Fresh Cup Magazine, providing specialty coffee and tea professionals with unique insight into the trends, ideas, products and people that shape their world.
Issue link: http://freshcup.epubxp.com/i/232179
J IVA C OFFE E C UB E S Rodriguez and her partner, Allen Gomberg, launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise $15,000 in startup funds to launch Jiva Cubes. Their 2012 campaign was unsuccessful, which Rodriguez attributes to an inferior video and uninspiring rewards (incentives that are offered to backers in exchange for their support). Undeterred, the Miami entrepreneur launched a second campaign on Kickstarter one month later with an upgraded video and incentives. She also lowered her goal to $1,000. Rodriguez promoted the campaign on social media, posted regular updates, and responded to comments and questions. It worked: Within 30 days, 690 backers pledged $21,173 to the campaign. In exchange for their contributions, Rodriguez shipped samples to backers and asked for their feedback. "It was an amazing experience to have a one-on-one interaction with our customers," she explains. "Their feedback taught us a lot and helped us make changes to make the product better." Convinced there was a market for their product, Rodriguez and Gomberg tweaked the formulation of the coffee cubes, added new flavors and modified the packaging—all based on the feedback from their Kickstarter backers—and began manufacturing Jiva Cubes. In 2013, Rodriguez went back to Kickstarter to raise funds for a packaging machine. A total of 2,768 backers helped Jiva Cubes beat its $15,000 goal by 547 percent, contributing a whopping $82,012 to the campaign. "We wouldn't be in business without Kickstarter," she says. "It's been an amazing experience." MAKING IT HAPPEN Crowdfunding is a viable option for small-business owners looking to raise capital to pursue their passion. But there is more to running a successful campaign than posting a plea on a site like Kickstarter or Indiegogo and waiting for backers to pledge their support. It's essential to treat a crowdfunding campaign like a small business, creating compelling materials, marketing to prospective backers and following through on incentives. The extra effort can provide a significant return on investment in the form of financial backing to pursue those caffeine-fueled dreams. freshcup.com | January 2014 47