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Crowdfunding for D2C Startup

I am starting a D2C fashion brand. Haven't been able to arrange funds from any sources. In a way, it's a chicken and egg problem in market conditions like this. Funding ke liye traction chahiye and traction ke liye funding chahiye. Need 15 lacs to get things off the ground. Considering the minimum order requirements and marketing expense. Do you think it would be a good idea to do crowdfunding for my startup? Any help / insights would be highly appreciated 🙏

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Rodriguez

Stealth

a year ago

IMHO, 1. The main issue with "D2C" is firstly it is just a Sales Channel. The term has been so badly bastardised in India these days. 2. By default, your product/solution should be catering to the end consumer directly and if this is true, then you would have already made revenue if not profit. The whole concept of dumping tonnes of money as COGS/COS and CAC to gain market has become archaic. 3. Therefore, there will always be a pre-eminence of Sales over Marketing and Scale. More products have failed in India due to Distribution mismatch than due to Product mismatch. All said and done, crowd funding can work provided you are sure about sales and the distribution. Or else it will just be seen as another MLM by the crowd.
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Googl

Stealth

a year ago

Very good points made. I would love to connect with you to learn more about insights. Can we please connect on @jareersamad on telegram?
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Rodriguez

Stealth

a year ago

Absolutely. Pinging you soon.
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Qwerty2398

Stealth

a year ago

I have two failed business to my credit. And my advice if you can't fund 15l on your own , I think you should work in some company and then start your entrepreneurship journey.
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Pirate_metrics

Stealth

10 months ago

This!
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Grapevineunofficial

Startup

10 months ago

I think you should look for ways to ensure your investors make money for which your idea has to be strong and you should put timelines to use the money carefully and responsibly as it has become a fad to ick money from angels or retail investors to fill in funding. Additionally, I think you should change your username lazy_af IMHO
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Angrybirdd

Mentor/Advisor

a year ago

I assume you are not going to need the 15 lacs in one shot to build the product and sell the initial batch. The initial batch can be sold within your known people who would give you an honest feedback which would be your stepping stone to 1.Cost effective marketing 2.Product testing 3.Building initial traction around the product 4.Product innovation On the financial part 1.Initial cash flow (some margin) 2.Revenue generation 3.Less overheads 4.if they like your product and want to buy another batch you can ask for some advance which would be your base capital for the next batch. Since it's D2C you would save a lot of cost. Again this would all depend on the kind of product you are planning to launch. Hope this helps Good luck 🤞
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Googl

Stealth

a year ago

Much needed advice for me. Thanks a ton. Can we please connect on Telegram on @jareersamad. Would love to share what we are trying to build.
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SS_Croaker

Unnamed

a year ago

At what stage of "starting" are you? Is there already an e-comm website, insta channel? In fashion, timing the trend is everything. How fast is your design process? Do you already have contract manufacturing set up? What does your supply chain look like? Have you tried targeting Nano influencers to build traction? Is your startup registered with Startup India? You might need to have all these sorted out before thinking of VC funding in the current environment. Note: When it comes to D2C, there are only 2 pure play D2C fashion brands which are profitable.
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Googl

Stealth

a year ago

Good Points to consider. Can we please connect on @jareersamad on Telegram. Would love to know your feedback around what we are doing?
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SS_Croaker

Unnamed

a year ago

Done
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Indusplateau

Stealth

a year ago

Ask your buyers to take the bet. CSOPs. You will know the reality
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Googl

Stealth

a year ago

We have a social cause incorporated with our brand. More than CSOPs, I am leaning towards giving donators a token of appreciation and exclusive company merchandises. What do you think?
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Indusplateau

Stealth

10 months ago

Short term thinking. Give both. Long term people will go for CSOPs. CSOP people will act as brand ambassador too. Word of mouth is becoming very important in D2C brands
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tbk

Startup

a year ago

Aap d2c kya unique bechoge? in a way samosa seller bhi "d2c startup" hai 😅
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Googl

Stealth

a year ago

Good point. Crowdfunding generally requires a compelling story to succeed. I believe that we have compelling story of why we started the brand and there's also a social impact angle to this.
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Googl

Stealth

a year ago

Aaj kal D2C brands are all about branding. There's no proprietary / unique product that can't be copied. Even brands like Mamaearth doesn't make it's product and outsources manufacturing to contract manufacturers.
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