If you are seeking to raise angel investment for your business ask yourself the question now; when you finally do find an angel investor interested in discussing your proposal further with you, are you willing to pitch your idea and stand-up to the scrutiny?
Nerve racking stuff even for the most experienced entrepreneur, but not so nerve racking if you have prepared thoroughly beforehand.
Always remember:
people don’t buy products, they buy people.
Investors don’t invest in businesses, they invest in people.
people don’t buy products, they buy people.
Investors don’t invest in businesses, they invest in people.
The first skill of being an entrepreneur is the ability to instil confidence in others by being able to clearly communicate your thoughts, ideas and vision.
When pitching to an Angel Investor, you must be prepared to package your business as an angel investment opportunity and speak to an investor in a language they understand, which is in terms of ROI.
Angel investors are highly successful business people that get approached daily by entrepreneurs, and when you meet an investor for the first time no matter how eloquent you are, there will be little to no value in just talking to him/her about how great your product is.
The best way to stand out from the crowd is to always say less and prepare as much as you can in writing to let the facts of your proposal speak for themselves.
As an example, think how many times you press the delete key or edit your email – you do not get that luxury when speaking to an investor and opinions form quickly. A single incorrect sentence can turn an investor cold and it is important for entrepreneurs to realise how unforgiving investors can be.
Angel investors in many cases are trying to catch you out and are looking for reasons to not invest.
After your pitch and on the goodbye stages of your meeting with an angel investor, have a well written 1-page investment summary to hand over to your potential investor for him/her to review later. The investment summary will act as a refresher and may alleviate some concerns not discussed in the meeting.
A well written investment summary prepared for the investor to peruse at leisure makes a much bigger impact than an entrepreneur ever could in an initial meeting.
How long does angel investment deals take to complete in general?
It is important for entrepreneurs to learn how to articulate themselves in ways that business angel investors feel comfortable with, and be very patient throughout the whole process as angel investment does not happen overnight.
It is not uncommon for deal structure to take a period of 3-6 months to iron out all of the details. Entrepreneurs must always work towards a bigger picture by taking it slowly, saying less where possible and writing more.
Sell your investment proposal like a product
To sell your product to a customer you will maybe design a pamphlet, create some graphical literature and perhaps even create a website that speaks your customer’s language in a way that they understand.
Even the most amazing product or service will require some form of presentation before a customer is willing to part with his cash to buy your product and that is the minimum expected by the consumer today.
When you pitch for angel investment, an entrepreneur has to click a switch and sell the entire business proposal to an angel investor by speaking their language.
It is astonishing that some entrepreneurs really believe that they do not need to pitch or create a graphical presentation to investors because they believe that the product should just speak for itself.
The number 1 mistake entrepreneurs often make when looking to raise angel investment is assuming that an investor will not require a full, well written, well researched business plan with financials before investing.
Angel Investor Checklist before your meeting:
All entrepreneurs, before contacting or trying to arrange a meeting with an angel investor should ensure that they have the following material prepared:
- Full Business Plan with Financial Projections
- Pitch PowerPoint Deck
When making your pitch to an angel investor, it is important to have your power-point/graphical presentation prepared with key bullet points highlighted which structures your pitch. - Investment Summary (one page)
It is important for you to draft your investment summary ONLY after you have completed a full business plan – more on this below. It is always recommended to leave a one-page investment summary with investors at the end of the pitch, with lots of detail on ‘what’s in it for an investor’, as mentioned above.
Full Business Plan with Financial Projections
A well written, well researched business plan will not only improve an investor’s confidence in you. It will prepare you better as well, to answer questions a business angel may raise in your meeting.
You will need a business plan even if your business is already in operation, and yes, you will require a business plan even if you have already invested some of your own capital into your business.
Not having a business plan in place communicates to an investor that:
- You are not really serious about your business, or worse
- You are not really serious about raising angel investment.
Business Plan: Write it yourself or get an Accountant to write one
The best advice for entrepreneurs is to always try to write a full business plan yourself. You can have your Accountant modify and do final checks, but the entrepreneur should always do 80% of the plan themselves.
Not only will this be a lot cheaper than delegating it to someone else, but writing your own business plan will force you to look at your own start-up from multiple angles.
You will have to confront all sorts of negatives of your business and its operations. Performing a SWOT analysis on your start-up can be an eye watering experience. It is understandable that this is something you would rather not dwell on and you may suddenly find that you are less passionate about your own start-up. However, this experience will allow you to sharpen your business model, and will also prepare you better for angel investors that ask randomly in a meeting: ‘on page 45, paragraph 32’ it states ‘xyz’ – please explain this. At least you can answer and not resort to ‘my Accountant wrote this and I will have to ask them’.
Differences between an executive summary and investment summary
Your investment summary is NOT your executive summary and it must tell the entire story of your business plan in one page.
Your investment summary must touch on your product or service and the problems that it solves, but should never JUST concentrate on what your product or service does in its entirety.
Remember you are not trying to make an angel investor buy your product or service, you are trying to make him buy a piece of your business, so your investment summary should focus on the industry you are in and the money that can be made from it.
No matter how great the temptation, NEVER create an Investment summary BEFORE you have fully completed your business plan and try where possible to tailor the investment summary to each individual investor.
We hope these tips help – and wish you all the best in attracting future angel investment.