Crowdfunding, Building Partnerships, and Becoming a Fractional CMO (with Carole Picou-Katmann)

💡 Guest bio

Carole is a seasoned entrepreneur who has always been in the business of building and launching new services and products. With the extra time during the COVID pandemic, she decided to pursue her dream of creating a sustainable line of design furniture for cats that also appeals to humans. This led her to launch a successful crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. Through this experience, she discovered a passion for entrepreneurship and began working with other entrepreneurs as a strategic advisor and mentor. Carole now serves as a fractional CMO, offering her expertise in marketing and growth to start-up companies.

ℹ️ Introduction

In this episode of Frugalpreneur, we feature Carole, a seasoned entrepreneur who shares her journey of bootstrapping a sustainable business, focusing on design furniture for cats that humans can also enjoy. Carole discusses her experience launching a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter and her transition to becoming a fractional CMO, offering strategic and marketing support to startups. She opens up about her successes, such as reaching her Kickstarter goal and building valuable partnerships, as well as her challenges, like underestimating production and shipping costs. Carole also provides valuable tips and tactics for fellow entrepreneurs, emphasizing the importance of finding a supportive network, leveraging social media platforms, and remaining curious and vulnerable. Tune in to discover Carole's inspiring entrepreneurial journey and gain insights for your own bootstrapped business endeavors.

📚 Timestamped overview

00:00 Entrepreneur develops furniture for cats, mentors startups.

03:53 Reached out to brands for collaboration, success.

09:30 Entrepreneur offers services as interim CMO.

11:04 Numerous free resources available for inspiration and networking.

❇️ Key topics and bullets

Primary Topic: Introduction to Carole's Entrepreneurial Journey

- Carole describes her background as an entrepreneur, developing departments, launching new services, and a side hustle during COVID.

Primary Topic: Becoming a Fractional CMO

- Carole details her decision to work with entrepreneurs as an adviser and mentor, eventually becoming a fractional CMO to help entrepreneurs build sustainable businesses.

Primary Topic: Crowdfunding Campaign

- Carole explains her decision to create a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter for sustainable design furniture for cats and humans, detailing the success and market validation she achieved.

Primary Topic: Tactics and Techniques for Bootstrapping

- Carole discusses how she approached influencers, built partnerships, and reached out to professionals to help spread the message about her product.

- Reaching out to influencers

- Partnerships and cross-promotion

- Collaboration with professionals in the pet industry

Primary Topic: Successes and Failures

- Carole shares her biggest successes including reaching her Kickstarter goal and failures such as underestimating the cost of production and shipping.

Primary Topic: Tips and Tricks for Entrepreneurs

- Carole provides advice for entrepreneurs based on her experiences, such as finding a community of fellow entrepreneurs, utilising online resources, leveraging social media, putting shyness aside, and staying curious.

Primary Topic: The Journey of Entrepreneurship

- Carole reflects on the journey of entrepreneurship, the need for introspection, and how it led her to offer services as a fractional CMO.

Primary Topic: Closing Thoughts

- Carole encourages sharing experiences, leveraging free resources, and networking events to get inspired.

These topics and sub-topics cover Carole's entrepreneurial journey, her strategies for success and overcoming challenges, as well as her advice for others on their own entrepreneurial paths.

❓ Questions

1. How did Carole take advantage of the COVID period to launch her sustainable design furniture business for cats?

2. What were the successful tactics Carole used to promote her business without a large marketing budget?

3. What were the key takeaways from Carole's experiences with crowdfunding and working with influencers in the pet industry?

4. How did Carole's underestimated production and shipping costs impact the sustainability of her business?

5. How did Carole leverage social media and online resources to support her business endeavors?

6. What advice did Carole provide for finding support as a solo founder and navigating the challenges of entrepreneurship?

7. How did Carole transition from launching her design furniture business to becoming a fractional CMO and offering her services to other entrepreneurs?

8. What lessons did Carole learn from her entrepreneurial journey and what advice did she share for aspiring entrepreneurs?

9. How did Carole emphasize the importance of remaining curious, sharing experiences, and leveraging free resources in the entrepreneurial journey?

10. What valuable insights did Carole provide about the entrepreneurial mindset, resilience, and the power of networking and community in entrepreneurship?

Resources:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/carole-picou-katmann/

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