’s purpose, which nobody was carrying out, was now clear: conserve a replica of each airplane that flew throughout WWII. What began as a pastime became a pressing quest to preserve history (CAF 2019). If given enough funding, the CAF could restore the “That’s All Brother” airplane to its pre-World War II form and put it in a safe-for-flight state to join its operational historic aircraft collection.
Projects often seem to offer funders a perk or perhaps the project itself, like the propelled paper aircraft I described. The value of the gifts determines the offerings. Pledges for this initiative ranged from ten dollars to ten thousand dollars 10000. Continual updates, lithographs, postcards, aircraft tours, signatures on statues, various World War 2 artifacts, and even a trip on the actual aircraft may be expected in exchange for a donation of a certain amount.
Save the Airplane Backers, Pledges, and Totals
Shortly before the funding window ended, another 150 backers donated an additional 40 thousand dollars, increasing the Kickstarter funding amount to 2106 supporters earning 329 thousand dollars for the repair. The data above and my observations lead me to conclude that the supporters’ primary driving forces are their passion for history and aviation. In my opinion, regardless of the pledge goods received, it is all about valuing knowledge and experience. I will now go over the benefits that crowdfunding can have for start-up businesses and how Kickstarter aims to create a network for colleagues.
Even before the internet, I can see how difficult it would be for most people to obtain financial support for a project or concept. If then they should have the means to share their vision via it would be like the web, which would enable others all over the globe to see it. One may communicate with any number of individuals online, and crowdsourcing online sees exponential growth in that amount. Now, one may develop a project on a website like Kickstarter in which a network currently exists linking teams of people with similar views, rather than visiting the bank or advertising it somewhere in the newspaper wanted ads.
The outcomes of the gold miner Goldcorp opening up its geographic information to the public and awarding rewards to people who contributed location information wherever gold may be located provide an excellent illustration of how effective this move can be. The following year, they generated an estimated eight times as much gold, and the worth of their company soared from one hundred million to nine billion dollars (Crowdsourcing 2013). The advantage of crowdsourcing wasn’t only their earnings; I’m sure they also conserved a lot more time by not needing extensive research and development to find the gold.
However, I suppose being conned from your private cash is a disadvantage/risk and should be avoided. Kickstarter includes guidelines for the entrepreneur connected to projects and fundraising to prevent these problems. They also cannot be for charitable causes, guarantee to finance or be of a banned character. Therefore, a business owner must present a project outline that complies with those guidelines.
In terms of financing, it appears relatively straightforward. Because Kickstarter employs an all-or-nothing financing mechanism, an entrepreneur should make a budget to determine the least amount of money required. Either you meet your stated financial target and receive financing, or you don’t; all the money is returned to the supporters. Ideally, on deciding the type of financial institution that would support the venture.
To understand the client’s motives, I chose a category and a project of interest and summarized the different details such as products, supporters, pledges, and several individuals. I discussed the benefits that crowdfunding might offer start-up businesses and how Kickstarter aspires to develop a community for them. I described the data an entrepreneur needs to offer to get financing and how Kickstarter gathers and administers pledges. And lastly, I stated that I would use this website and recommend it to other individuals.
References
Blohm, I., Leimeister, J. M., & Krcmar, H. (2013). Crowdsourcing: How to benefit from (too) many great ideas. MIS Quarterly Executive, 12(4) It began with a single plane.
Save the Airplane. Web.