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Obtaining funding for your next business venture without going insane



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Obtaining funding for your next business venture without going insane

Whenever we get into building our own businesses, we always think about our designs that will help convert all of our traffic into sales, but we don't go over how much money it will take to push ourselves into the spotlight and be the best within our industry.  Once we get going, we realize it takes a bit of money to get the right advertising campaigns set up and even to do proper marketing.  Sure, you could know how to do all of this on your own, but it will still cost money and if you don't have a bank roll to fall back on, you'll either need to bootstrap everything over the next few years or bring in an investor to help jump start your business on it's path towards success.

Investors will work with companies they trust and know have a high potential to make them money.  Remember, an investor will only invest if they think they will make money off of you, so be sure to have something unique that will peak the interest of users.  If you're in a saturated market, pushing a very similar system or business plan as your competitors, do you think it's a smart business decision to throw massive amounts of money at a company that doesn't have a high chance at success? 

To peak the curiosity of an investor, you need to have a unique idea that shows potential to go big.  I'm not talking about making a few hundred thousand dollars, I'm talking about competing on Facebook or Google level.  To do this, you need to start off with a few things, and they are:


Start blogging and people will find you, even potential investors
Blogging will build massive amounts of content on your website, which will eventually help you get top rankings within the search engines if you optimize everything just right.  People love reading blogs, especially ones that have a lot of helpful information on them, so you should get started blogging if you haven't already Obtaining funding for your next business venture without going insane

A lot of people see a blog as just a way to help bring in people to boost their sales.  An investor sees a blog as sort of a digital imprint of your personality and business sense.  If you can peak the curiosity of an investor, simply through blogging, they will likely work with you after you show them you're passionate and dedicated to succeed in your industry.  Remember, and investor won't contact you unless they're interested in partnering with you, so if they call or email you then you have a chance at securing a decent amount of funding for the future growth of your business.


Set up an "Investor" page on your website
This actually gets ignored most of the time because people think that investors aren't out there looking for them, they're on big platforms like LinkedIn waiting for people to come to them.  I'm here to tell you that investors like looking through the internet, not just LinkedIn, for potential gold mines for them to throw their money at.  Sure, you could have a "Contact Us" page on your website and get investors to contact you that way, but if you had an "Investors" page it would look much more professional and let the investor know that you're interested in bringing them on board to boost your business into the stratosphere.

On your investor page you will need to add the basic information, such as:

  • Your business name
  • Your business address
  • Your phone number
  • Your goals timeline
  • Goals you've already achieved and ones you're striving to hit
  • Yearly growth since you've started (add a percentage of growth, such as: 200% annual growth each year)

If you add those little tid-bits of information to your investors page, you will likely get a lot of people contacting you to partner up.  You'll have to sift through a lot of emails from people wanting to invest a few hundred bucks, but every once in a while you'll have a whale contacting you and interested to throw a lot of money at you.  So wait for that whale to contact you and ignore the little fish Obtaining funding for your next business venture without going insane


Get on KickStarter even if you're established
Everyone has heard of Kickstarter and knows there have been businesses that have to attribute their riches to successful campaigns.  Not every campaign will bring in a drove of potential investors looking to get a small discount on a service, or product, that will come out at a later date.  You may not even have a successful campaign when you're pushing your business on Kickstarter, but that's not why you're really posting on there.

You'll be setting up a well put together Kickstarter campaign to draw in the big investors who may be lurking in the shadows.  Sure, you'll have to invest some cash into your campaign set up so it stands out, but that's a drop in the bucket compared to what you can get from an investor.  You'll need to link to your website within your campaign, or mention your website so investors can find you online, and they will come to luck on your websites pages to see exactly what you're doing.  Oh wait, you have an "Investors" page on your website and now they're clicking through to see what that's all about Obtaining funding for your next business venture without going insane  See what I did there Obtaining funding for your next business venture without going insane

Big investors won't work with you through a 3rd party platform like Kickstarter because they don't want to give anyone money but you.  They're not investing in the Kickstarter platform, so they will try to contact you through your website where you have all of your business information listed. 


