Investment Funding
Seeking Investors
Answer the “5 Ws” to Make an Impression That Counts
Regardless of whether you are seeking end investors for your real estate wholesaling business, looking for business or project backing from private lenders or angel investor groups, crowd funding or reaching out to venture capitalists, the impression you make is absolutely imperative not only for the deal on the table, but quite possibly for future deals as well. Chances are pretty good that you will only get one opportunity to present your idea, project, business or product, so make it a good one and make it count.
Potential investors are in the position to invest because they’ve seen some success. Generally, the reasons they have seen success lay somewhere in, and between, experience and smart business acumen. For that reason, they usually know what to look for in a good business opportunity and will rarely waste their time without the answers to the questions they care most about.
When it comes to business plan presentations for investment dollars, even the most seasoned entrepreneurs make lethal mistakes that can easily be avoided; regardless of your experience or lack thereof, you need not come across as an amateur.
Depending on your goal and your audience, you should address some, or all, of a few key elements will make the impression that you’re after to get the investment you need.
Investors are mainly interested in their return on investment (ROI). The product is just the vehicle to the ROI. Therefor, The plan should take precedence over the product in your presentation. Time and again entrepreneurs get so caught up in selling their product that they fail to pitch the plan and, ultimately, it doesn’t matter how great the product is if there is no credible, actionable plan to move it.
Answering some or all of a few simple questions will help prospective investors determine the credibility of your plan:
- What business is the company in?
- What important need does the business or product fulfill?
- Why is your solution better than the solutions of your competitors?
- Who are your competitive threats?
- Who are your buyer personas and do you have a profound understanding of those avatars?
- Where is your target market?
- What makes your plan credible?
- Who is your management team?
- What experience does your management team have?
- Why is the plan the best opportunity for investors, as compared to other deals that may be available for consideration?
- What are the key milestones of your business plan?
- When are they likely to start seeing returns?
Not every question in this “5 Ws” list of who, why, what, where and when will apply to your investment needs, but if you give deep consideration to each question on the list, determine its relevance to your presentation accordingly and present, you will be amazed at the difference it makes to the responses you get.