What is the best way to find investment?
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What is the best way to find investment?
Tips and tricks, Where to start?
And things to watch out for!
An investors job is to invest. If they don’t invest, they don’t spread their risk and they will not make as good returns.
An Investment Seekers job is to get your company Investment Ready and make it investable for investors to invest. This sometimes means putting our egos aside and making suggested changes made by investors, to get your business in an Investment Ready place for investors.
It may seem daunting thinking about approaching investors, however by remembering that we are helping them do their job, it takes a lot of this fear and power away. Remember we are doing them the favour, as much as they are doing us a favour.
They need to invest!
I often hear a certain familiar untrue stigma amongst businesses, that says 'Investment is hard to find'.
I am not saying investment is easy to find, it is a time-consuming job, which often takes directors away from running and growing their companies to a detrimental effect. However, Finding Investment is not that hard, as long as you are proactive, confident and are Investment Ready. It doesn’t mean you should do it all yourselves. There are a number of companies such as Acceler8me, which can assist you in Finding Investment and help get you Investment Ready.
So where do we start looking? - 4 quick tips
Friends Contacts
If you haven’t got a network of investors to approach you need to build one. Start off by finding friends with businesses who have had investment previously. Ask your friends to introduce you to their investors? If they put up a fuss, make it financially worth their while and offer them a commission on success (Usually 5% on avg) to facilitate the introduction.
Similar Companies
Look at your competition and similar businesses on Google. Look at other businesses your business may compliment or solve problems for. Next, go onto 'Companies House' and search for those companies. In the online documents, you will find paperwork stating a list of their investors. Take those names and use LinkedIn and Google to look them up. Contact them and introduce yourself! Don't be scared - What's the worse that could happen?
Smart Money
Find investors who can help you with your business. For example - if you are in retail and are starting a fashion business - then approach high net-worth people who are ‘fashion buyers’ or have a black distribution book (Read more about this in our ‘Smart Money’ section).
Acceler8me and other 3rd Party Companies
Using professionals like ourselves really saves you time. While we take a % commission on success, we have a network already built and know the ins and outs of the market. What could take you 3 months could take us 2 days. Never be scared to pay commission on success and never pay over 8%.
A WARNING
Always watch out for people wanting to take equity to offer introductions. These people are not always but are often sharks. Remember you are giving them a bit of your business and there is only so much to go around.
Be Careful!
Finally, I can’t stress enough how important it is to be proactive at this stage of the process.
In early-stage investments, Investors are investing in you! Confidence is key and is an integral part of Finding Investors. This is not saying you have to be over the top, but you must have the confidence to get on the phone and ask for money!
At Acceler8me we understand that not everyone is confident and that entrepreneurs, confident or not need a hand. We work a lot with Smart Money Investors and can introduce you to people who can give you the money, to make your businesses grow or become a reality.
Investment Ready
Is your company ready for investment?
We can help you build strong and robust Business Plans, Financial Forecasts & Models; while taking you through the step by step process of getting your business Investment Ready
Investment Searching
There are tens of thousands of investors in the UK, all with different interests and skills. Investment Searching is a long & laborious task that can take you away from running your business. We help you search, not just for any investors, but the right investors for you and your businessMarketing Strategies
Acceler8me defines Marketing as a series of activities that lead to ‘Reactive’ Sales Having a strong, tested, marketing strategy in place, with reliable ‘Return of Investment’ is crucial for the growth and future scaling of any businessContact Details
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