Crowd Funding

[Biscuit15]

Has anyone used a Crowd Funding site, for example Kickstarter UK to help fund a creative start-up? If so, did you reach your target, and can you give any tips on how to make your 'idea' stand out from the crowd.

I've used kickstart before and made a pledge to a project, unfortunately they didn't get enough funding to go ahead and do it. I receive emails periodically and I only read those that appeal to me... so I guess my tip is to keep your idea description as clear and concise as possible.

Cheers for that MM! I've made quite a lot of pledges to other peoples' projects and I guess it's just finding the best way to attract the people that I know will be interested in my project. I know a lot of people make a short film so am thinking of going that route. What do you think?

The whole Crowd Funding thing is a fab idea, if as you say, you can reach the target that you've set.

Forgot to ask - Have any other parents on here made pledges on similar sites?

Videos can be expensive and difficult. I don't know what you're technical ability or budget is but commissioning a professional video can cost around £600. What about an image slideshow?

What's the start-up anyway?

Hi MM, I don't really want to say at the moment as I'm in the process of having a prototype made but will spill the beans once I have something that I'm happy with. Thanks for asking. I think the slideshow is a great idea but believe it or not I have a friend whose 12-year-old son is a dab hand at making short films - he's won quite a few competitions even one for Under-18's so I think I might get away with child-labour rates!

I have looked at this since I have zero money for my business idea and by the time I save up the world may have moved on.

You can get people who will help you to write your pitch. I think People Per Hour website has some Hourlies on there for things like this - just make sure you check out reviews, ratings and portfolios before buy.