February 14, 2012 · Behind The Scenes

Guest Blogger, Karen from Free Bread: 5 Small Business Campaigns

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Because of IndieGoGo, my company, Free Bread, Inc.  exceeded it’s campaign goal of $10,500.00 in October of 2011.  Free Bread bakes outstanding rolls of fresh, gluten, nut, sugar and corn-free bread, and distributes them to local cafes, markets, and restaurants around New York.  We had zero capital before starting the campaign and are now fully housed in a gluten-free, organic and kosher commercial kitchen.  We’ve also purchased our own equipment!  Free Bread has acquired new accounts, additional funding, and best of all, we’ve won some delicious accolades:  in February 2012 FreeBread was chosen as a semi-finalist for The Next Big Small Brand Contest, and appeared on CNBC as one of the top 15 most promising startups.


I chose IndieGoGo because I liked the simplicity of its registration forms and had a genuinely warm overall feeling for the campaign creators and the campaigns themselves.   One snippet of wisdom for all you campaigners out there? Prompt, personalized thank-you notes will get you the most bang for your buck – they’ll earn you lifelong support from your funders.

Here are 5 Small Business campaigns currently funding on IndieGoGo:

Salvacion

Salvacion Garbags: Filipino mothers’ livelihood project

Location: St. Domingo, Philippines

Salvacion Garbags is a non-profit organization based in Santo Domingo, Philippines, that sells unique, fashionable, and utilitarian bags made out of recycled materials.  The organization was founded by and employs mothers from a community that was nearly wiped out by the Reming typhoon of 2006.   Their $8,000.00 goal will fund, among other things,  equipment, technology, and facility improvements so that their beautiful wares may be produced more efficiently and seen by a wider audience.  This organization is dedicated to empowering their employees with life-affirming work, and for these and other progressive values, they get my vote.



Magnetic Clothes Hangers
Location: Texas, USA

Evan Hanson had the nerve to proverbially reinvent the dreaded wheel and give the standard, flimsy clothes hanger a much needed re-design.  This is a solid idea, one that I’d love to see expanded and it sure looks to me like Evan is headed in the right direction.   Best of all, his concept is to redesign one product at a time, and I for one can’t wait to see what he does with the staple jams of this world!

  Badlands
Location:  New York, USA

The Badlands Team wants to build a barber shop/hair salon in Park Slope, Brooklyn.  A straightforward idea, doable, unique in its services and specific in its location.  Their promise, to provide free haircuts to local children whose parents don’t have means to pay, harkens the essential question:  How can I utilize my skills to offer real life improvement to the members of my community?

 
Location: California, USA

While I don’t play video games, millions (probably billions) of people do, and evidently, they call themselves Geeks and Otaku people.  Forums these days are HUGE – my boyfriend spends no less than 3 hours a day on myE28.com,  a forum for people who are fans of a specific chassis of BMW from the 1980’s.  If there’s a successful forum available for E28 fans, I can only imagine that Ogeeku is going to be a force to be reckoned with.  Get in there while you can!

Fearless Me FilmsFearless Me Films

Location: New York, USA

What do actors and children have in common? Mugging for the camera!  Dana and brynne, the trained-actors-come-nannys who thought up this bankable idea, started videotaping the result of their charges’ creative play.  They supervis your children, encourage them to image and create, call ‘Action’ and expertly film, and edit the results.  Parents will eat this stuff up!  And so will the kids when they grow up.

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