Crowd funding has become a powerful tool in helping small businesses grow their business and maximize their full potential. If this is done right, one will see that there are various aspects in a business, such as products and services that can reap the rewards.

Sometimes, people will donate to an online platform because of a worthwhile cause they are supporting. Other times, they will want to invest in a company and in this way they can buy a share in the business. An example of something which you can invest in is green energy. This has become huge over recent times, and a company like Abundance Generation has seen much growth by allowing investors to visit their wind farm.

Another method of crowdfunding is where people are able to donate in a project, but will only get billed once they see their project is starting to pay off. An example of this is Spacehive which allows people to fund a park in a community of their choice.

This can work well if the business has planned their project and has the research set out. You have to be prepared for questions that investors might throw at you. People who are open and are able to engage will go far in this sort of environment.

Crowdfunding is an alternative to the traditional approach of getting loans and quite possibly going into debt. One will also be able to see rewards as you become known through social media. You will be able to see this when you release a product and there are people who fund this, stating that it is a good idea. Often this will go viral.

The top five crowdfunding platforms:

There are many of these platforms that you have to experiment with, but starting with the top ones is always a good idea.

• Kickstarter – this is mainly for creative projects that specialize in dance, film, arts, food and photography. Ouya is one of the companies that have had a lot of success with them.

• Indiegogo – There is a lot of money that has been put into this particular platform and it has grown a lot during recent times. They get 4% of the cut, which is about average. This is a platform that is more flexible in nature.

• Project Travel – As the name suggests, is for people who are interested in the travel industry as well as education type projects which connect with travel.

• Razoo – This is mainly for nonprofits that want to grow in one way or another. There are no charges for signups and you will find that it has been very popular.

• Crowdrise – This is basically a platform for good causes which people are able to donate to. They specialize in a wide range of causes, such as disease, education, religion, animal rights, arts, disease and crisis as well as the environment. Their pricing is lower at 3%. They have had success with the NYC marathon.