How to raise $12,000 spending Zero: Makuake Japanese Crowdfunding

Have you ever thought about launching your crowdfunding on a ''non-traditional'' platform? Well, My client Rumio had the chance to experiment with this on a Japanese platform Makuake, where he was able to sell his product, Cloud 9, a plastic-free thermos bottle, and be successfully funded.

That's why I interviewed him and he explained to me what is the difference between this platform and the crowdfunding platforms we all know very well like Kickstarter and Indiegogo.

Other than that, I'm helping him create the pre-launch phase of his next product on Kickstarter. So we'll be able to see what differences he noticed between these two crowdfunding platforms.

Before watching the video or reading the article...

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1. TELL US ABOUT YOUR PROJECT AND YOUR CROWDFUNDING JOURNEY ON THE PLATFORM MAKUAKE

Right after creating my landing page to gather emails and my website representing my upcoming campaign on Kickstarter I was approached by 5 different entities, one of them asked me if I was ready for Kickstarter because they wanted to present my product in Japan but I'm still running my pre-launch phase! So they told me that when my campaign would be over they would transfer my campaign on a new japanese platform Campfire (almost like a mix of Kickstarter and Indiegogo). They also told me that they would take care of everything from setting the page to the presentation of the product on marketplaces like Amazon and more, and I would not have to pay for anything!

In the meantime, the platform Makuake asked me if I had other products that were ready to sell, not prototypes, and I showed them my Uni-bottle, they really liked it and asked me how many pieces were ready to be sold, from that moment we signed a contract!

2. WHAT WAS YOUR APPROACH TO TRADITIONAL CROWDFUNDING PLATFORMS?

I've compared the process I went through with the Japanese platform, the product approval is very different from Kickstarter and Indiegogo, I had to send 5 samples of Uni-bottles that they bought from me in order to test it with pressure tests, temperature duration and see if it respects japanese standards etc. They asked to submit a document where it says where it's made, how it's made and more other info. This shows great respect for the backer's, because in this way they'll be sure that they can have the exact characteristic described in your project, that's incredible and it's a serious way of running crowdfunding platform, it will give the backers a guarantee of quality.

3. TELL US ABOUT THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE PLATFORMS

The difference is that Kickstarter usually doesn't check if your product is real, if it respects what you state about the product or if the project fails and that's because it is a backer's ''job'' to trust your product, if if they trust you or not. While Makuake essentially works like a pre-order website, not exactly like a crowdfunding platform, that's why it will not allow a new product that is not completed and totally accepted by them, the price of this platform is very high because they purchase the complete product from you, the product is actually sold 2 times from me to them and from them to public. The other difference from Kickstarter is that I didn't spend any money on advertising and on pre-launch phase, that's because they already have a community inside the platform, that is more responsive and ready to back the projects, because they trust the platform and know that they will find only good quality products, no matter how expensive. Furthermore, while Kickstarter is open to anyone, you can only apply to Makuake with an agent (that will reach out to you if he likes your product), the target of this platform is different from Kickstarter U.S, Canada and European market, Makuake focuses on the asian market but the entire page is in Japanese.

5. WHEN IS THE RIGHT MOMENT TO APPROACH THIS PLATFORM?

The right moment is after you've launched a successful campaign on Kickstarter or Indiegogo, if met the goal in the first days you can already approach the platform, you have to provide graphic and your product, if the product is attractive for them they will contact you, but be careful if you apply for Makuake and get accept the launch date cannot change.

You have to make sure you can complete the shipping to the backers and you're set to go, but if you're not sure about the manifacuture of your product or there are some changes to do it's better not to approach, Makuake wants the finished top quality product.

6. HOW MUCH IS THE FEE OF MAKUAKE AND AGENTS COMPARED TO KICKSTARTER AND INDIEGOGO?

Makuake charges 20%, more than Kickstarter and Indiegogo it's pretty high, that's why you will need to raise more than you thought, while the agent didn't lose money, the money he spent was to buy my bottles and I had to spend zero, I received my payment 50% first and 50% when the courier got my package. My product will be launched on Campfire by January or February.

7. WHAT WAS YOUR PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE ON CROWDFUNDING? AND WHAT IS YOUR KNOWLEDGE NOW?

Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns requires lot of work to do and you have to work really hard to have success, I've been in business so many years and creating a physical product and making it available to a larger audience it's hard, you will need a structure and a company, you cannot just do a simple product and expect to have success. You will need organization and a lot of money and your product has to be ready to go otherwise you will fail. If you run everything properly with a pre-launch phase it's not easy to fail, because launching a campaign requires a lot of commitment, creating the pre-launch, the community, the ads etc.

8. HOW MUCH IS IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO RUN A PRE-LAUNCH PHASE?

In Makuake I didn't have to create anything and I instantly was in the first page, so no pre-launch phase is needed on this platform, all i had was my Amazon page and my website, and they crated a campaign out of that info. But for sure, if I had planned a pre-launch phase my campaign was gonna be more and more successful, also I didn't make any ads so imagine what could have happened with all this preparation! In this case, the agents takes care of your preparation because in Japan the sensitivity is different, they may fix your campaign and photos in order to appeal more japanese people.

9. HOW MUCH DO YOU RECOMMEND TO GET IN TOUCH WITH AN EXPERT TO LAUNCH YOUR CAMPAIGN?

I had the idea for my product in 2018 and had to spend time and money to get my prototype done and that's when I contacted you Mattia, crowdfunding it's a journey and it's good to accomplish something that's worth for you, it's a process of inspiration to follow your dreams, I've never done a campaign and doing this step and getting the attention of people inspired me and you really did a great job in helping me.

WRAPPING IT UP

I'm very happy every time I get to discover different platforms and realities, this interview was peculiar because unlike the previous ones we didn't talk about a completed crowdfunding campaign, but I'm actually following Rumio through his pre-launch journey and we'll update you with another interview once the Kickstarter campaign will be done!

Many thanks to Rumio that has explained us this different journey on a new platform, we'll look into that further the next time, good luck with your project!

So creators, always remember to create a community of interested people around your new product, gather them and keep these people warm with special and detailed content about your new product, in order to make them want to support you and be part of your journey.

If you want to analyze and prepare your pre-launch phase to launch your first product I’ve got you covered with my crowdfunding pre-launch free e-book called ''3 steps to success on Kickstarter and Indiegogo''. 

As always make sure to check today's interview video right on top and comment to ask me questions and subscribe to my channel to stay updated on fresh new content that I’m gonna drop there.

Ciao ciao! 

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