With so many questions being asked in the WomensNet Facebook group recently about Kickstarter, we turned to Katheryn Thayer, director of brand content at Kickstarter, for the inside scoop on what types of projects and businesses are most successful at crowdfunding. Here’s what she shared with us:

WomensNet: Could you give us a little history of crowdsourcing and Kickstarter?

Kickstarter: Kickstarter did not invent crowdfunding, but it gained its eponym by popularizing it. The company launched in 2009, at the tail end of the Great Recession, and that scrappy spirit has definitely been evident through 2020’s hardships. The Inside Voices call for projects helped creators generate new streams of income from quarantine, and Lights On encouraged creative businesses to use Kickstarter campaigns to stay open.

WomensNet: What types of companies usually use Kickstarter as a funding source?

Kickstarter: Kickstarter is exclusively for creative work (which includes creative businesses). The site rules require creators to offer something new—whether that’s a book, performance, class, food, installation, or something else—as a reward. Kickstarter campaigns allow creators to collect money for an idea they do not yet have the funds to produce at scale, so it can be a great tool for early and seed-stage businesses. It’s important to note that Kickstarter does not allow campaigns to offer equity.

WomensNet: Are there particular industries or types of products and services that tend to do well on the platform?

Kickstarter: Almost any creative project or business can find its fit on Kickstarter (provided it follows the rules). The official Kickstarter categories are Arts, Comics & Illustration, Design & Tech, Film, Food & Craft, Games, Music, and Publishing. But there are also several less apparent subcommunities around offerings like fashion, tarot, bike gear, and more.

WomensNet: Are there price points that tend to have more success?

Kickstarter: Most projects aim to offer at least one reward that costs between $20 and $50, and these more accessible prices tend to be popular with backers.

WomensNet: Is there an average amount raised that we could share?

Kickstarter: Every project is different. Small campaigns like those launched as part of Make 100 might aim to raise $1,000 or less. Creative businesses with a large following, like Brandon Sanderson’s self-publishing business, can raise millions.

WomensNet: Could you share a case study of a microbusiness that was successful in securing the funding they needed?

Kickstarter: I’m not sure how you define microbusiness, but this case study about a small design studio might be a good example.

WomensNet: What are some do’s and don’ts you might share to help our women business owners improve their odds of success on Kickstarter?

Kickstarter: There’s tons of great advice in our Creator Handbook—we recommend everyone who launches a project reads it. A few takeaways we repeat frequently:

• Create a list of potential backers and start collecting emails before you launch. (Our prelaunch pages can help with that.)
• Use clear, compelling lifestyle photography to help backers imagine themselves using your reward.
• Give yourself a cushion. Creators sometimes forget to factor shipping costs, production complications, and our 5% fee into their budgets.
• Creators can set a financial goal of any amount, and give themselves between 0 and 60 days to meet that goal. Though every project is different, we generally see that 30 day campaigns are the best way to motivate your community’s support without burning out.
• Send updates! Once you successfully meet your goal, regular communication with your backers is key.

WomensNet: Anything else they should know?

Kickstarter: Many creators launch a failed campaign before they find success! Failing is sometimes part of the process. And Kickstarter is a great way to learn what your audience is or is not responding to before you invest money in creating something.

Startup entrepreneurs are notoriously frugal. Many guard their pennies, often attempting to negotiate for the best price possible, or decide to do work themselves so as not to have to part with any cash. They work to keep plenty of money in their bank account, in case a slow period or downturn occurs. They want to be prepared.

That’s all good, but it can also be stifling. Holding so tightly onto money can actually limit growth.

Sometimes it makes more sense to pay someone else to complete tasks for you. Yes, it will cost you money, but it will free up time you can invest in other high value tasks.

But how do you know which tasks to delegate and which to complete yourself? There are a number of tests, or questions to ask yourself to make that determination.

What can you earn per hour?

One popular tactic is to calculate how much your time is worth – that is, how much do you earn per hour, on average. Based on your annual or monthly salary and the number of hours you work per month, how much do you earn for every hour you work?

