Securing the capital to take your venture from the idea stage to a revenue-making business can be quite a challenge for a lot of entrepreneurs. If you have been bootstrapping your startup or taken investments from friends and family and are ready to take the next step in financing, here are a few things to consider before raising seed capital.
Does Your Business Disrupt Its Industry?
Investors are looking for innovation – a product or service that’s going to change its industry. It needs to meet the demand of its customers and do so better than its competitors.
Do You Have Traction?
Even if your venture doesn’t have revenue yet, do you have customers? Is your customer base engaged and growing? Investors want to see that there is a need for your product or service in the market.
Are You Willing To Take Constructive Feedback From Investors?
Investors will have valuable feedback about how to tweak your business in a way that might make it better. Having thick skin and learning to take constructive feedback and potentially apply it to your business will help you succeed. If you’re not able to adapt to a better strategy and refuse to abandon your original idea if necessary, you may have a long, tough road ahead.
Is Your Startup Scalable?
Can you grow your business on a global scale? Do you have a strategy in place to do so? Even if you don’t have a business plan laid out on how you will take the venture global, you should be thinking about it and be able to articulate the first steps in the process.
Do You Know How You Will Use The Capital?
When you meet with investors you should have a plan laid out regarding how you will use their investment. Whether its growing your team, enhancing your technology, etc. they will want to hear how their capital will be put to use. They also might have some feedback on whether you should utilize it in a different function, and you should be receptive to that.