Talk to successful business owners, if you know any
If you're just starting off online and don't know many successful people, this might not be a viable option for you.  Now, if you've been working online for a while, you likely know some people that have been approached by big investors and they can actually refer you to them.  Think about it, whenever you get a referral from a client, they tend to close at a much higher rate than if the person were to just land on your pages through their own search.  An investor will see you as a potential investment if their previous investee is referring you.  Getting a referral from an investors business relationship won't be the only thing that will seal the deal, you'll still have to put together an amazing business and a convincing pitch that will peak their interest.



In conclusion
Finding an investor isn't the most difficult thing to do if you're just thinking outside of the box a bit.  You can start writing about your industry and get noticed by investors through top rankings within Google, Yahoo!, and Bing.  You'll need to set up an "Investor" page so potential investors know you're seeking out capital to push your business to higher hieghts on a much shorter timeline.  After you have your "Investor" page set up on your website, you can now set up a KickStarter campaign and bring in the lurkers, who will likely contact you if they like what you have to offer.  If you have access to successful business owners, you can ask them to refer you to any investors they've ever talked to, which will help you get in touch with the people who would likely throw money at you Obtaining funding for your next business venture without going insane  Remember, you need to have a great business plan as well as have something unique for them to even be interested in the first place.



Remember to follow me!
https://www.seoclerks.com/user/Razzy


Thanks!

Razzy

Comments

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JoeMilford
It is possible to do this without going insane, Razzy (lol)? Getting an idea financed is so tough--I have had a business that was grown from scratch only to see it fail because of import/export issues in the warehouse component. Trying to raise capital for our ideas is always tough, and then you have to find ways to maintain and control rising expenses. I think it is smart to get on Kickstarter even if you have already started--I mean, what do you have to lose, right? You never know what might happen unless you put yourself out there and try. Next, i want to take your advice and find an investor through my blog who might be willing to support my further ventures...



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Corzhens
I have to agree with the Kickstarter because I have read a lot of good reviews about it. And as you said, you have nothing to lose but just a little effort in posting about your funding needs. And although it is not easy to get funding no matter in what ways you do it, I guess sometimes we really have to stretch our minds in order to proceed. With good plans, it needs action and action needs funding. So that boils down to money or capital for the business and raising capital is the hardest part of the game called business.



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augusta
These tips would be very helpful to businesses seeking to partner with great investors to boost their products, brand or services.Getting a loan to enhance one's business these days is not an easy task especially with the level of doubt and skepticism on the path of investors.They need a very convincing business to dump their hard earned, everyone looks out to see their return on investment and as such, they research every well before parting with their cash.



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kgord
I think you have to have your vision clearly spelled out, a mission statement if you will, to have investors willing to take a chance on you. It just seems to be the way to go.



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Barida
Having a mission statement is a sure way to attract investors to take a look on our business. The reason is that that's a way to show the longterm goals of the business.



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kgord
Yes, it is and all businesses should have them, if they don't. It helps to clarify what the business is, and how it sees itself. I think it can clarify for you as well as your customers what you are all about.



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Rumu
Alright, maybe finding an investor isn't difficult but trust me, it's hard work. Asides all mentioned above, a lot of other things has to be exercised for an achievable financier. Am not saying the points above aren't good enough recommendations for attracting an investor, am saying the tips above are applicable to mostly small time gigs. Attracting a bigger investor for a much larger funding will take a lot more than all said above.

Thanks for sharing this post with all the great tips in it's contents.



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Barida
I understand that getting a bigger investor might be that difficult, but it doesn't mean that one should neglect the power of these tips. I'm of the opinion that we should look for a way to improve these tips while looking for bigger investors.



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Rumu
Neglecting these tips will be naive on the part of the reader, or so. They strike at the heart of small businesses and not the giants we all know of, be honest to yourself.



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Everett
While this is a good discussion I have to empathize on one aspect of obtaining funding for a business or idea for a business.

It is VERY hard to find investors/funding!

