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How Corporations and Businesses Can Use Crowdfunding | 7 Uses Beyond Just Raising Capital
機械翻訳 / Machine-translated
"Crowdfunding is something individuals with no money use."
Some of you might have that impression.
But I believe crowdfunding has quite a lot of uses for corporations and businesses as well.
In fact, for companies:
The possibilities of crowdfunding expand when you don't limit it to fundraising alone.
Test-selling a new product.
Building a track record before general release.
Validating a new business.
PR for a store opening.
Acquiring your first customers.
Building a fanbase.
Creating connections with new companies and people.
Crowdfunding is one marketing tool you can use at the moment you bring a product or business into the world.
In this article, I'll introduce the most common ways corporations and businesses can make use of crowdfunding.
When a company runs a crowdfunding campaign, some worry that people will think:
"Are they having cash flow problems?"
But the purpose of crowdfunding isn't limited to fundraising.
Gauging market reaction.
Validating a product or service.
Expanding awareness.
Acquiring your first customers.
Building relationships with backers.
And then connecting it to general sales and the business going forward.
Personally, I think it's important to consider:
Not just "how much can we raise through crowdfunding," but what we leave behind for the business afterward.
The area where companies and crowdfunding are especially compatible is new products.
Normally, the process goes:
Develop the product
↓
Manufacture in large quantities
↓
Start selling
↓
Check whether it sells
But with crowdfunding, you can instead structure it as:
Show prototypes or a concept
↓
Collect pre-orders
↓
Gauge market reaction
↓
Mass-produce based on those results
In other words:
Rather than "making it first and then checking if it sells," you can "confirm the potential to sell before making it."
Which price range was chosen?
Which rewards were most popular?
Who bought?
What questions came up most?
By running a crowdfunding campaign, you gain not just sales revenue but a wealth of information from the market.
One use of corporate crowdfunding that I've been finding particularly interesting recently is:
Building a track record through crowdfunding before moving to general sales.
Normally the flow is:
Start general sales
↓
Build a sales record
↓
Use that record to expand distribution channels
But by using crowdfunding, you can create this flow instead:
Run a crowdfunding pre-sale
↓
Build a record in terms of funds raised and number of backers
↓
Use that record to move into general sales
For example, suppose your crowdfunding campaign delivers:
Several million yen in backing.
Several hundred backers.
When you begin general sales, you can start from the position of:
"A product that received ¥XX in crowdfunding support from XX people before it even launched."
That's a very different starting point from launching with nothing.
When pitching a product to retail stores, rather than just saying:
"We believe this product will sell,"
you can show them:
"XX people have actually paid money to back this on crowdfunding."
That's a significant difference.
In fact, CAMPFIRE and Bic Camera are currently running a joint initiative called "Bic FIRE," which connects test marketing through crowdfunding all the way to general sales on Bic Camera's EC platform and in physical stores. In some cases, successfully raising a certain level of funding on crowdfunding becomes a prerequisite for being stocked in-store.
In other words, even major retailers are now:
Using crowdfunding responses as a deciding factor for moving into general sales.
There are benefits for retailers as well.
For an ordinary new product, the in-store display would read:
"New Release!"
But if the product has a crowdfunding track record, you can instead present it as:
"The product backed by XX people on crowdfunding — now available to the general public."
Since it can be introduced as a product that already has buzz and a proven record, it becomes easier to build a story around it at the point of sale.
This isn't limited to physical products.
The same applies to publishing.
Run a crowdfunding campaign before a book is released.
Collect pre-orders and backers.
Then at the time of release, you can have:
"A book that XX people were already supporting before it even launched."
Rather than using crowdfunding solely as:
A place to collect publishing costs,
you can also use it for:
Building a readership before launch, establishing a track record, and generating buzz.
Of course:
Succeeding at crowdfunding does not guarantee success in general sales.
But I believe there is great value for companies in:
Moving into general sales with a base of backers, buyers, and supporters already in place.
It's not just new products.
A new service.
A new store.
A new business.
Crowdfunding can be applied to these kinds of projects as well.
Within a company, you might think:
"There has to be demand for this."
But you can't know how actual customers will feel until you put it out into the world.
By launching on crowdfunding, you can observe:
How many people showed interest?
Which rewards were chosen?
What questions came in?
What kind of people backed it?
Rather than just the money raised:
The reactions you get back from the market are themselves data.
I also see this as a major value of crowdfunding for businesses.
Even if you release a new product:
It won't sell if no one knows about it.
With crowdfunding, rather than simply announcing:
"We've launched a new product,"
you can communicate:
"Here's why we're taking on the challenge of this new product."
The background of its development.
The problem you want to solve.
The developers' vision.
The trial and error involved.
The future you want to create.
Information that's difficult to convey on a standard product page can be shared as a single narrative.
This means the crowdfunding page itself can take on the role of:
Product introduction page + PR content + story.
And by combining it with social media, press releases, events, and more, crowdfunding itself can become a catalyst for buzz.
