Looking for ways to get your start-up business off the ground? Sometimes there are some creative ways that you can inject some new life into your dream project that don’t necessarily require throwing a ton of money at the situation.
So how exactly do you bounce back if the bank declined your loan or your trusted uncle decided he didn’t approve of your business plan?
There is a huge heap of venture capital and angel money out there. You just need to know where to look in order to find it to fund your business or start-up idea. According to Sponsor Concierge, there is approximately $18 billion out there that major companies are willing to spend this year, even in this economy.
Small-businesses, events, public speakers, authors, entertainers, show hosts, self-help experts, Internet TV and radio shows as well as non-profit charities round out the top 10 business ideas that are attractive to investors in the coming year.
Sometimes just thinking outside of the box and coming up with alternative solutions can be the answer. Here are a few alternatives to breaking the bank and investing millions of dollars in order to get your idea off the ground and running:
- Know Your Audience: You need to prove that you understand, and can connect with, your target audience. It’s that demographic that you are trying to target which will make you appear attractive to investors. What is your specialty? What makes you stand out from any other businesses in your industry?
- Existing Client Base: Do you already have a well-established clientele that you have established who understand and buy into the product or service you are marketing? If you have a well-established email marketing list of clients who have either signed up to use your product or services or have shown interest, then you can use this information to prove to investors how valuable or salable your idea is.
- Lead By Example: Prove to potential investors that you pride yourself on integrity. If you make it important to show that you are always on-time to meetings and follow up on the things you say you will do, you will be offering them an example of how you will follow through later on down the road. Showing up on time to meetings and delivering examples or emails on time shows how you will perform throughout the process of working together.
- What Do You Stand For?: Giving back to the community that you represent can go a long way in helping you generate investor money. If there is a charity that you relate to or that your company unites with, make sure to let potential investors know about it. Unify your brand image with the charity in order to show that you have intentions of giving back.
- Be Media-Friendly: Is your brand image something that can easily be marketed through the media? Think in terms of the possibility that you might want to take your product or service on a tour of local and national media in an effort of getting the word out on a larger scale. Would Oprah have you on her show? If she did, what would you even say? It’s a great habit to get into of rehearsing a positive speech about your business. Practice this speech in front of a mirror a few times. People buy from people they like and this will be your shot to prove why they should like you and your business.
Focusing your efforts on those things that are truly important to the success of your enterprise is easier when you have a trusted partner to take good care of the details. For more than 40 years, PADGETT BUSINESS SERVICES® has been just such a partner for small business owners in all kinds of industries. Our “Small Biz Pros” serve their small business communities from more than 400 offices all over the United States and Canada. Let PADGETT handle your company’s bookkeeping, tax preparation, financial planning, payroll and financial reporting needs.