In the just – ended GIPC Young Entrepreneurs’ Forum 2018 held at the Labadi Beach Hotel that sought to create a platform to motivate young entrepreneurs and provide avenues to assist them strategically prepare their businesses for funding and partnership the resource person at the master class outlined a number things that investors look for before putting money into a start up business.
According to the resource persons, investors are looking for unicorns — companies they believe will become profitable and sustainable in the long-term.
Investors aren’t just investing in ideas. They’re investing in the person (or people) behind that great idea. To win a pitch for funding therefore it is essential that your persona as a business initiator be above reproach and beaming with confidence.
Understanding their inspiration and personal connection to their business helps investors get a sense for what makes that founder a pitch winner. A high value is also placed on founder-market fit.
Investors can only invest in companies that give them a sense of conviction. Fund donors sometimes meet really incredible entrepreneurs but lack conviction about some aspect of their business or how they’re addressing the market
To increase your funding chances, it helps to get inside the minds of your potential investors. You have to believe you can build something that never existed before. If you are enamoured of your product but have a “if I build it, they will come” attitude that will not work. Investors are watching for customer and market orientation products and services to invest in.
The young entrepreneurs were also hinted that to win a pitch for funding, it is not just enough to have a mind-blowing idea in an exciting market space rather, what makes the difference between a $25 million, $250 million, and $2.5 billion start-up is a well articulated plan on how your team executes on it.
Entrepreneurs are advised to bootstrap if they can to preserve ownership and optionality of their businesses. And never to fall into the trap of thinking they can go it alone — one rarely can build a valuable company without the right people around you, they advised.
Source: GIPC PR Team