It’s fun to hear about local companies reaching their goals on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter.com, but what about those that don’t make it? Is there life after Kickstarter?
Two Loveland entrepreneurs have taken different paths after they found themselves among the 64 percent of Kickstarter projects that fail to hit their goals. One has put her project on hold, and the other has used his own money to get his invention on the market.
Mother May I
In June 2016, Emily Jones and her husband, Christian, launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise $50,000 to help them get their product, the Mother May I child-proof container, manufactured and ready to sell.
But when the campaign ended Aug. 5, they had pledges of only $20,338, so they didn’t get any money from the people online who wanted to see them succeed. That’s how Kickstarter works.
Emily Jones said they decided to set their idea aside for now, although they are close to getting a patent for it.
“If we wanted to make it ourselves, which we definitely contemplated, it would be a huge risk because the tools to make these bins cost over $100,000,” she said. “Ultimately we just decided, at this point with my four young kids, to pass on it.”
As it is, the Joneses have put $5,000 to $10,000 into the product, she said.
Jones said the Kickstarter experience was an eye-opener.
“I was under the impression that Kickstarter would be an easy way to jump-start our business and get us money right off the bat,” she said. “What I realized is that Kickstarter isn’t this magic thing.”
After her campaign failed, she said she heard that if a Kickstarter campaign is to succeed, it needs to meet 80 percent of its goal within two days. She believes that those successful projects have hundreds of people lined up to pledge as soon as the campaign launches.
“Once they have met their goal, people are more likely to back it,” she added.
“If I were to do it again, I definitely would take probably six months and try to line up people to back it,” she said. “Also, I would set a lower goal and make sure I met my goal within two days. … Our goal was $50,000, and we ended up going over $20,000. If our goal had been $20,000, we may have made it to $50,000.
“I had no idea what we were getting ourselves into,” she said.
Another factor, she said, is that her target market of young moms isn’t necessarily Kickstarter-savvy.
“I had several people who said, ‘Yeah, if I saw it in a store, I would absolutely buy it, but I don’t do Kickstarter,'” she said.
MyMix2Go
Paul Ercole is an airline pilot who hits the gym during layovers. His workout routine includes the use of protein powders, which he found difficult to neatly pour into narrow-necked water bottles.
Ercole invented a small plastic container, the MyMix2Go, that holds and dispenses powder. He launched a Kickstarter campaign Feb. 6, 2017, hoping to raise $16,545. When time ran out March 13, he’d attracted just $4,182 in pledges.
“I learned a lot. There’s a lot more prep work for a Kickstarter than I knew about. I didn’t do that prep work,” he said.
But that wasn’t the end for MyMix2Go.
Using a loan and money from savings, Ercole kept pushing. After hearing a casual mention of “subscription boxes,” he decided to look into the concept, which involves companies sending out boxes of themed product samples monthly or quarterly to subscribers.
MyMix2Go has gotten into eight subscription boxes so far, with names such as The Spartan Carton and The Fit Boxx, and is working on five more, including one aimed at mothers of young children.
The companies that send out the boxes buy his MyMix2Go containers, usually at cost or a little below.
“It’s free marketing,” he said. “It’s a win for me.”
The idea is that people who receive one of his containers in their boxes will fall in love with it, order more and tell their friends. He gives those box subscribers a discount on his website.
“We’ve had some pretty good success with it; people have come back,” Ercole said.
Thanks mostly to the subscription boxes, Ercole has sold 9,870 containers.
“I wouldn’t have been able to get them into 10,000 people’s hands without the subscription boxes,” he said.
Ercole also has approached a few retailers. Two weeks ago, Scheels in Johnstown bought 100 of his bottles, placed them on a display with protein powders and shaker bottles and priced them at $6.99. He said the recent snowstorm hit during his containers’ first weekend at the giant sporting goods store, so he’s eager to see how they sell when more people venture out to shop.
The inventor also is hoping to land a spot on the ABC television program “Shark Tank.” He said he attended a casting call when his product wasn’t really ready for prime time, so he has higher hopes for his next attempt this year.
Ercole said he has spent about $40,000 on MyMix2Go, including a recent order of 10,000 more units to restock his inventory.
He’s not sure whether he would try Kickstarter again.
“I thought about it. I don’t know if it would be completely worth it or not,” he said.
An effective campaign takes money — to produce a professional-looking introductory video and to buy advertising to send people to Kickstarter.
“You have to figure out where your money is best spent if you don’t have a lot of it,” he said.
Craig Young: 970-635-3634, cyoung@reporter-herald.com, www.twitter.com/CraigYoungRH.
