Sooner or later, successful entrepreneurs realize their companies can only grow rapidly and dynamically by attracting external investments. Attracting investments is a full-fledged job that is part of the functional responsibilities of any entrepreneur. Professional fundraising services like Waveup are ready to help prepare for an essential stage in your business development.
When Do You Need an Investor?
The most apparent reason for attracting investment is the need for its resources. You will have confident financial support if you understand the fundraising strategy, positioning, and product.
For startups: The business is launched, but the situation is still unstable: product testing, market entry, and first contact with the client are all in progress. At the same time, stable income and financial confidence are not guaranteed. Therefore, the investor’s money helps to sell the product, release a trial version and find customers.
For the expansion stage: Investments are needed for the product’s market share to grow. Therefore, you can increase the chance of increasing cash flow and further advance the business. Global tasks here are to launch production, implement marketing and promotion tools, and expand the team.
For the growth stage: Why do you need an investor if everything works without much effort? So that revenue continued to grow, and the company did not slow down. Investing will help to enter the foreign market and change the product considering customers’ needs.
For the mature growth stage: At the adult development stage, sales revenue is stable but without significant changes. Therefore, it is necessary to attract an investor: there will be an opportunity to act in a new way.
What Kind of Help Can You Expect from a Fundraising Consultant?
The consulting company can help in the search for sources of investments, as well as get them on the most favorable terms.
The employees of fundraising services have tremendous practical experience in attracting additional sources of financing. Plus, they can guide you in crafting a compelling case for investing in your business, outline the steps and address the key factors you need to consider.
After this stage, which is, without exaggeration, key, the consultants can give each customer a package of recommendations for choosing the appropriate type of credit with a subsequent discussion of all possible nuances: terms, rates, etc. They also help in the following:
- Analysis and assessment of investment attractiveness.
- Preparation of information materials for the investor.
- Carrying an express analysis of the project.
- Development and coordination of the optimal structure of investment attraction.
- Calculation of the financial model.
What Is Needed for a Successful Fundraising Campaign?
The first thing that professional fundraising services recommend to beginners is to answer the following questions for yourself:
WHAT? A concrete explanation of where the money will go and what will change. The most crucial question also opens prospects for working with project branding. Do you need funds for equipment for the studio? So, tell exactly how your studio can change the lives of those who contribute. It will be suitable if these answers offer the audience a future service in exchange for contributing and giving space for participation.
Transparency is essential here. Regardless of the contribution size, investors must understand who and what the money will be spent on and where they can see the financial report on the results.
WHO? Before approaching investors, finding out what investors or funds look for is crucial. Try not to go far from your field of activity. Besides money, the investor can also be a reliable source of business advice and may have a strong business network that you can draw on.
Bring your idea to a fundraising consultant. They give practical advice: designing, submitting, and launching a project. They will help you work through a presentation, understand business processes, the secrets of advertising and successful submission, and secure meetings with investors.