In April 2012, President Obama and Congress passed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act in support of entrepreneurship and small business growth. The JOBS Act is designed to encourage small business and startup funding by easing federal regulations and allowing individuals to become investors.
Since the passing of the JOBS Act, we’ve seen an increase in the usage of crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and Fundable. These crowdfunding platforms have helped fund everything from startups, film and music projects, non-profits, and all types of small businesses in between. While the jury is still out on the long-term viability of these endeavors, crowdfunding is a major catalyst in shifting the way small businesses operate and source capital.
Building Businesses from the Ground Up
With the opportunity to pull in individual investors, small businesses and startups are tasked with learning how to market their product to the masses and tap into advocates early on in their venture. The secret to crowdfunding is figuring out how to build a community of supporters before, during, and after your business launches. As social media has created seismic shift in the way we market our products and connect with our customer base, crowdsourcing will change the way that we start businesses and build our consumer base from the ground-up.
To learn more specifics about the JOBS Act and the current state of crowdfunding, take a look at the infographic below by Fundable and EarnMBA Degree.
This post was co-authored by my colleague, Harrison Kratz: Harrison is the Community Manager at MBA@UNC, the online MBA program at the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School . He also sticks to his entrepreneurial roots as the founder of the global social good campaign, Tweet Drive. Follow him on Twitter at @KratzPR.