Some consultants and service providers use their stated rate for this exercise, which is fine, though it probably won’t take into account the nonbillable work you do that would potentially bring that rate down. It’s always good to look at your potential hourly earnings, however, especially if handing off the nonbillable stuff is possible. That will mean you can generate more revenue because you’ll have more time to devote to the tasks that make you money.

So let’s say your hourly rate is $50. That’s how much you could earn per hour if you didn’t have more mundane activities like filing or typing up notes or boxing up orders to attend to.

Your next step is to identify people who can do all the nonbillable work that you generally do during the day, and who charge less than $50/hour. That might mean hiring a cleaning service to come in at night once a week, so that you don’t have to stay late to do it. Or hiring a shipping and receiving employee to be responsible for all of those efforts. Or paying a college intern to spend a few hours per week handling admin tasks. Or paying a virtual assistant (VA) to be your right-hand team member.

Consider doing a time study to see how you spend your time during a typical day. That can help you identify nonbillable tasks for you to offload as well as the amount of additional revenue you could generate if you weren’t responsible for those activities.

Can you train someone else to do the work?

It’s possible that someone else can do a lot of what you do if you can take the time to show them how to do what you want done. This is generally true if the work to be done is not your core service. For example, you could teach someone else how to process orders, how to conduct online research, or how to create PowerPoint decks just the way you like them.

However, there are some activities that may actually be in your zone of genius – the work that is at the core of why people come to you. Maybe you are a brilliant architect or artist, maybe you’re a copywriter or a web designer, or perhaps you’re a personal stylist with a unique way of drawing out your clients’ true beauty. The part of that work that is in your head, based on your experience, training, and perspective, can’t be outsourced – nor should it be.

But everything else that needs to happen in support of that? Yes. Look for ways to teach others to do the ancillary tasks, so you don’t have to.

If you can teach someone else to do work that you’re currently doing, and which you don’t have to be the one to take care of it, you can free up as much time per week for billable activities that you were spending on that other stuff.

This is true for product-based businesses too, though the connection isn’t as direct. If you could be making calls to potential distributors or retailers instead of printing out shipping labels, or writing email messages, or paying invoices, you would be creating new business relationships that could potentially yield sizeable revenue.

Do you want to learn how to do the work?

Some business activities, like web design or social media management, you could learn how to do. But do you want to? Do you need to? Unless these are in your zone of genius – part of your superpower – OR you’re so intrigued you want to learn how to, find an expert and hand the work off to them.

It’s very likely that paying an expert to do the work will result in it getting done faster and better than if you kept the work for yourself.

And, face it, we don’t all need to become experts in every aspect of our businesses.

So start to keep track of the tasks you attend to everyday that you could potentially delegate to someone else, and estimate how much more time you could free up for yourself. Then work on finding those skilled people willing to take on that work, for a fee.

That’s how you build an empire, even if it’s a one-person million dollar venture.

Female entrepreneurship has been hot for decades. There are currently more than 12.3 million women-owned businesses in the US, reports Fundera, and that number climbed by 1,821 every day in 2019. Currently, 40% of all US businesses are now owned by women.

However, women-owned ventures lag on a number of fronts, including financing and revenue size. Only 25% of women-owned companies seek financing, according to Fundera, and when they do, they receive less money than men; men borrow an average of $43,000, while women borrow $38,000. Although we don’t know why there is a difference, it may be due to an inability to qualify for more funding or a level of discomfort in applying for more.

For some women, the decision to put boundaries around their company’s size and growth potential is a conscious choice.

Creating a Lifestyle Business

Many women entrepreneurs choose to limit the growth of their companies, building businesses that fit their desired pace and way of life rather than aiming to create a business empire. They are often service-based companies that depend on the skills and abilities of the owner and which are operated around the owner’s schedule.

Referred to as “lifestyle” businesses, these companies are frequently started by women who are caring for children or other family members, or who have other roles or conditions that make it more difficult to hold a full-time job. Some are differently able and find it more comfortable to work out of a home office, rather than traveling to a facility. Some are going to school and having to work in between classes. Others may find that they can earn more part-time working for themselves, and prefer it.

