Guide · 17 October 2026
Kickstarter risks and challenges examples: five real risks, each with a plan.
Kickstarter makes every campaign fill in a “Risks and challenges” box, and most creators write it last and write it badly. Here is the shape that works and five worked examples, one each for manufacturing, freight, art, software and fulfilment, written for the same made-up board game as our sample campaign story.
Write my story, $69 Read the full sample
Tidewater, its creators, its factory, its artist and every number below are invented and labelled as such. A real risks section is written only from the creator's own quotes, dates and counts.
The short answer
Write the one or two risks that could actually delay or change what backers receive. Each one in three parts: the risk named plainly, the number that shows you have measured it, and the plan if it happens. One paragraph per risk, 120 to 300 words in all. Experienced backers read this section second, right after the hook, and a specific risk with a dated plan is the strongest trust signal on the page after a working prototype. “We don't foresee any risks” is the sentence that loses them.
The three-part shape
- Name it. Not “production may face delays” but “the second factory proof could come back wrong”.
- Measure it. How likely, how big: “three weeks”, “about $1,900”, “41 of 48 tiles are done”, “one parcel in a hundred”.
- Plan it. What you do if it happens, and when backers hear about it: “we send it back once, delivery moves from May to June, and we post the proof photos the week they arrive”.
Pick the two or three of the five below that are real for your project. A campaign with no factory has no manufacturing risk; say so in a sentence and move on.
1. Manufacturing: The factory proof comes back wrong
Our factory in Dongguan has made one full sample of Tidewater, which is the copy in the photos. The risk is the second proof: when they print 1,500 copies, the tide tiles could come back a shade off, or the board could warp as the first sample's did before we changed the core. If the second proof is wrong we send it back once, which costs about three weeks, and delivery moves from May to June 2027. We have budgeted for one rejected proof in the goal, so a second proof does not cost backers anything but the three weeks. We will post the proof photos in an update the week they arrive, good or bad.
Named (the second proof), measured (three weeks, one rejected proof budgeted), planned (send it back once, post the photos). The admission that the first sample warped is what makes the rest believable.
2. Freight and customs: The sea freight takes longer, or costs more, than the quote
The games come by sea from Shenzhen to Los Angeles and to Rotterdam, about five weeks each way on the quotes we have, dated September 2026. Sea freight prices move; a 30 percent rise between now and March would cost us about $1,900, which the goal covers from the contingency line. What we cannot absorb is a port delay of more than a month or a change in import duty into the US or the EU; if either happens, we will tell you the new date and the new duty in an update within a week of learning it, and the EU copies will be shipped from inside the EU so no backer there pays duty at the door.
The quote has a date, the contingency has a number, and the one thing the creators cannot absorb is said out loud with what they will do about it.
3. Art and design: The remaining art is not finished on time
Forty-one of the forty-eight tile illustrations are finished and are the ones you see on this page. The remaining seven are the storm tiles, and Ines is painting them now; her estimate is six weeks and her last three estimates have been right. If she is ill or the storm tiles need another pass, the file goes to the printer three weeks late and delivery moves from May to June 2027. We will not replace her with faster, worse art to hold the date; the date moves, and you will see the seven tiles in an update the day they are done.
A count (41 of 48), a named person with a track record, the size of the slip, and the choice the creators have already made about quality over the date.
4. Software and electronics: The companion app, or a component, is not ready
Tidewater has an optional companion app that keeps score and plays the tide sounds. It is not needed to play the game, and the game ships whether or not the app is approved. The app is in test on Android now and goes to Apple review in January 2027; Apple review has rejected our test build once already, for a screenshot. If the app is late, the game still ships in May and the app follows. There are no electronics in the box, so there is no certification or chip shortage that can delay it.
For a project with a software piece, the sentence backers want is the one that says what ships without it. Saying there are no electronics is as useful as naming a risk: it removes a question.
5. Fulfilment: Shipping costs rise, parcels arrive damaged, addresses change
Shipping is charged after the campaign, in the pledge manager, at the real rate for your country on the day we ship; the estimates on the rewards tab are from quotes dated September 2026 and we expect them to hold within 10 percent. Copies go from fulfilment partners in the US, the EU, the UK and Australia, so backers in those regions pay no duty at the door. About one parcel in a hundred arrives damaged on a project this size; we have budgeted 2 percent replacement copies and we replace a damaged game without asking for the old one back. You can change your address in the pledge manager until two weeks before we ship, and we will tell you that date in an update a month ahead.
Four small facts that answer the four questions a backer actually has about delivery, with a number on each.
Three ways the section goes wrong
- No risks. “We have thought of everything and don't foresee any challenges.” Every backer who has waited two years for a game reads that as a first-time creator.
- Ten vague risks. A list copied from another campaign: “manufacturing delays, shipping delays, unforeseen circumstances, acts of God”. No number, no plan, nothing about this project. It reads as cover, not candour.
- Risks without dates. “Delivery may slip.” To when? Backers forgive a slip they were told about in advance, with a month on it; they do not forgive one that appears in update 14.
Where it sits in the story
Risks and challenges is the sixth section of the six: hook, what it is, why now, who you are, where the money goes, and this. The guide to all six has what each one has to say and the numbers it needs, and the sample page shows them together for Tidewater, risks included.
Questions
What should I write in the Kickstarter risks and challenges section?
The one or two risks that could actually delay or change what backers get, each in three parts: the risk named plainly, the number that shows you have measured it, and the plan if it happens. A risk with a plan reads as competence; a list of ten vague risks reads as cover, and “no risks” reads as inexperience.
How long should the risks and challenges section be?
One to three short paragraphs, 120 to 300 words. One paragraph per real risk. It is the second most read section after the hook for backers who have been let down before, so it is written tight, not padded.
Is it bad to admit risks on Kickstarter?
No. Kickstarter requires the section, experienced backers read it first, and a specific risk with a dated plan is the strongest trust signal on the page after a working prototype. What costs you backers is a vague section, a copied one, or one that says there are none.
Should I mention a possible delivery delay?
Yes, with the cause and the size. “If the factory's second proof is late, delivery moves from May to July 2027, and we will say so in an update the day we know” is a sentence backers forgive in advance. A delay that was never mentioned is the one they do not.
What are the most common Kickstarter risks?
Manufacturing (a factory proof or a material comes back wrong), freight and customs (sea freight timing, duties, a port delay), creative work not yet finished (art, writing, music), software or electronics (certification, a component shortage), and fulfilment (the cost of shipping to each region, damaged parcels, wrong addresses). Most campaigns face two or three of the five, not all.
Can I copy risks and challenges from another campaign?
Backers recognise copied text, and the section is meant to be about your project's own risks. Use another campaign's section to learn the shape, then write yours from your own numbers: your factory, your freight quote, how finished your art is.
The whole story, reward blurbs and the first three updates, written from your facts within 2 days. One free round of changes.