With schemes like the SEIS (Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme) now in place to encourage startup investment, the time is right to secure the investment you need for your business.
To ensure you get that essential financial backing in the form of startup investment, here are some ways you can increase your chances and really get your business growing.
1. Seed Enterprise
For those unfamiliar with the SEIS, it gives investors up to 78% tax relief on investments of up to £100,000 in businesses less than two years old that meet the qualifying criteria. It forms part of a package of measures introduced by the government to stimulate investment in start-ups and young companies. If you want to take advantage of SEIS, you will need to get your business in good shape first.
2. Find a mentor
Mentors are helpful for each startup entrepreneur. They are experienced people that have already passed the road you need to pass. So, if you really want to secure a startup investment, you will need the right mentor.
Doctors have medical journals, and lawyers have case law, but entrepreneurs do not have a set of guidelines to help them understand and simplify processes. Therefore, it is crucial you listen to and learn from someone you can trust and respect. Only those who have been there and done it can really know what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. Let trusted, personal advice from a seasoned mentor or successful investor guide your business and its search for funding.
3. Build a strong team if you want to secure startup investment
As well as a mentor with credentials, you need to put together a team with experience. Understand your weaknesses and pick people that have the skills and background you do not have. You will need to make sure that your business effectively manages its investments. You may need to engage the advice of professionals for specific investment advice.
4. Shape your proposition
Startup investors tend to look for a pattern that they can fit your business into before they decide to give you a startup investment. If you have researched the portfolio of their investments, you will have a better understanding of that pattern, and this should inform the way you present your opportunity to them.
5. Model your business plans for startup investment
Make your business plan clear and to the point, and practice your presentation to investors until you are comfortable with it. You really need a business plan that will drive you to the success you want to achieve. Also, the decision for startup investment, in most of the cases will be based on the startup financial model in your business plan. So, it is important for you to have the right business plan.
Test the assumptions on which your business plan is based and be explicit about these when presenting to investors. You should also be aware of your risks and show how you will manage these. When it comes to your investments, risk analysts like APT have developed complicated algorithms to model investments made over the near and far future. The APT model takes into account a number of complicated, interrelated variables to maximize return and reduce risk.
6. Make it happen
Securing startup investment for your entrepreneurial venture is the first step in ensuring the success of your business. Be prepared, be thorough and be confident.
