As many of you know we launched a Kickstarter in February 2015. The closing date for that project is March 28^th.  Kickstarter is an “all or nothing” funding platform. That means that unless a project is fully funded, the funds pledged are not collected from the backers and the creator of the project receives nothing. Monetarily speaking…

However, with very little time left for our Kickstarter and it needing some amazing miracle to fund… I would not call it a failure. In this process we have learned a lot and none of those lessons are negative.

Lesson One: Always have a Plan B

Kickstarter was our Plan A, thankfully Plan B is already in the works. Our Goals have not changed; it’s just going to take a bit longer to get there.

We are still:

• Upgrading Equipment: We have finished our Research and Development phase and are in the midst of improving manufacturing so that we can produce a higher volume with more consistent accuracy and in less time.

People have been asking about other products…. Once we streamline clothes pin production, other products will be added to the store.

• Working on entering the retail market: This goal is closely related to the first goal. We recently received new flyers and stickers that will be sent out with our orders. When we can produce a larger amount of pins we can commit with confidence to the retail market.

• Heading to Mother Earth News Fair in June of this year: We still have a goal of going to the fair. We are working on increasing our sales in order to achieve this goal. We have been slowly ramping up our available inventory so that we can take lots of pins to the fair.

Lesson Two: People don’t always want something in return

I have to say this was a surprise to me. More than a handful of backers chose “no reward”. Some of these backers are former customers that I know love our pins but instead of choosing a reward they just wanted to help.

One of the most touching stories for me was a woman who donated $5. She emailed me to say that she loved what we were doing, had a very limited budget, but wanted to help. She went on Kickstarter and pledged $5 and picked no reward. I was so deeply touched by that simple act. She didn’t just pledge $5… she gave kindness and she was generous with her time and words.

And no… I am not saying there is anything wrong with picking a reward. It just reminds me we are doing a good thing when people are willing to just help without wanting something in return.

To each of our backers I deeply THANK YOU!

Lesson Three Learned: Be willing to receive

This one is closely related to lesson 2.  During our project we had not only several people ask for no reward but I had several people come to me personally and ask “Can I just give you a donation instead?”.  I will confess, I had a hard time with that. I think my response was “Uummmm (blank look)… we are trying to get our Kickstarter to fund if you are willing to do that route…”

I was attracted to the Kickstarter idea because each person picked a reward. I liked people receiving something in return for supporting the campaign.

After some talking, we decided that if people wanted to help we should be open to receiving that help. So, we set up a donate option on our website.

If you would like to still help us with our goals, you can do that two ways:

1) Buy clothespins from our website HERE

2) Donate HERE

Lesson Four Learned: People Love our Clothespins…  our Kickstarter “failure” does not change that

When prepping for our Kickstarter I set up our rewards with “extra” products, along with clothespins, thinking that people would like some variety. You know, out of all the backers not one person chose a reward that did not include clothespins… Gotta love it…

In preparation we also sent a call out to several bloggers in the area of homesteading and simple living. I simply asked if they would be willing to try our clothespins. In turn I asked if they would write an honest review of them and support our Kickstarter through social media. Many bloggers responded and clothespins were sent out. All of them LOVED the pins. They gathered more bloggers and we had a total of 18 bloggers come to support us. Wow!

So, even though our Kickstarter Campaign would be marked as a “Failure” to most we have been thoroughly encouraged by the numbers of people ordering and by a community of people that want Heavy-duty, strong and quality clothespins.

The FINAL Lesson: Look with new eyes… and not just at the end…

Is this really JUST a picture of dead rotting leaves? Or something beautiful…?

Sometimes you have to look at a situation that could be seen as a failure through different eyes. This is easier said than done… During the campaign we have been constantly reminded that we had to put our hope in the right place. God has been in charge of this business from the start. He is painting a picture that is even more beautiful than we can imagine. We just need to look beyond our disappointments to see a different design.

Thank you again for all who supported our Kickstarter through Pledges, Words and Support! Your efforts are in no way unnoticed, we are blessed by your kindness.

Sincerely,

The Frabjus Lady and the Screwy Carpenter

If you would like to follow our progress and/or support our company come visit us at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ladyandthecarpenter

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FrabjusLady