Submitting Your Business Plan | Any potential investor wants to see a highly readable and believable business plan with a summary, a management team overview, and financials but after submitting your plan many people think funding will just arrive when in reality it can take time.
By following the steps below you will be able to avoid some of the most obvious mistakes when raising funds for your project.
RELATED: Other Funding Options For Your Business
When Submitting Your Business Plan, Avoid These Five Mistakes To Raise Investment Funds
One – When submitting your business plan and if you are a company that has the brilliant technical knowledge and no real sales expertise do not advertise it.
Information on your website including the management team biographies will clearly state the management team’s background including their technical expertise, their degrees, their patents, and such but amazingly their go-to-market strategy in the business plan is usually incomplete and sometimes missing.
The solution, make sure you have a credible go-to-market strategy with a credible sales leader. Nobody will invest if you don’t.
Two – Make sure your website is stunning. Too many companies think that running a business is all about the product and the abilities of the technical team – frankly, it isn’t.
This may be true but today investors will always expect to see more. They want to be convinced and when they will go straight to your website they are wanting to be wowed! Unfortunately, so many people provide what looks more like a school project.
Make sure your website is utterly brilliant and that it doesn’t look cheap. Ask a variety of people if it looks modern if it looks appealing, particularly in the photos and ask if it is easy to navigate.
Also please ensure that it is relevant – it’s not about how wonderful you are it’s about how you and your company will solve their challenges.
Three – If you are raising money through a prospectus or private listing make sure that your brochure stacks up.
Many people do not place enough time and effort into the visual appeal of a Private Listing Brochure and again you don’t want to provide a sub-standard document that will fail at every level.
Spend some time and money to ensure that you convey your messaging in a professional, crisp business-like manner and that it is logical and easy to read.
Also, don’t use random unverifiable facts – make sure that you underpin everything that you state will be possible with the latest research, etc.
Four – don’t use jargon. Anyone who goes to your site or who takes a look at any promotional material designed to answer questions won’t stand for jargon which usually means nothing to them.
If you must use jargon or acronyms, make sure there is an explanation – people won’t ask they will vote with their feet! A well-written website and brochure are music to the ears of potential investors
Five – Make sure that on your website and all other materials you have the same font. Make sure that the supporting marketing material looks great and make sure that the stories you tell are verifiable and relevant.
Lastly please don’t be controversial People will make their minds up on quality and this includes the look and feel, the overall professional approach.
If you can use proper references from proper companies. Don’t add something for the sake of adding something as it has to be contextual and relevant!
Follow these tips and life on the road to raising funds will be much easier.
