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money

HOW TO

RUN A

SUCCESSFUL

KICKSTARTER

CAMPAIGN

Homegrown leather company
Faire Leather Co. recently
raised over $406,000 to become
the most-funded Kickstarter
campaign in Singapore. The
luxe label’s Chief Brand Officer
RYAN CHOY dishes out 10 tips for
acing a crowdfunding campaign.
#1 PLAN AND BUDGET

“There’s a long, pre-plan-
ning process. Don’t just jump into
[launching a Kickstarter campaign]
hoping it’ll work out or that you can
work [at it while it’s ongoing]. Plan
the pricing tiers properly and con-
sider costs like advertising spend, The Moneymaker:
shipping and other miscellaneous
items. Encourage impetus by plan- RYAN CHOY, 30, co-founder and Chief Brand Officer of Faire
ning your stretch goals, rewards and Leather Co. The local leather goods company’s Kickstarter campaign
updates, where possible.” which launched last November and ran for 50 days, saw over 1,000
backers pledging over $406,000 to fund the making of their first two
designs, the Travel Briefcase and Everyday Padfolio — eight times more
# 2 PRODUCT than their initial target of $50k. Their Kickstarter project is the most-
KNOW YOUR
funded out of the 628 initiated out of Singapore to date. “We wanted to
as nurture a community that we can continue to have an open dialogue
“Be very clear about your product’s find out if there was a need for the products we were proposing as well
unique selling point, like what with — that’s when we thought of using Kickstarter,” says Ryan, who set
problem it solves and how it adds up Faire alongside CEO and second-gen entrepreneur Joseph Lor. Ryan
value to the consumer. [The idea for says that they plan to use the surplus cash to growing the team and
introducing more products under the label.
our Travel Briefcase and Everyday
Padfolio] started with a question: HOME IS: A 4-room HDB resale unit in Bishan, where he lives with his
‘How difficult would it be to make accountant wife.
a bag that could neatly fit all my HIS RIDE IS: Mostly Grab, and occasionally, public transport.
essentials?’ Like most working WHAT’S IN HIS WALLET: About $80 cash, his NRIC, an EZ-Link
professionals, I’d carry my Kindle, card, and American Express, Citibank, HSBC and Standard Chartered
laptop, notebook and other daily credit cards.
essentials in my bag. But I always

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