Although the “lifestyle” name subtly implies that these types of businesses are less desirable than a business that is scalable– because lifestyle businesses aren’t structured for aggressive growth—there is nothing wrong with a lifestyle enterprise.

Typical lifestyle businesses include graphic design firms, law firms, consulting firms, hair stylists, personal shoppers, housecleaners, tailors, delivery services, and caterers, just to name a few.

Lifestyle businesses can generate tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars for the owner, who doesn’t have to assume responsibility for managing employees. Some entrepreneurs tap into the skills of other independent workers on an as-needed basis to expand their capacity, but either way, the earning potential is certainly there.

Just because a business does not employ hundreds of workers and have locations statewide or globally does mean that the business is less desirable or less profitable.

“It is absolutely possible to run a highly profitable lifestyle business,” says Ed Gandia, business-building coach and host of the “High-Income Business Writing” podcast. With lifestyle businesses, “it’s all about finding ways to earn more in less time,” Gandia says. “You have only so much work capacity every week, so you need to ask yourself, ‘How can I maximize the value out of each one of those hours?’”

Gandia describes a “Freedom Triad” that consists of three potential ways of generating more revenue without significantly increasing your workload. They are: 1) Attracting higher value work, 2) Completing the work more efficiently, and 3) Structuring work so that it becomes recurring.

“These are all the things that enable you to really run an extremely profitable lifestyle business,” says Gandia.

The biggest downside, or disadvantage, of such businesses is that its growth is limited to your capacity. “There is still a ceiling,” he says, because there are only so many hours in a day and only so many hours you, personally, can work consistently.

The alternative is to build a business that is not as dependent on you and which can operate independently. We’re calling that type of business a “sellable asset.”

Building a Sellable Asset

The obvious advantage of a sellable asset is that at some point, there is the potential for you to sell it to someone else and walk away with money in your bank account. To do that, however, you need to structure the operation such that you’re not an essential participant, as you are with a lifestyle business.

Sellable assets generally have employees, which provide additional capacity and capability. They often involve equipment and processes that allow your business to run even when you’re not there. Typically, they are operated from space outside your home.

A venture that can continue to operate without your daily involvement has the potential to become a sellable asset.

Sellable assets often include businesses such as retail stores, beauty salons, advertising agencies, restaurants, construction firms, magazine publishers, and financial planning firms.

Achieving Financial Success Through a Lifestyle Business

Although many entrepreneurs believe that they need to establish large operations in order to “make it big” financially, that’s not the only way.

Gandia points out that professional athletes are the epitome of lifestyle business owners. They are their own personal brand and, as such, are unable to outsource any aspect of their performance. They also know that at some point in the future, their bodies will no longer perform at the same level and they’ll be forced to find another career.

What smart athletes do is plan ahead for that time when they can no longer play professionally. They diversify their portfolios from the outset, meaning they invest in businesses beyond professional sports.

Lifestyle business owners can take the same exact approach, taking a portion of their profits and investing in other income-generating assets. That might include the stock market, or real estate, or other businesses.

Gandia cites Shaquille O’Neal as a perfect example of how to leverage your lifestyle business to build wealth.

Worth an estimated $400 million today, O’Neal earned millions as a professional basketball player, saving and investing 75% of his income, CNBC reports. He then took that money and bought car washes, he bought Krispy Kreme franchises, Auntie Anne franchises, as well as others. He diversified into acting and TV appearances as a sports analyst. He constantly adds new income streams whenever he can.

O’Neal didn’t let the fact that he was running a lifestyle business impede his growth and his wealth. He simply took a portion of his business’ earnings and regularly invested in other industries, effectively diversifying his portfolio. He did what he loved, and what he excelled at, worked to be the best that he could, and then took the majority of the money his lifestyle business generated and invested it in other industries.

You can certainly do the same. Ignore the naysayers who suggest that a lifestyle business can’t help you build wealth.

