But if there are business owners who find the investors easily, you can do it too! All you have to do is to optimise your search to make maximum production.
A productive search is the one that requires less time but gives more results. So, with proper planning and prior preparation, the process of finding the investor for your business will be more successful.
Of course, a physical location of your startup may influence its further development. Countries that support small or new businesses create better conditions through various sponsorship programs. Kenya, with its biggest and the fastest growing economy in Central and East Africa, has a variety of startups developing and searching for investors. Each startup idea shows originality and thorough global market research. Kenya has a great range of platforms for innovation and the most successful startups. However, as the most fertile soil needs proper nourishment, the same business needs intellectual and material investments. There are numerous things you need to know before either investing into a startup or creating one.
We offer you to use modern platforms like social networks in the search for investors. Through social media, you have access to hundreds of investors. Let us discuss the most productive ways of finding the right investor for your startups with the help of social media. If nowadays there is an easy way to approach potential sponsors, why not to use it?
More and more companies and agencies are hiring strategists to increase the productivity of their work. Of course, when you are working in a startup you might have no budget to hire such workers. That is why you must become the one who will perform these duties.
A strategist is the one who plans the sequence of actions to complete particular tasks. If you have ever played chess you must know how forethought every step should be. It also refers to stages of the sponsor's search. In your strategy, you can indicate in which social networks is profitable to look for potential candidates. Also, you can predict their possible actions and your reactions to them. In big business, you must be a big strategist.
The assistance or advice from financial experts or other investors can help make up your mind about suitable sponsors. Before seeking their advice, you have to consider their experiences in the past. Have they dealt with investors for a start-up? Do they have a vast knowledge of financial assistance contracts? If yes, consult them. Your fellow entrepreneurs can also be an excellent resource in helping you to identify prospective investors to include in your search list. They may also assist you with the identification of those investors who are difficult to deal with.
After coming up with the list of the most beneficial investors, you can add or remove an investor based on his/her worthiness to your business or financial/investment experiences. When satisfied with the investor's list, consider entering them into a spreadsheet with descriptions of their location, experiences, important investments made, past connections and particular firms they are engaged with. This is vital for comparison and future reference. It keeps on reminding you the kind of investor your business requires.
Whether you need to find a good dentist or a sponsor for the startup, you must firstly ask people from your friend-list for help. They can give trustworthy recommendations and prevent you from cooperation with new, sometimes suspicious people. The use of social media erases borders between people from different countries and financial state. So, your search will be more productive if you begin it through simple communication with your online friends. Tell them in direct messages or make a post about your problem. If this method won't show satisfactory results, try the next ways of how to optimise your search in social media in the most productive way.
You can start using social media search tools right now, but if you don't know whom to look for you will only waste your precious time. Before engaging in social network search of investors, come up with a list of potential investors. It will be effective to create an approximate portrait of a person that you are going to look for. But do not make this portrait too specific, otherwise you won't come up with any variants. Remember, your business deserves to find the best sponsor, but you must have alternative variants too.
Creating what we can refer to as a broad field of alternatives in sourcing investors is perfect especially for evaluation and comparison which is important in getting the right investor (small and large). If you want your search to be productive, devote your time only to those candidates who fit your business not only regarding financial needs but in other operational requirements.
While coming up with your list, you can use various sections to find those investors who have not invested in firms that compete directly with your company.
Every person is able to perform a certain array of tasks a day. Make such a plan that you will complete for sure. A good plan will help you to visualise a picture of your progress. Do not ignore doing this business. If you devote a few hours for the plan you will save many hours in future. A search for sponsors in social media is a monotonous activity, but you must put maximum efforts to reach your aim. A plan will help to distribute your efforts and make you more productive.
Below are social media websites where you can start building relationships with potential investors most effectively:
Besides the common social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram many other professional social networks have emerged. They include Xing, Start-up Nation, Meetup, Co-founder, EFactor and LinkedIn. These social networks help you to connect with the broad variety of investors across all business segments as well as industry specialisation.
These professional networks may also connect you with other investors from various countries especially the ones who intend to take part in international business environment. This incredible exposure offers you a variety of alternatives to choose from. Social networks are great for promotion of your product to your future buyers as well as means of attraction of investors.
With the help of social networks, you can find what we refer to as angel investors. An angel investor is a type of start-up investor who invests in your start-up and creates a close contact to ensure the success of the start-up. The investor may provide you with financial/business mentorship and advice. He or she may also offer to access their professional networks comprising of investment ideas and techniques. In these networks, you may also find essential information on the kind of investments and investment requirements they are looking for to create a constant engagement.
