If you are considering starting a business or already have a start-up but want and need additional financing, there are some very specific information about your business that investors insist to know.
There is, obviously other information that will be important but start here and if the numbers are right, you will find out who might be the " real players".
Answer these questions and angles will follow: What value does your product or service deliver? Clearly define your product or service and what problem or need it addresses.
Paint a "broad-brush" picture of who has the need and why your product or service might be better or faster, or cheaper than other solutions.
What is your target market? Do some research.
Spend some time understanding, not just demographics, but psychographics, as well.
A favorite advisor of mine likes to talk about the means of defining a target market.
He says, and I agree, "most people's idea of target marketing is to take an 8 oz.
Styrofoam cup, a black marker, a map, invert the cup over your office or plant location, draw a circle around the cup, raise the cup and Walla, your target market.
While amusing target market involves serious considerations, like: who has the need for my product, why do they have the need, how are they filling this need now, what is the number of people or businesses that have this need, etc.
How will you reach and convince your target market to buy your product or service? If you have been thinking that your product or service is so good, you won't need to do much marketing, think again.
It is a common mistake entrepreneurs make, over estimating sales and under estimating the difficulty and cost of making them.
The most efficient way I know of addressing this particular issue is see what the competition, if any, are doing.
Begin by doing that and then learn how to reach your market better and in less time than your competition and do that long enough to see if it makes a difference.
Developa realistic business plan.
This is often thought of as the "boring part.
" It is often not fun to understand the you have to sell a bunch of widgets to just cover expenses and to do that you have to price your product or service much higher than you thought.
But, it is only about the money.
Investors want to know if you know what you need to do to make money and if it is realistic for you, or anyone, to be able to do that.
A couple of good rules of thumb: Estimate the cost of producing your product or service and double it; Estimate how long it will take to get your product or service to market and double that.
Who are your competitors? Possibly more valuable than anything else is to know, deeply, your competitors.
If your product is good and your are good it is likely your competitors are better.
Know how you will overcome their superior knowledge of the market and how to reach it.
Be prepared for a battle, have a strategy to win.
They are not going to roll-over and play dead, declaring you the winner While this is not a comprehensive list of investor needs, it will put you ahead of most if you devote time to developing each of these five questions.