Annalise Freytag shares her very personal struggle with mental health challenges and substance abuse as the reason behind the founding of her future Chicago-based yoga studio, Trikona Yoga. The details of her personal history demonstrate how effective yoga can be and how passionate she is about building a business that provides such services. Although Annalise’s own perseverance and strength come through in her application, there were some business details that were missing that the grant committee would have liked to have seen.

To help Annalise improve her odds of winning a grant — Amber Grant or otherwise — the WomensNet advisory board went back through her application to point out the strengths and weaknesses of the information she provided.

Here is the application as submitted:

Tell us about your business or business idea…

Trikona Yoga

Not all stories begin as fairy tales…

trikona yoga co. was created after a long internal battle with my own mental health and substance abuse disorder that I‘ve been suffering with for the past 12 years. Though a native of Michigan, I lived in Chicago from 2011-2018. This is the city that I consider home.

In my early twenties, I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and clinical depression. Struggling to manage the stresses of life and shamefully battling my failing health issues, my life unraveled and led to unveiling my impending alcohol abuse disorder. In 2018, my mental health and substance abuse disorder peaked and I relocated back to Michigan after bouts of suicidal ideation. The move was an attempt to try and fight my way through sobriety. To my surprise, the “geographical relocation cure“ didn‘t work as I only continued to struggle to keep my health in check. It was then in May of 2019 that I decided that I could no longer live like this – that I wanted my life back, so I surrendered. I checked myself into an in-patient treatment program (Maplegrove of Henry Ford) and finally took back my power through intensive therapy and healing work. This treatment program helped me learn the tools that I needed to manage my disease and mental health disorder. May 1st, 2020 will mark my one year sobriety date and my life has changed dramatically for the better.

One of the greatest gifts and tools that aided in my recovery was yoga. Though a practitioner for over 4 years, it wasn‘t until my life was on the line with my depression and alcoholism that yoga became absolutely instrumental and fueled my recovery process. Not only do the principles and values of yoga synergistically align with the teachings of many recovery programs, but yoga finally helped me start believing in myself that I could do this – that I could live a life worth living. It has been through my sobriety and consistent yoga practice, that I made it my mission to re-frame the conversation around those struggling with their mental health & substance abuse disorders, and to break the sociological negative stigma. trikona yoga co. is my calling and I aim for this studio to be tangible proof that there is a hope out there for those struggling. My mission for this studio is to let the others know that they are not alone, we are here to help and that they are worth it.

Shame, guilt, lack of sufficient resources and help, was what kept me in the closet with this vicious cycle of ailing mental health for so long. Having first hand experience with being a victim to the negative stigma while battling this disease alone is what propels me to become a leader in creating a community where those struggling can find an affordable, holistic method to improving their mental health and recovery.

I am starting this journey because I feel with every fiber of my being that this path is where I need to be. To transparently share my story, to help and serve those who are lost and above all, to help heal those who are suffering by opening their journey of healing with the transformative powers of yoga.

Tell us what you would do with the money if awarded a grant…

If chosen for the grand prize, the funds would go directly into acquiring and launching our physical studio space. Additionally, the funds will allow us to extend our partnerships and boost marketing for our launch in 2021, letting the Chicago community know that there is an affordable, holistic, health space here to help them. If granted the $4,000 prize, the funding will go towards educational training & technology for our yoga instructors so that they are equipped with the tools needed in teaching our niche classes.

Our critique

Annalise has provided lots of background information regarding what led her to yoga, which makes it clear that she is committed to this business concept and has been moving in these circles for several years. That’s good. She’s not trying to start a business in an industry with which she’s unfamiliar.

Her plan to use grant funds to secure physical space is a smart priority, since finding and leasing space will determine so many other factors for her business, including marketing, hiring, etc. That she’s starting in a city she’s familiar with is also good; she knows the local area and probably has a good sense for where a yoga studio may be needed, or where her target client lives or works.

And her plan to invest in the education and training of her instructors also demonstrates her commitment to providing a quality service to her clientele. That’s another plus for her business concept.

Opportunities for improvement

Annalise has a lot of things going for her, not the least of which is the sheer strength and determination she has demonstrated in getting sober. If she can do that, she can do anything. However, her application did leave out specifics about her business that the grant committee really wanted to see.

