Looking For Funding For Your Business? Here Are Some Key Skills That Can Help In The Process
So you have a groundbreaking idea for a startup and are all set to take the industry by a storm. But let’s face it, without the necessary capital, even the best ideas can only go so far. One of the most popular ways to secure this capital and #AccelerateYourCareer is, to look for funding.
There are multiple options you can choose from when you’re finding the right source of funding for your startup. You could choose to bootstrap your business, look for angel investors, or go for crowdfunding. However, no matter what you choose, getting through with the process of acquiring funds for your startup requires you to complete a few steps.
Let’s look at them closely.
Be Clear About Your Growth Potential
Investors are always interested in looking at the longevity of your plan. Your proposal should clearly indicate the value of your business and reflect how the potential is projected to grow with time.
Understand that the investors are looking for ways to put their money to good use and are hoping to see cycles of growth. This is why your plan should have well defined projected growth patterns and show how your business can help the investor meet their goals of having a stable ROI.
Have A Problem Statement And A Viable Solution
A good business always aims to resolve a problem. Your business plan should identify a need-gap in society and propose a viable solution to it. This projects that you have thoughtfully considered the usability of your product or service and have studied how it may be desirable to your audience.
Ideally, the problem should be affecting a large group of people as having a very small niche can be problematic for a business in its starting stage.
Be Open About Your Margins
Needless to say, investors would be more interested in investing in your business if they can clearly see profitability in your idea. In fact, having big margins can easily be the best way to impress your investors.
Make sure that your plan clearly showcases the numbers in a well-defined professional manner.
Have Clear Industry Understanding
Having a clear understanding of your industry and competition is extremely important while presenting your investment pitch. Your plan must clearly communicate the details of Total Available Market (TAM), Segmented Addressable Market (SAM), and Share of Market (SOM) for the first few years.
Along with this, it is important to present how your business would fit in the current competition and how it would be different or potentially better than the competition.
Focus On Your Communication Skills
Last but definitely not least, you must brush up your communication skills. You should use the kind of communication that brings forward your idea and business ethics, reflect your integrity and passion towards your idea, and attempt to touch the heart of your investor.
In other words, the investor should be convinced by your belief and conviction in the business through your communication and presentation skills.
The following infographic summarises these points for a quick recap.
Today there’s a widespread acceptance for upskilling and professionals have recognised the need for enhancing their skillset. To develop a better understanding of their skills, new age entrepreneurs swear by formal training. One such excellent training program is The Entrepreneurial Edge by London Business School.
This is an intensive 12-week venture development journey. Through close mentoring and a dedicated support network, this program will help you transform your energy and ideas into a successful early-stage venture, and provide you with all the necessary skills to #AccelerateYourCareer as an entrepreneur.