Manhattan Beach, CA -- (SBWire) -- 10/22/2013 --Only 42 percent of Kickstarter projects launched meet their crowd-funding goals, and only five percent of funded projects bring in more than $20,000. A 24-year-old California entrepreneur’s line of ergonomic shovels has just joined that elite group, bringing in over $61,700 from 440 supporters in the first forty days of his 42-day Kickstarter campaign. Stephen Walden will use the funds for the first production run of ergonomically designed flat head, spade and snow shovels manufactured by his new company, Bosse Tools. Walden says reviews of the tools have been quite positive. "People are excited to get these shovels. Folks using them say they have a hard time going back to traditional tools, and I believe it's simply because we redesigned one of the world's oldest devices. Nobody's ever done this before," Walden adds.
“Crowdfunding is an amazing way to launch a business idea. It sure beats walking from door to door asking for pledges,” says Walden. "Kickstarter has a great atmosphere that fosters entrepreneurship and lets you run with an idea...the support from family and friends has been amazing over the past month, and I am excited to see so many people supporting the idea of ergonomics in the workplace.” With just under two days left in the campaign, Walden is anxious to see if the last few hours in the campaign will be as exciting as the first few. "When we launched a month ago, we raised $15,000 in the first three days, maybe we will see another spike like that here at the end," Walden notes. To see his Kickstarter campaign total in its final hours, or to pre-order one of Walden's ergonomic shovels at a special price of $65 with free shipping within the U.S., click here.
Walden, a 2012 graduate of Loyola Marymount University (LMU) in Los Angeles, California, has been working on the ergonomic shovel concept for over a year. While pursuing his Masters in Business Administration in Finance at LMU, Walden was one of the first students to participate in the university’s Business Incubator Lab, an entrepreneurship program led by Professor David Choi. "The incubator is a new program at LMU and Dr. Choi encouraged us to get a product into the hands of the people," Walden explains.
Walden previously took his shovel idea to the 2013 LeanModel Competition at San Diego State University, where he won the “Pitch the Investor” competition, the “Tiger Tank” competition (akin to television’s “Shark Tank”) and the Overall LeanModel Competition Award. He and his team went on to win several titles and around $25,000 in prize money at a number of collegiate business competitions, including the International Business Model Competition at Harvard University in May.
“Most of my fellow MBA majors were busy looking for jobs as graduation approached last spring,” says Walden. “I was busy looking for manufacturers and putting together a business plan for my own company. Some people thought I was crazy to throw myself into this full time instead of looking for a job. I’ve been working full-time, seven days a week on nothing else but Bosse Tools for the past five months to get to this point,” says Walden. “Running a Kickstarter absolutely feels like a full-time job, it demands a lot of time, energy, and finesse. I have been stressed, nervous and anxious, even lost quite a bit of sleep during my campaign, but the hard work has paid off and I am excited to move to the next step.”
Components for Bosse Tools’ prototypes have all been engineered and manufactured in America. The young entrepreneur has promised to keep the manufacturing of his ergonomic shovel parts within the borders of the U.S., and is considering his home state of Arizona, where he still has family. “American made products were the pride of our nation in the past, so bringing back manufacturing jobs to America is really exciting,” says Walden. “It would be great to build something the in Phoenix area where I grew up, to give back to my community and help improve the economy there.”
About Bosse Tools
Bosse Tools is an ergonomic hardware tool company that was founded to revolutionize traditional construction, gardening, and farming tools. Bosse Tools products maximize productivity and diminish strain on the back, arms, and wrists, increasing output and reducing injury. Bosse Tools proudly makes all of their tools in the United States.
Crowd funding PR by FreelancePR.com
