How to attract investment in your business?

Few entrepreneurs have sufficient start-up capital when developing their business, so they start looking for an investor. There is another option – to collect loans, pay interest at a considerable rate, and at the exit, it is possible to be left with only debts. We will not consider such a sad topic today, but we will talk about how to attract an investor to your business.

What do they look at first?

Remember the phrase “they are greeted by their clothes”? So in the case of searching for an investor and presenting your project to him, this rule must be observed first of all: first, your potential financial partner will look at how you look and how well you know your product, and only then at the compiled business plan.

Appearance

You don’t need to buy expensive suits and gadgets especially for the meeting, but you must look neat and appropriate for the meeting format. Your task is not to create a repulsive impression.

Good product knowledge

It is imperative to have presentation material with you. Capaciously, and in a few minutes you must convey the following information to the investor in understandable language:

• What is this product.
• Why is this product the best on the market and how it differs from the rest.
• What are the prospects for development.
• Why an investor needs to invest in your project and how much he can earn.

Prepare for the meeting

In addition to presenting a project or a separate product, try to find out as much as possible about your potential investor beforehand. For example, you may find useful information about what projects the investor invested in earlier, what were the results of interaction, and so on.

How to package a project for presentation?

Next, we will give a general plan of how you can prepare a product for a competent presentation to an investor, but in your practice, it will most likely be different.

The basic packaging consists of the following:

• Presentation for your project or service – no more than 15 slides, which can be conveniently sent by email or messenger.
• Investment teaser – it should be a short informative document in PDF format, 1-2 pages, no more.
• Financial plan – in EXCEL document, no more than 3 pages.
• Investment video – for 2-3 minutes, something like a promo video.
• Documents that confirm the validity of the demand, the prospects of the product and the fact that it will be profitable for the investor to invest his funds in it.

Think not only about the meaning but also the competent design of presentation products.

Where to look for an investor?

There are several options, some of them don’t even require any investment:

• Your notebook – study your contacts, maybe there is already a potential investor there? For example, someone you know may become interested in investing in a product in order to get a good income later.
• Placement on investment sites. But in order to get the exact result, you need to post information about your project on at least 100 sites.
• Social media ads – Everyone from ordinary factory workers to tycoons sit on social media. So advertising in this direction can work very well.
• Set up contextual advertising if you have a budget.
• Go “to the fields” – study companies in your region that may be your potential partners and send them your proposal – this will be the initial contact. Then make an appointment for a personal meeting and presentation of your project.

The more potential investors you collect, the more chances that there will be a good offer for your project.

Be prepared for rejection

Alas, even the best offer on the market is not yet a guarantee that investors will immediately line up for you. Why is that? Therefore, your offer is not unique on the market, but investors have a lot to choose from.