With more than four years of experience as a yoga practitioner, Annalise likely has the background to run a studio, though more detail about whether she’s led yoga classes, rather than participating as a student, would be great information to add to the application. How much business experience does she have? Does she have any yoga certifications?

Specifics about the kind of yoga she’d offer, how big a space she’s looking for, how many instructors she plans to hire, and other operational details would also help explain the type of studio she intends to build. Right now the description of the business is vague—it’s hard to picture what it would look like.

More information about her ideal client, pricing, marketing, and financials would also be useful, to demonstrate that she knows who her client is and has a plan for promoting her studio to them.

It’s obvious that Annalise has a vision for her business. For a grant application, however, it’s helpful to share the specifics of that vision with the committee members who are reading about it. Show us how it’s going to be successful – what are you going to do better than other yoga studios in the area. Including some basic sales projections is always a good idea, too, to prove that the business can be profitable.

This is a good start to an application and, for any applicant, we’d recommend going into more detail as you describe what your business will look like, who it will serve, how you’ll market it, and how you’ll make money.

Sometimes it’s hard to know where to find reliable, useful advice from people who know what they’re talking about. Sure, everyone has opinions, but which are the opinions worth listening to? It can be hard to distinguish between people who’ve been there, done that and can share how they handled a situation similar to yours and people who believe they know how they would handle a situation should they ever face it. Big difference.

Fortunately, there are organizations, agencies, and communities you can turn to when you have a “what would you do?” type of question. And you’ll get answers from people who can talk about what they did, and what they’d do now if they faced the same situation.

Here are some of the best we’ve heard of or dealt with:

Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE)

This unit of the Small Business Administration—SCORE– provides free business counseling to entrepreneurs and business owners, delivered by retired executives and entrepreneurs who serve as mentors. We’ve heard SCORE can be great at helping you problem-solve when you’re facing a specific challenge or obstacle.

Small Business Development Center (SBDC)

Frequently located on the campuses of community colleges or universities and partially funded by the Small Business Administration, SBDCs also offer free or low-cost advice to aspiring and existing business owners. Face-to-face (or maybe virtual right now) counseling is no-cost, while training is offered at cost, on topics ranging from marketing to business planning to exporting, regulatory compliance, and more. Search to find your local SBDC to learn about the services they provide.

Avvo

This legal advice website allows you to submit a question on the site for free, which an attorney will answer. There are also plenty of useful articles on topics of interest to small business owners, all of which are free to read.

Business Advising

Like SCORE, which pairs you with a mentor, Business Advising matches US small business owners with a volunteer advisor who works with you for free. The nonprofit claims that companies that work with its mentors achieve a 20% increase in revenue, on average, as a result. Although there are no firm rules, the companies that benefit most from the organization’s mentoring typically have been in business for at least a year, have more than one employee, and revenue over $100,000.

StartupNation

This website is chock full of free useful articles offering startups and existing businesses information and guidance designed to help you grow.

Small Business Forum

This old-school bulletin board-style site is a place where you can post questions for other business owners to answer, for free. The group is active and could provide a broader perspective on whatever you’d like help with.

Y Combinator

Y Combinator is a very well-known and respected business accelerator for smaller companies trying to scale quickly. Its YouTube channel, with more than 268,000 subscribers, features instructional videos from a wide variety of entrepreneurial superstars.

Your alma mater

Many colleges and universities—and especially larger ones—have incredible networks that you should definitely tap into. From local meet-and-greets to venture investment funds. MIT’s Castor Ventures, for example, is a venture capital fund to which MIT alums have access as investors. Its sister fund, Alumni Ventures Group, is a potential starting point for MIT alums heading small ventures.

The key with any challenge you may be facing is to zero in on the question you need answered. What piece of information will allow you to progress? Then investigate who is best positioned to answer your question. Some of these organizations may be able to help you.

Shawna Bobst, RN’s Amber Grant application for HEART Mobile CPR is a great example of a business that evolved from side hustle to full-fledged business. There is no question that there is demand at some level for CPR training in her area, however, there were some missing pieces of information that kept Shawna out of the running for an Amber Grant.

