Starting a business from scratch takes time and work, a lot of which is usually unpaid in the beginning, until you can actually start to generate a profitable turnover regularly. Therefore, most businesses either depend on a certain amount of starting capital or support from an investor. Investors aren’t in the habit of just handing out vast sums of money to anybody, however, so the responsibility is on you, the bidder, to convince them that there will be a significant return on their investment. Before you do this, however, there are a few things you ought to make sure you have first.
Realistic Valuations
One sees this time and time again on TV shows, but it is a very good point. If you base the valuation of your business on wild speculations and delusions of grandeur, then investors will not interpret this as healthy ambition but rather think you are dangerously naïve and will not take you seriously. Like most things in business, getting the price right for the context in which it is put forward is critical to strike the right balance between profitability and viability.
Reliable Numbers
Similarly, inconsistencies in one’s numbers are a make-or-break matter in business, so these need to be calculated accurately and meticulously, and a good and thorough analysis and understanding of their implications of them need to be formulated. This is notoriously difficult, so one would do well to either invest in an accountant or financial advisor or, at the very least, use things like contractor bidding software to formulate one’s bid accurately and efficiently.
Rights & Ownership
This is one of the hardest things to secure, as copyright, patents, and intellectual property rights are a legal minefield of pedantic clauses and time spent securing them, but if the alternative is having one’s competitors copy one’s ideas and then out produce you with superior resources. It may become a necessity for the venture to work at all, let alone to convince an investor to fund it. This not only goes for the idea or the product itself but also how it is marketed in terms of branding.
Charisma
Then there is the most important element of all, the presenter themselves. A lack of confidence betrays a lack of experience, and belief and thus signals increased risk to the potential investor, as does overconfidence and bravado betray irresponsibility and a poor grasp of the obstacles which need to be overcome. It is, therefore, imperative that the delivery strikes a fine balance between confidence and level-headedness and reinforces this with a healthy respect for the investors themselves, but tempered by self-respect that allows to the presenter to speak to them honestly without feeling overly intimidated by them. Basically, it takes no small degree of courage, especially in the face of people who may have far more experience in the business world than you do. Face this head-on, with a good and realistic business proposal, with numbers that check out and the rights and authority to do so, and there is a very good chance you will secure an investment.
