Is your idea ready for Kickstarter?

So you’ve got an idea you think could be a Kickstarter. It might be a game, a book, a product, a short film.

How do you know when the concept is developed enough to launch it on Kickstarter?

As I mentioned in a previous post, there are many considerations around the details of when to launch your product — down to what month, what day, etc. But now I’ll discuss the bigger picture. When is the idea itself at a stage where it’s ready for Kickstarter?

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The good news is that your project might not need to be as advanced as you think.

The whole point of Kickstarter and other crowdfunding is that you don’t need to have a completely finished product to raise funding. You just need a credible plan to make a completely finished product once you have the money and pre-orders from your crowdfunding campaign

How developed is developed enough?

So you don’t need to have a finished product, but what do you need?

Ultimately, all you need is to be able to sell a vision that convinces people to pledge money towards your goal.

Potential backers will view your video, images and copy, and might click through to your website and other links if you have them. They will judge your proposition - whether or not they want it, and whether they believe you can deliver it.

Broadly speaking, whether they back your project or not will be a function of:

The product
The price
Who you are and do they trust you

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Say for example you’re a well-renowned author with an idea for a new book. If that’s the case, you can probably get away with not advancing your idea too far before launching a Kickstarter.

A backer reviewing your project page already knows you can write, assumes you know how to get a book printed, and believes you have a credible reputation to uphold so won’t run off with their money. You could share a synopsis and a few sample paragraphs and that could be enough.

If however, you’re not a celebrity, you’ll need to try a lot harder.

In practice that means you’ll need to demonstrate a solid plan.

For a physical product for example, you’ll need decent prototypes to show people what it’s going to be like - functional and/or aesthetic depending on the type of product.

You’ll need quality photography, graphics and copy.

You’ll be able to tell people about how you’ll get the product made, how you’ll ship it, and what it’ll all cost.

Fake it till you make it

A big part of that is about storytelling. Because you don’t have a fully finished product, you’re selling a story, not a product.

My first Kickstarter was for a razor. The premise was quite simple - I thought modern cartridge razors were over-engineered pieces of crap. I wanted to make a simple, beautiful cartridge razor handle that was designed to last.

It was going to be die cast in solid metal so needed quite a big up-front cost for tooling. That meant I wouldn’t have ‘real’ products available to show people before the campaign.

The answer was 3D printed prototypes.

Since the main point of the product was the aesthetics, this was a valid way to show potential backers what they would get for their money.

The product photos shown in the Kickstarter campaign were all of 3D printed plastic that I spray painted silver to look like the finished metal razors.

The press kit for the campaign also included photos of my 3D printed prototypes which were used by journalists and bloggers who featured the razor.

`Press coverage marketing during the campaign`

`The reality - unfinished 3D printed prototype`

Behind the scenes

A lot more work went on behind the scenes though. I couldn’t show the ‘real’ metal razor as part of the Kickstarter, but I did have a manufacturer lined up and ready to go as soon as (and if) I hit my target on Kickstarter.

Again, the whole point of Kickstarter for me was that I needed to raise the money first. I needed tooling that would cost ten of thousands to make final production products.

As part of the Kickstarter story I shared details of how and where I would get the final product made. This was all about building up the credibility for me and my project.

`Showing I was ready for production manufacturing`

Share your plans

As well as getting your idea ready enough from a product development point of view, you’ll also need to have a solid grasp of who you think the customers for your product are likely to be.

I’ve often noticed a tendency for people to be protective of their idea and not want to share it. Maybe there’s some embarrassment, fear of failure, or fear that someone might steal the idea.

This is generally a bad attitude. You need to share your ideas and share them early. You also need to develop a sense to understand when ideas resonate with people and when they don’t.

Start with friends and family, and then find strangers to test your product hypothesis with. You may even be able to recruit beta users and then use them for social proof once you’re developing your campaign messaging.

The whole Kickstarter process is about sharing your idea before it’s fully formed. Embrace that.

Also think about if your project will resonate specifically with a Kickstarter audience. What’s the hook that potential backers will latch on to? For something to succeed on Kickstarter, not only does it have to be something people want, but also something they’re willing to wait several months for. That’s a slightly unusual combination but an unavoidable reality of the process.

Start today

If you’re still not sure if your idea is ready for Kickstarter I can suggest one thing - create a draft Kickstarter campaign right now.

The biggest risk to your idea not becoming a reality is that it just fades away. A great way to keep the momentum going is to start setting out your ideas in the format of an actual Kickstarter campaign. Then you can see your project from the viewpoint of a potential backer and you’ll quickly realise whether or not your idea is ready to launch.

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If you’d like to read more of my thoughts on Kickstarter, you can sign up below to my newsletter. Or if you already have a plan in progress, feel free to get in touch if you’re looking for some help.

You can also follow along with my latest Kickstarter and see a real campaign evolve.