With the current advanced information age, various firms have launched startup platforms that offer information regarding startup investors. They also assist in all aspects relating to starting a business including different ways of connecting with investors effectively. There are highlighted mechanisms and techniques of locating particular investors you could be looking for.
The good thing about these platforms is that they have hundreds of members meaning that you get an extraordinary opportunity to get in touch with investors not only for funding but also for financial advice and mentorship.Don’t contact every potential investor you find. Through their profile information in social network accounts, you can discover whether he fits your expectations or not. Only if you are sure that the candidate may show interest in cooperation with you send a brief contact letter expressing the conception of your startup and business plan. Avoid starting conversations with people who cause any suspicions. They may distract your attention from those who really can be ready to make a deal with you.
On the stage of negotiations, you can learn more about your potential sponsor. If his demands can harm your interest and business, in particular, have enough courage to refuse his proposal to cooperate. It is better to find a person that will count with your views than waste time on damaging your startup well-being. The same thing is with the job search. When you are offered the job, but the salary is low and conditions are unsatisfactory, this offer is not worth accepting. Know what you and your business deserve. Think twice before making a deal.
After you have created a strategy with a plan of your search do not try to overdo it. It is better to complete one task of the list effectively than to show low results in several tasks. For example, on one day you decided to look for investors in listed groups on Facebook. It means that if you detach to search in non-listed groups you fail the productive completion of your plan. You can also complete you task earlier than you expected. In this case, we suggest not to switch to the next task too early. It is better to devote time to the analysis of the results and reflect on the work completed.
If you find that you cannot make everything planned on time, delegate some authorities to the subordinates. Sticking to the plan is key to the productive work.
In social media world, your portrait on the internet matters very much. Even if you have sent a detailed presentation of your startup with a business plan, a sponsor can type the name of your project in a search engine to discover more details. It is quite fair because a person thinks of spending his money on some business and he cares about the correctness of his choice too. So, you must create pages on the social networks devoted to your startup. The more details you have there the better. Try to google it by yourself to see what information comes up when you type the name of your business.
It is important to create an Angel List Profile when looking for investors. With an angel list, you have an opportunity of learning about the investor you want to engage in your start-up. Investors on the other hand, also have a chance of learning about you and your business. In creating this profile, include information relating to your firm products, services, personnel and day-to-day operations.
The profile should be precise and clear to make it easy for all the contracted investors to read and understand it without straining. In other words, make everything as easy as possible for people/investors interested in your business. After creating an inclusive and user-friendly profile, share it with request references, professional acquaintances and most importantly your friends on various social networks. People following your firm statistics will recommend other financial entities that can be of help to you.
It will be great if you create a page of your startup at crowdfunding platforms. Some of these platforms are oriented towards funding particular industries including science, businesses, arts, and startups among many others. Other platforms act as angel investors in that they offer loans, equity investments, and the so-called venture networks. In the case you want “seed funded,” there are plenty of potential opportunities for crowdfunding, and therefore your social networks should incline towards embracing it.
So, if you want to maximise the number of views by the potential investors, crowdfunding is the best option, but you must maximise your social media utility. Be updated 24/7 so that you do not miss opportunities and investors responses which may require immediate feedback.
It is important to record all your progress concerning the mission. Mind that you and your business partners are not robots, so you must fix your actions to prevent yourself from awkward situations. For example, you stated in your plan to contact one potential sponsor. You did it but hadn't noted it into the spreadsheet. On the next day, you text to him like for the first time. How do you think, what impression of you can the sponsor make? He may find you not attentive or even air-minded. Investors usually do not like to make a business with such people. So, fix your actions in the spreadsheets and do not allow some stupid mistakes to ruin your image.
When students apply for the university they design admission essays according to the requirements of each institution. When people look for a job they create a resume for the particular position too. So, it would be better if you adapt your business plan for the particular investor too. In social networks, you can find other businesses that they supports or simply their personal interests. Every bit of information you find about them can be useful in the creation of presentation for your startup.
It is obvious most of the investors especially the incredible and supportive ones with recommendable past records always receive numerous applications and invitations from different entrepreneurs. In many instances, investors favor those firms that are introduced by what is referred to as a standard contract. This means that getting their attention requires appealing nature of information and innovative approach. When you refer yourself as a current entrepreneur, the chances of getting an investor for your startup is very high.
