Have you heard of the saying, “two’s company and three’s a crowd?”. Well, today we’re going to make the case for why a crowd is better than the company of two. Up next on our entrepreneurship funding alleyway is crowdfunding.

This one needs no introduction really. Do you remember, when as a kid you would go door to door and collect small amounts of money from aunties and uncles in your building for social causes? Well just scale this action unto a magical platform called the Internet and the lesson for today is more or less done.

WHAT?

“Crowdfunding is the use of small amounts of capital from a large number of individuals to finance a new business venture” - Investopedia.

WHY?

A crowd is generally perceived as a large number of people gathered together in a disorganised or unruly way. Well, add in the internet and take out the disorganised and unruly. There you have a well mannered and powerful resource - a crowd. Leveraging on this power of a crowd, has many many benefits.

It may seem scary at first, given that once your idea is out there, you can’t control how the other person will react - they can appreciate and support you, scrutinise and criticise you or downright ignore you.

However, that’s the worst that can happen!

The best?

You raise enough money, to make a start! And what does that cost you? Very little. You don’t have to spend the time or money on making a fancy deck of papers, dressing up in your best suit and making it to meeting after meeting with potential investors. If that wasn’t enough - crowdfunding comes without debts - no repayment involved here ladies!

You get a wider audience to reach, a quick way to test demand for your idea, and a bonus bonanza of buzz around your idea.

HOW?

Here’s a comparative list of the best crowdfunding platforms in India for your perusal: http://crowdfundingindia.com/. Each platform involves either an upfront fees and / or a % fees (based on the money you collect) that you need to pay to them for helping you raise the moolah.

So ladies, the secret to your dreams lies in your hands and it’s not as difficult as it seems. Keep dreaming, hustling and we here at BeBadass will be your companion (read: crowd) backing you up with a lot of motivation, inspiration and information!

‍