Chocolate Dreams Launches Ambitious Kickstarter Campaign To Raise US$50,000 (J$5m) Online!

Already 10 days into their 30 day campaign, Chocolate Dreams has managed to raise US$645 of their ambitious US$50,000 goal – that’s a little over 1%. We don’t think it’s impossible though, and so we’re very hopeful for the success of this campaign. Certainly, it would have been nicer to see them even closer to US$1,000 or US2,000 but let’s hope that the campaign will soon pick up steam.

Chocolate Dreams, is a small 11 year old manufacturing company located in Kingston, Jamaica that has outgrown its manufacturing space and is now seeking to raise funding online to purchase new machinery and other equipment using the popular crowd-sourcing platform – kickstarter. They outline their intention on their page, as one to create Jamaican Chocolates with a sweet island flavour.

Chocolate Dreams Kickstarter Campaign

Impressive! New Levels of Risk Taking

It is very encouraging to see signs of variety, new levels of risk taking and bravado among businesses and especially those that are seeking capital for expansion. Chocolate Dreams is another example to the many who are waiting for that extra push to get started. It can be done! At each stage of the game there will definitely be risks, and this is just another level of risks that they have now decided to take. Michelle has certainly done a lot to

1. convince herself and her team that this (kickstarter campaign) is a viable option,
2. sacrifice her brand and image to the risk of failure but also the opportunity for success (this is a big one), and
3. actually execute it (and it’s not a bad campaign)

While I don’t know Michelle, anyone on her team and don’t think I have had any of their products (I’ve been in the Devon house location), I can attest to their popularity and their brand as I’ve seen their products and locations, heard of them from co-workers, and am impressed with their story.

Why Kickstarter?

Why Chocolate Dreams would have done this is not immediately clear – well apart from the fact that this is free money. We certainly would have thought that for such a booming business they would have the cash they need, or by now would have certainly been on their way to being listed on the Junior Stock Market. We already know they have a slew of bankers. But the reality is, business is hard and so we definitely understand their choice. Their reason is;

We chose Kickstarter as after conducting extensive research we believe it is an innovative, non-traditional way to obtain funding and see our business grow despite the challenge of funding opportunities in Jamaica and we just want a KICKSTART.

Big Plans For the Future! – A 100% Jamaican Chocolate Bar

What is even more encouraging is that they have outlined some ambitious plans for the future – a 100% Jamaican chocolate bar, from Jamaican produce, made in Jamaica for the world. That is a big deal!

Imagine Chocolate Dreams in that compilation above

Our long term goal is to produce a 100% Jamaican chocolate bar from 100% Jamaican cocoa beans, which is one of the top fine flavours in the world and we have identified a number of objectives towards achieving this goal which include: providing quality, premium chocolate products creatively packaged at a competitive price and successfully transforming the business from the cottage stage to a formal, efficient and technology driven business on a strong financial path. We also intend to become a market leader for premium chocolate products in Jamaica and to export to at least two markets by 2015.

We certainly hope that this campaign will be successful, but if not, we definitely got a glimpse into the fine company that has been created, the work that they are doing and the risk-taking entrepreneurial leadership behind it. With 19 days to go there’s not much time left – let’s get those chocolate bars going.

[Photo credit]