Lynn Mann is the founder of Supernature Oils, an artisan food manufacturing business. Along with her husband and they started their farm diversification in 2011 by producing cold pressed rapeseed oil. They now have 15 types of infused oils, as well as their light, buttery, original oil – and many awards under their belts!
Lynn decided to test out crowdfunding as a way to raise some additional funds towards the costs of installing their first automated bottling line at Supernature Oils. The campaign ran for four weeks and was a rewards-based campaign. All the rewards were based on the products that her company currently sells, complemented by some special items not normally available and some unique experiences based around cooking with oils and visiting the farm and factory.
The costs for the rewards were worked out by including the cost of each item, adding in costs for postage, then adding on a wee bit more to make sure that the campaign made a profit!
Lynn says there was a fair bit of time involved before and during the campaign, but not much afterwards as she was already well set up for distribution. She really enjoyed the initial set-up and creative side of the campaign, and found it fairly straightforward, but she did already have a lot of marketing assets in place as her business has been running for a while.
However, it wasn’t quite so much fun when the campaign didn’t seem to be going very well! Maintaining confidence and momentum was difficult, but the support from peers who were crowdfunding at the same time, and from Women’s Enterprise Scotland, really helped to keep spirits high and gave her the resilience needed to keep pushing on.
Lynn didn’t achieve her crowdfunding target and she thinks it is because her purpose for the campaign wasn’t ‘sexy’ or inspirational enough, so advises you to think carefully about having an inspirational campaign story that will really capture the hearts and minds (and pockets!) of supporters.
However, despite not raising all the money she was looking for, Supernature Oils definitely had a raised profile online during the campaign and there was a very clear increase in online sales directly through website during the campaign.
Lynn’s top three tips for you if you are thinking about crowdfunding:
- Build belief and confidence in your ability to set up and run a campaign.
- Ask for support in doing that and maintaining it.
- Expect the process to be a rollercoaster of highs and lows!
All things that any entrepreneurial woman needs to be doing at any time…
Lynn says there is a clear process and path to set-up, maintain, and promote a crowdfunding campaign. Follow the examples of others and listen to the lessons they have learned.
And a final message from Lynn…
“What have you got to lose, and what have you potentially got to gain? Give it a go!”
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