To help Shawn improve her odds of winning a grant – Amber Grant or otherwise – the WomensNet advisory board went back through her application to point out the strengths and weaknesses of the information she provided.

Here is the application as submitted:

Tell us about your business or business idea…

I started HEART mobile CPR in 2018 to give everyone the opportunity to learn how to save a life. It started as a small business I was doing on the side a long with my nursing position. I never really thought about it becoming a real business, just something to do. As time went on I started getting calls to come do classes for corporations like Owens Corning, Lennox HVAC, and other corporations and I started to think wow, I may have a good business idea here. With the amazing growth I quickly became an authorized training site through AHA in 2019. I was able to then start training individuals to be trainers. At this time I have 38 amazing women on my team. We are making connections throughout the state of Ohio and making an impact on others lives. I feel like we are family, we have spa days, dinners, and what we call instructor POW WOWs.

At this time I would like to see the business grow in other ways now as well.

For several years I have had connections with human trafficking organizations. I have held fundraisers and collected purses/backpacks filled with much needed items for the woman and children. Seeing these woman overcome as survivors is amazing and I would like to do more. I have been putting things into place to be in a position to offer these woman employment and mentoring on becoming trainers and growing their own business. My goal is to be more than just a company that teaches others how to save lives through CPR but also changing lives for woman.

Tell us what you would do with the money if awarded a grant…

If HEART Mobile CPR was to be awarded the money I would be utilizing it to purchase more equipment such as manakins, BVMs, AEDs, face shields, office equipment. This would help to ensure every trainer has the necessary equipment to conduct a successful class. Many things need to be in place to have this to run smoothly not only the equipment but the marketing and websites as well to make the connections needed to get clients. This money would be utilized to change the lives of others in many ways.

Thank you for your time and attention and consideration to award HEART Mobile CPR the Amber Grant.

Our critique

As a nurse, Shawna has a great background for a healthcare-related business. She has the training and connections within the medical community that should help attract clients and she is obviously qualified to provide CPR training services (becoming an authorized trainer in 2019 was also a big win).

She does well explaining her business, her services, and how the business came to be — originating organically due to community need. A customer-driven company is always better than trying to introduce a new product or service that people aren’t sure they want. In this case, there is demand for CPR training, which is a big positive for this application.

What comes through loud and clear in her application is her passion for saving lives. She wants to improve her community and prevent unnecessary deaths by training more people in the use of CPR. It’s a noble cause and she’s obviously committed, all of which is good. We know she’s all in.

She’s also doing a great job of networking and leveraging past successes to attract more potential clients. Her existing client relationships with major corporations gives her immediate credibility that should make attracting new clients easier.

Opportunities for improvement

Although it’s clear what HEART Mobile CPR provides in the way of services, there is no information about how the company makes money. What do customers pay for training services? What kind of expenses does the company have? How are team members paid? What are the profit margins? What is the geographic radius that the company serves? These questions are essential for any grant committee to have answered in order to gauge the viability of the business. That is, is it profitable and is it making enough money to survive and grow? That’s unclear here.

Another area where Shawna could elaborate is on the company’s marketing strategy. How will she connect with organizations that may want to bring in CPR training? There is a website, which is good for businesses searching for CPR training in her area, but what kind of outreach is being done? Is she active on social media, is she using direct mail to area companies, is she pursuing publicity – we don’t know.

The planned support for human trafficking survivors is noble and a terrific idea, but it’s not directly related to providing CPR training, so it wouldn’t be a factor in judging the application. It would be better to use that space to talk about how the business will be operated. Such as whether there are expansion plans for the company and what needs to happen for those to be implemented? For example, will there need to be a certain number of training requests per month or quarter before HEART Mobile decides to set up a site there?

Shawna has the skills and experience to run a thriving business – and she may be already. However, without any financial information at all, it was hard to know whether the company was profitable or struggling. Adding statistics like sales growth from the last couple of years, or projected revenue for 2020, would be a big help to grant evaluators.

Shawn’s got a great start and we hope she reapplies with some more detail.