To find investors, especially if your business is new, and since it is new you probably do not have many products. Investors will only invest if they can get the money back they invested with, and if they can profit from their initial investment. You basically have to "WOW" the investors and they won't invest without knowing every single aspect of the business.

My uncle invests in start-ups, has a technology background, went to college for it and I actually asked him to invest in my own little business. He wouldn't do it because of these 3 main reasons:

1. The business wouldn't reshape the world, just a small group of people that it would help. Investors love projects that will reshape the world, or the internet like facebook, twitter, pinterest, tesla (automatic driving cars), artificial intelligence, etc. (i could go on and on.. lol)

2. The business didn't have many products.

3. The business wouldn't gain that much revenue because of the targeted buyers amount being so low.

So if you are trying to find funding, or an investor make sure you business idea will reshape the niche you're in. Make sure it is profitable for both you and the investor and look for investors AFTER the business is launched and has gained some popularity - it will help in the long run. But overall, it is very hard so I wish anyone looking to find an investor much needed good luck!



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JoeMilford
Everett,
This all makes total sense, and I really appreciate your presentation of WHY investors may not finance our projects. They are looking to get their money back and even more profits later, so they have to weigh all of the options and risks involved. I also agree with you that it is hard to find investors if you are doing something in a small or specialized niche market. That's tough. In 2011, I published a book with a small indie publisher in New York--before I ever received a dime, the executive editor and his team had to sell $10,000 copies just to break even on their investment in me, so I totally understand the difficulties of this issue.



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Barida
Talking to prospective investors about our business can be a sure way to get them fund our businesses if we could be able to convince them to do so. It's all about showing them what the business is going to achieve in a matter of time.



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Martinsx1
Convincing investors isn't that easy as most people would think @Brida, they certainly must see a track of your dealings so far in order to believe it's worth investing in what you are offering. So therefore, it's paramount to be prepared and ready to have what you need to get them to agree with working with you.



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Martinsx1
This is a very detailed article, good job @Razzy. I definitely believe that starting a blog is really a good way to put people on notice about what you are offering and with time should you carryout your projects well, you are definitely going to achieve your set goals.



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Judas2018
I think funding can be drawn from many different sources and while it is fine to start up a kickstarter or patreon to get funding for a project - I think overall raising the money yourself works best. Of course I know that for some projects and for some people in certain positions - that's impossible. I think the most expensive projects are tech or creative projects. Films or anything involving robotics will cost thousands of dollars to bring to life.



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vinaya
I have a brick and mortar business that I launched through a bank loan. It was a hard work to convince the bank. The processing took more than a month and I had to use my land as a security bond. I also have an online business that I launched with my pocket money. I want more funds for my brick and mortar business as well as online business. I want funds to buy inventory for my offline business and funds to market my online business. I liked the ideas presented here, I might use some of these.



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Judas2018
There's an idea. Getting a loan from a bank is fine if you believe you can pay the loan back. But never take on a loan you have doubts about. Also banks can get funny sometimes. Sliding in all kinds of cute little fees and funny language that will make your loan seem like a hostage situation. There are also digital lenders like Kabbage, that loan small businesses money to infuse their companies with much needed capital.



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mildredtabitha
The methods mentioned here are simple and easy. What I have seen most people do in my country is borrow loans.

The methods I have been taught in school for obtaining funds like savings, borrowing and getting help from friends are still the methods used at my place and they really work.

For my case, I will need to follow the steps on this post especially for starting an online business.



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Soulwatcher
I think that your ideas are great but the odds of it actually happening are slim to none. Because you're not going to get any investors unless it's an extraordinary business idea or established business. If it was that easy to get a business loan everyone under the sun would be starting ideas.



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Corzhens
Getting an investor especially in the internet is one undertaking that I couldn’t comprehend. I am looking at it from my side that my question is why would I invest in a project that is owned by someone that I do not know? Even if the project is noble and charitable maybe that question would still linger on my mind. But maybe I am willing to invest if the project is something unique like prolonging the longevity of humans.



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