One of the hardest parts of a new corporate business is:
Even more than building the product itself:
How do you get your first customers?
With crowdfunding, you can gather backers before your product or service officially launches.
And those backers aren't people who bought after the product was completed.
They're people who joined in when things were still just getting started and said:
"This looks great."
That's why I believe:
Crowdfunding backers are more likely than ordinary buyers to become strong advocates afterward.
After the campaign ends, there's potential for them to:
Use the general release.
Make repeat purchases.
Recommend it to others.
Support your next product too.
Those kinds of relationships become possible.
When people think of crowdfunding, they tend to focus on:
"Gathering new people."
But for companies, another option is:
Embarking on a new challenge together with the customers you already have.
Customers who regularly buy your products.
In-store customers.
Business partners.
Community members.
You tell these people:
"We're taking on this new challenge."
Then, rather than remaining ordinary buyers, those customers become:
People who participated in the launch of a new product or new business.
I think this is one of the most interesting aspects of crowdfunding.
It's not just that they "bought" a product —
The experience of having "helped launch it together" stays with them.
When you start a crowdfunding campaign, you may hear from people you've never been in contact with before:
"We'd like to carry this product."
"Could we work on something together?"
"We'd like to cover this."
"We'd like to support you as a company."
I believe:
It's a waste to see crowdfunding as nothing more than "a place to gather backers."
By getting more people to know about your product and company, there's potential to build new relationships with:
Wholesalers.
Other companies.
Influencers.
Media.
Local communities.
Local governments.
Even if it doesn't show up in the funding total, meetings can happen that connect to your business down the line.
This is something I consider especially important when it comes to corporate crowdfunding.
Don't think of crowdfunding as:
"30 days of selling a product inside CAMPFIRE."
Before the campaign, there is:
Notifying existing customers.
Social media.
Press releases.
Sales to corporations.
Events.
Collaborations with influencers.
And after it ends, there is:
General sales.
E-commerce.
In-store retail.
Wholesale distribution.
Repeat sales.
Your next product.
In other words:
Crowdfunding is just one point within the whole of your business.
In fact, initiatives like "Bic FIRE 2026" are currently underway, connecting crowdfunding results all the way to EC and in-store sales from the very beginning.
Rather than thinking of crowdfunding in isolation:
Designing the full arc of pre-launch → crowdfunding → general sales and beyond
creates far greater value for a company.
Your company has name recognition.
You have existing customers.
You have a great product.
So crowdfunding will succeed too.
That's not necessarily the case.
For companies too, you need to think carefully about:
Who do you want to buy this?
How will you reach your existing customers?
Will your employees get on board?
Will you reach out to business partners?
How will you communicate on social media?
Who will support you on day one of the campaign?
Publishing under your company name does not mean CAMPFIRE will handle your customer acquisition.
Precisely because it's a company, you need to think about:
How to connect your existing customers, business partners, distribution network, employees, and brand
to your crowdfunding campaign.
For companies, you also need to sort out in advance:
Who inside the company has decision-making authority?
Who is the project lead?
Are inventory and manufacturing systems in order?
Can you handle a large influx of support?
Who handles shipping?
Who handles inquiries?
Are there any issues with advertising or product descriptions?
Especially for product campaigns, you need to consider:
"If sales exceed expectations, can we actually deliver?"
The more support you receive, the greater the responsibility to execute.
When I receive a crowdfunding consultation from a company, I don't just think about:
"How much do you want to raise?"
What I actually want to know first is:
"After this crowdfunding campaign succeeds, where do you want your company to be?"
Do you want to build a sales track record for a new product?
Do you want to make your general launch a success?
Do you want to grow your new customer base?
Do you want to validate market reaction?
Do you want to get your store known?
Do you want to connect to corporate partnerships?
Do you want to expand your brand?
Depending on the goal, the design of the crowdfunding campaign changes.
For corporations and businesses, crowdfunding can serve many roles:
Fundraising.
Pre-sales.
Test marketing.
Building a track record before general release.
PR.
Acquiring customers.
Building a fanbase.
Opening new distribution channels.
Creating connections with new companies.
That's why I believe:
You shouldn't evaluate corporate crowdfunding solely by "how much can we raise."
After the campaign ends:
How many customers did you retain?
How much of a sales track record did you build?
What did you learn about your product?
Did it connect to general sales?
What companies did you connect with?
Did it lead to ongoing revenue?
Only by looking at all of that can you truly understand the results for your company.
If you're a corporation considering crowdfunding:
Rather than asking only:
"Can we raise money through crowdfunding?"
Start by asking:
"Where in our current business would adding crowdfunding create the most value?"
· What Is Crowdfunding? A Beginner's Guide to How It Works, Its Types, and Its Benefits
· 7 Common Ways Crowdfunding Campaigns Fail | Key Points to Check Before You Launch
If you'd like to consult with me about crowdfunding, please check my profile page.
