During the second quarter of 2009, U.S. venture capital funds raised 1.7 billion U.S. dollars, compared with $ 9.3 billion in the second quarter of 2008, representing a decrease of almost 82 percent! This surprising statistic confirms the fact that you have to be ready when they are trying to raise capital and venture capital firms. Companies go to a much smaller pool of capital, venture capital firms will only fund, if your company is represented in a way that the professional, memorable andcredible.
Here is a checklist of things that 8-address which your chances of winning the interest of venture capital firms raise:
Be honest with yourself - Is your company a viable candidate for venture capital? When you go through all the steps necessary to prepare an executive summary / business plan, you will have the answer to this question. You can have a very viable business, but it is not a venture capital candidates.
Problem orOpportunity - What specific problem or opportunity you are addressing with your product or service? You must be over the pain or the opportunity and how you have clear cut costs, increase revenue, reduce time-to-market, etc.
Solution - How do you fix the problem? What hardware, software and services you offer?
Market Opportunity - What are the specific market segment are you targeting? Remember, there are richesAmerica! They show that research is necessary to have a strong go-to-have-to market strategy.
Unique Selling Proposition (USP) - What is offered with your product or service and why a customer should pay money vs. all the competition is unique in the market? (For new technologies where there are no competitors, you) in competition with inertia
Management Team - Who will run the business and how they are uniquely qualified to take your business successful?
Financial Projections - Remember that investors only invest in your company if you can demonstrate how it will be them money. Their five years financial projections should demonstrate clearly how you will do that ... But they need to be credible, or you're wasting your time. Nothing turns on investment faster than projections of your company achieve realistic sales targets.
Funding Request - Many> Business plans not on how much capital they need, and its use. If you have a certain amount for the Phase 1 request and explain plan of the second round for a later phase, to be as specific as possible.
These are just some of the areas to be addressed in improving the financing you need to be successful for your business. You need the "thick skin" when dealing with rejection, get a small percentage of deals actually be funded with Venture Capital. After thisSteps will not guarantee success, but also strengthens the chances of raising capital for your business if properly prepared.