Attract business investment. Profitable investment plan. How to get the attention of an investor

Large-scale plans require investment cash injections. What does it take to get an investment in a business? Where to look for investors and how to attract them?

You will learn:

• Why invest in business.
• What types of investments exist.
• How to write a business plan for an investor.
• How to attract a private investor.

For every startup there is necessary condition, without which nothing will come of it. it start-up capital. To get the right amount of money, you can limit yourself only on your own. For example, sell everything you have, or save for a long time. However, there is an easier way to find money - investing in a business. But how to get them and where can you find investors?

Why you need to invest in a business

Every business needs money to grow. Otherwise, you will be stuck in a dead end without even having time to start active actions. It often happens that a good idea"burns out" even during planning, as everything rests on the lack of funds.

You must always remember that there are many other people in the world besides you who can come up with a similar idea. Therefore, do not hesitate to implement it. Most likely, you will be ahead of competitors who managed to find investments in a similar project, while you were trying to earn money on your own.

Statistically, most large companies started from scratch with almost no start-up capital and used investments and loans.

Nowadays, finding investments in a business project has become much easier. For this, various investment funds are specially created to help novice businessmen.

However, you need to understand that not everyone will be able to receive money from the funds. You should try to convince investors that your project is better than others, describe all its advantages and prospects, and be sure to prepare a business plan to attract investment.

Many investors have no problem identifying exactly those projects that will become the most profitable. They do this based on their experience.

Ultimately, you will not be able to get money from investors if you do not first convince them that your project will bring good and fast profits. There is also the possibility of obtaining a grant, but this method is complex and has high level competition.

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Most of our entrepreneurs have a crown on their heads. They consider themselves creators and believe that they have some personal freedom. At the same time, most companies under the leadership of these managers do not correspond to the changes that have taken place in the market over the past eight years. Work processes are not built, the service is not established, employees work anyhow.

Why this happens, Dmitry told the editors of the Commercial Director magazine.

Types of business investments

All investments have the same essence, but they are classified into several types, about each of which it is necessary to know basic information.

The classification is based on certain featured:

1. Depending on ownership:

• Investment in own business

Investors consider this variety as one of the best. If the investor is experienced, has start-up capital and all the knowledge, then if he wants, he can start his own business by investing his money in it.

The main advantages of this type of investment are:

• Self-realization and achievement of goals.
• Huge profit.

However, it is not without drawbacks:

• You take a big risk, because business is sometimes unpredictable.
• You must have basic business skills.
• In addition to money, you will spend a lot of time and effort.
• Pretty substantial initial investment.

• Investment in someone else's business

This method is much easier to implement. You only need to invest money, and knowledgeable people already working on how to make them work. All organizational issues also will not lie on you.

1. Depending on the amount of investment:
   • Full funding of activities. The bottom line is that there is only one investor. Most often you can meet in creating your own business.
   • Partial funding. This is the so-called equity participation, and the money of investors makes up the bulk of the capital.
2. Depending on the stage of investment:
   • Investing in startups. This type of investment lies in the fact that money is invested directly in the idea itself in order to bring it to life.
   • Investment in an existing business.

Sometimes existing projects need additional funds in order to develop further. In this case, the company already has customers, a certain area of ​​activity that makes a profit.

1. Depending on the form of profit received:
   • Active income - in this case, the investor is the head of the company.
   • Passive income - in this case the manager is a hired third party.

1. By type:
   • Direct - money is invested directly in the assets of a particular firm.
   • Portfolio - all the investor's funds are distributed among the assets of various companies.

Expert opinion

Direct investment is a risky investment involving business

Ivan Rodionov,

Director of AIG-Brunswick Millennium Fund Direct Investment Fund, Moscow

Many young but rapidly growing companies often find themselves in a situation where they need to raise capital significantly. Therefore, they have two options: grow at a pace that allows their current income, or attract direct investment in business development. Direct investments - investments with high risks and direct investment in the capital of the company. In this case, the direct investor will be involved in the affairs of this firm as a partner with their own interests. In indirect investments, the objects of capital investment are chosen by third parties, and not the owner of the capital himself.

• Working with investors: 4 easy ways to lose business

Who is ready to invest in a small business

There are several types of funding. So how do you determine which source to go to? It depends on several factors: the stage of business development, its condition, type of activity (service sector or manufacturing sector).

