See what happened when this startup wasn’t able to meet its Kickstarter commitment

Pakistani startup Markhor, which makes handcrafted men’s shoes, had a successful Kickstarter campaign last year, raking in US$92,000 above the crowdfunding target. The project was backed by 508 people in 35 different countries and brought a wave of publicity to the social enterprise venture.

However, delivering on this commitment was by no means an easy task, which the Markhor team found out the hard way. Due to the spike in demand, their leather-crafting artisans could not meet delivery timelines. Production and shipping to customers was delayed by a full month.

The founders were worried. They wanted to maintain the goodwill their backers had with them. After some internal discussions, the team decided that one of the founders would fly to the United States and personally deliver the handcrafted shoes. The video below showcases some of the responses they received.

“This is not just a one-time thing, and it is not just about selling shoes,” Waqas Ali, co-founder of Markhor tells Tech in Asia. “We want to build a meaningful relationship with our community as without them we would not be in the position we are today.”

Crowdfunding chaos

The Pakistani startup seems to have emerged largely unscathed from the relatively minor hiccup. A lot of startups, however, have bitten off more than they can chew in their Kickstarter campaigns – some with disastrous consequences.

The Japanese team behind Ring met with a backlash when some users found the gadget to be very hard to use, while buyers of the India-born Smarty Ring are still waiting to see the product arrive – more than 18 months later.

Markhor, however, seems to have found this experience invaluable. Waqas reveals that his venture is soon branching out into other product categories, with women shoes and apparel coming next month.