The Ups and Downs of Crowdsourcing

Fitness professionals often find themselves immersed in the creative process as they conceive new ways to get people moving. Whether they’re dreaming up novel equipment ideas, developing entire programs or planning the perfect playlist, ingenuity often ties in to inspiration and sweat. What if, during this creative process, an idea is birthed that might just work for the mass market? Many people are stars at running a fitness business, but what does it take to bring an idea to market? One big barrier is access to financial resources. Funding is not an issue for those lucky enough to have a rich uncle or other benefactor. However, for the majority of budding fitness entrepreneurs, access to capital is a major hurdle. Thankfully, in recent years crowdfunding—through services such as Kickstarter or Indiegogo—has helped people raise enough capital to introduce a new product or increase the manufacturing of an existing one. On this episode of Empowered Entrepreneur, two fitness professionals share how they used crowdfunding services to get the money they needed to add fuel to their success. The first guest, Greg Nigro, vice president of sales and a founder of Terra Core Fitness, shares how the company used a crowdfunding campaign to expand its existing product line and pivot directions. The second guest, Derek Mikulski, the inventor and CEO of ActivMotion Bar, talks about how he used crowdfunding to expand his production capabilities. If you’ve had an idea for the perfect fitness business but weren’t sure how to get it off the ground, this episode will give you powerful insights into simple steps that will take your idea from concept to completion.