6 Guides to Fundraising for your Startup
Raising funds for your startup is not as difficult as you think; because there are more investors out there than there are startups. These six elements will help you convince investors to put their money in your startup?
Target a particular niche: you should devout more time into looking for the right investors as opposed to writing to just any investors. If your startup is agro-inclined, you should be looking for investors willing to put their money in agro-related businesses. Looking for investors who are interested in investing in your particular niche is key in ensuring you are speaking to the right investors + in-turn get funded.
Build a prototype for demonstration: most investors would want to see a prototype before they put their money into your startup. Whether it’s an app, product packaging or the product itself, when you’re making a presentation to your potential investors, go along with a prototype. A prototype shows investors that you have invested time + some of your own resources towards building this product — which helps you build credibility.
Have product market-fit: your business idea should have the potential to grow and meet the demands of a wider market range. If there is no prospect edge to the business, investors would not be too eager to put money in your business. Having market appeal / product market-fit is key to demonstrating that you have a viable productive that is competitive in the post COVID market.
Have an expert team: it’s tempting to feel the need to do everything yourself; even if you can, it does not give room for improvement. Getting a co-founder who shares a similar vision + strategy where both of you are experts in your own fields and bring different skills to the table is important. This makes you have better chances of getting a yes from the investors as you can share workload and do most of the heavy lifting required when starting out.
Be transparent: one true way to turn potential investors into actual investors is to be transparent. Chances are that the investors have seen a business plan exactly like yours that did not clearly state all the risks or ways to counter the risks. Being transparent gives you an edge over others. Most investors would rather connect with someone who is true with themselves than someone who just acts or pretends to be professional.
Have a business plan and financial projection: investors are not just people who have a lot of money in their accounts; they want to know the answers to questions like: “how do I get my money back” and “when do I get it back;” the answer will be to develop a business plan that includes financial projections and return on investments. A freelance expert can help with the projections so that the investors can be sure when and how they will be getting the return on their investments.
Finally — you need to understand what the potential investor is interested in, why you may be an attractive opportunity, and what sets them (and you) apart from the competition. Here are a few things to consider: i. Look at which companies they’ve backed in the past ii. Can you discern any trends in the previous investment decisions? iii. Are they sector agnostic? iv. What’s their average ticket size v. Do they co-invest vi. Are they stage agnostic (pre-Seed, Seed, Series A, etc) vii. What is the average valuation of their portfolio companies viii. What content are they sharing on social media: what are they tweeting and retweeting.
