Life’s a pitch: Getting your message across to an investor

In your search for venture capital don’t expect fairness.

If you’ve ever been looking for a job and eagerly sent your resume off (only to have it ignored), or if you’ve ever been an employer and looked at an in-tray of hopeful candidates (only to flip through them seeking the one that jumps out), you’ll know that evaluation methods are often less rigourous than they should be. It may be a scan for just twenty seconds that has your resume placed back on the desk, and another picked up.

Seeking investment capital is similar. As a business owner, you are often one of dozens, or even hundreds of proposals which are submitted to an investor. The future of your business it seems is dependent upon something as fickle as getting your business plan actually picked up and read.

The truth is that you will often be judged by factors that you don’t even know about. And if your business plan is passed over then you don’t even get to be judged on its merits.

So, what can you do?

1) work on presentation as much as content. If your proposal doesn’t get picked up, then it doesn’t matter how excellent your idea is.

2) acknowledge you will need to get it to a lot of people.

3) follow up. You are selling an idea. You’d follow up a sales call (I hope).

4) ask for feedback. If you get a “no” for your proposal, ask why. This can help you learn for the next one (and the one after that, and the one after that).

5)  forget about what YOU want, except to the extent that it helps an investor get what he wants.

6) consider how you are delivering it. Just as in job hunting, there is more than one way to find the ideal position. If you are sending your resume off in response to job ads, the best you can hope for is to considered equally with other candidates. As they say, the best jobs are never advertised. In raising capital, there are various ways of finding and contacting investors including referrals, networking, and recognised channels such as corporate advisors. Corporate advisors such as us (so yes, I am disclosing my interest!) have the ear of many investors and our opinion is valued.

And remember, there are many stages to your pitch. I am talking here about your initial written submission. When it comes to the next stages, there is even more to consider…more that can go right, and more that can go wrong.