The Product

As a businessman, I have accrued a tremendous reservoir of knowledge on how to succeed in life. I also know that consumers are inspired by the opportunity to participate in grassroots, bootstrapped, entrepreneurial efforts that take advantage of existing resources and put them to innovative use.

BR Nicholson, Businessman

I am combining my wisdom and my resourcefulness to bring you Tasteful Life Advice Potato™.

Tasteful Life Advice Potato™, or TLAP™, is a standard potato onto which I have written a unique piece of tasteful life advice and affixed postage:

Standard potato with a unique piece of tasteful life advice and affixed postage

Thanks to the forward-thinking insights of the United States Postal Service, potatoes with properly-affixed postage can be sent in the mail without any additional packaging, allowing me to save costs by writing your address on the potato and depositing it into a standard mail box:

Your address

My local mail depository

The potato then arrives in your mail box several days later:

Your personal mail receptacle

By using this accepted shipping method, I am passing the savings on to you in the form of a best-in-class price of $9 per TLAP™.

Once you receive your TLAP™, you may extract the advice and consider applying it to your life (tastefully). 

The Perks

Though Tasteful Life Advice Potato™ is a meaningful perk in-and-of itself, I anticipate a consumer desire to receive top-shelf TLAP™-branded swag and unique opportunities that have an appealing scarcity.

That is why, in addition to providing TLAP™ to all backers, I will provide the following perks for more ambitious backers:

Tasteful Life Advice Potato™

For $9 (which includes shipping!), you will receive just TLAP™, which may be enough.

Tasteful Life Advice Potato™ + T-Shirt

For $25 (plus shipping), not only will your life advice be tasteful, but so will your fashion.

Tasteful Life Advice Potato™ + Mug

For $35 (plus shipping), you can taste the benefits of your support in self-selected liquid form.

Tasteful Life Advice Potato™ + Poster

For $45 (plus shipping), you can decorate your home with a repository of tasteful life advice on simulated potatoes.

Tasteful Life Advice Potato™ + Mouse Pad

For $55 (plus shipping), your computer mouse can sit comfortably atop padded material emblazoned with the TLAP™ logo.

Tasteful Life Advice Potato™ + Puzzle

For $70 (plus shipping), entertain your friends with an engaging and challenging TLAP™ puzzle.

TLAP™ Hyper Bundle

For $140 (plus shipping), enjoy the sanctity of completionism by receiving all of the standard top-shelf TLAP™-branded swag, as well as your very own TLAP™.

The Limited-Edition Perks

For those with extenuating belief in TLAP™, I am providing a small number of limited-edition rewards (all of which include shipping in the cost):

Limited-Edition TLAP™ Hyper Bundle

For $200, you will be provided with an elite version of TLAP™ Hyper Bundle with all of the swag backed with TLAP™ Yellow™ (#ffffc8) instead of standard white (#ffffff).

Personal Potato Package™

For $500, as many as three backers will receive an elite version of the Limited-Edition TLAP™ Hyper Bundle (backed with TLAP™ Yellow™) where all of the standard swag advice is replaced by advice personalized to the backer; I will personally engage in a telephone conversation with you to determine what advice would be most fitting and incorporate it into all of your rewards.

Sweeten the Pot(ato) Package™

For $1,000, a single backer will receive an elite version of the Personal Potato Package™ where all of the potatoes are replaced by sweet potatoes (this includes the graphics in the top-shelf TLAP™-branded swag and the item you receive in the mail). You will also receive an original TLAP™ for posterity, signed by me, BR Nicholson.

The Conclusion

Other crowdfunding campaigns have approached the question of potato-based projects with humor and irony. I am interested in starting a real business, one that persists over time. And I need your support to make Tasteful Life Advice Potato™ a reality, just as you need me to make Tasteful Life Advice Potato™ a reality. Please consider backing this campaign and, together, we will make Tasteful Life Advice Potato™ a reality.

Risks & Challenges

Though I have had tremendous success in my other business ventures, I have yet to win a crowdfunding campaign; while I have total confidence in my ability to pack and ship various commodities by the end of July, it is possible (though unlikely) that I will discover an unanticipated fulfillment bureaucracy that slows the delivery process.

Further, while the United States Postal Service is widely known to ship raw potatoes (with appropriate addresses and adequate postage), it is possible that my local USPS is not aware of federal policy and will have to call their superiors in Washington, D.C. to get confirmation.