1. Friends and acquaintances.

Close friends, acquaintances or relatives may be passionate and interested in even a simple outline of your future business. Only good friends will invest in your project, guided by one faith in you. Using this method, you run the risk of ruining relationships with those people who have invested in you. For example, if your project fails, then you will be required to return the money, which you will not be able to carry out in the near future, and if succeed, then someone will not like the interest that you paid them.

1. Investment funds.

These are associations of various legal and individuals, which connects the main objective- receiving the money.

There are a huge number of varieties of investment funds, which are determined by the scope of their investments. However, they all have one feature: they only invest in time-tested business areas and do not cooperate with innovative projects.

1. Banks.

The most popular and easiest way to find money is to go to the bank. However, this method has two big disadvantages. The first is a pledge. Moreover, the loan that you take cannot exceed 70% of the value of the collateral. The second is interest, which not everyone will be able to pay.

1. venture organizations.

The capital of such organizations consists of investments of individuals. Often they invest in the development of innovative and high technologies and productions.

The nuances of this method:

• Big risk, but big profit if successful.
• You receive investments for a reason, but you sell a share in the enterprise, which can be redeemed if desired.
• The investor has every right to interfere in the business implementation process.

1. Business angels.

This term refers to investors who invest their money in a company that is only at the idea stage. Therefore, if your project has not reached the level at which it is too early to apply to various funds or a bank, then you can use the services of business angels. In most cases, “angels” are people who have already managed to raise their own business and earn good money from it, which they are going to start-up entrepreneurs.

Initially, the "angels" appeared in Silicon Valley, so one of the most popular areas for investment is the technology industry.

Advantages of this type of investment:

• You do not need to leave a deposit and look for guarantors.
• Investors are eager to invest in small business creation.
• The investor in this case is an experienced entrepreneur, which means that he can give you advice and help with development.
• It is much easier for an investor-businessman to understand the essence of your idea.

1. Business incubators.

These are organizations that help novice businessmen realize their project, while greatly reducing their costs. Most often they are located on empty places of industrial facilities.

If you want to get into a business incubator, you must apply. In the future, it will be considered by the administration. If the application passes, you will receive a substantial starting bonus.

Benefits of business incubators:

• When renting space and equipment for organizing production, you receive benefits for five years.
• If you need help with finding an investor and doing business, then you will be consulted for free.
• The scope of your activity does not affect the consideration of the application.

1. State.

The state promotes the idea of ​​creating private companies, therefore it is engaged in

Sources of investment in your business project:

• Territorial (city, region) funds that support private business.
• Corporations that combine regional investments with private investors.

Available a large number of various grants and subsidies from the state.

A big advantage is that now there are a lot of different technology parks and technopolises, as well as special economic zones.

Despite the fact that obtaining public investment in business projects is not a particularly effective and time-consuming way, we should not forget about it. Yes, you will have to collect documents, communicate with officials and, quite possibly, face frequent refusals. However, if you find an experienced consultant or you have acquaintances through whom you can get through, then you will get good funding without any problems.

• State assistance to business in 2017: with whom the state will share money

Attracting Business Investment: Five Essential Steps

To search for investors faster and more efficiently, it is important to act consistently and in accordance with the recommendations developed by professionals.

When making investments, investors are primarily guided by their own commercial interests. It is important to understand this, and therefore, in the process of searching for sources of investment, it is necessary to take into account the interests of the owner of financial resources.

Potential investors are concerned about the safety, as well as the increase of their financial capital, so they are not interested in how much profit the business will bring to its owner and how breakthrough and innovative it will be.

Some investors do not care about business ideas, they are looking for passive income, tired of active development business. Such investors have accumulated initial capital, inherited from with great difficulty, and the only desire of such investors is to profit from the invested funds without much labor.

When looking for an investor, you need to convince him that he will receive the desired income. The instruction below has importance. Its step-by-step observance will help increase the chances of a quick and high-quality search for the necessary Money.

To get an investment in a business from scratch, you need to go through five consecutive steps:

Step 1. We draw up a business plan to attract investment

First of all, when choosing an object for investment, investors pay attention to the business plan. It should be correctly drawn up and executed, otherwise there is a possibility of not receiving money.

AT without fail A well-written business plan should contain the following information:

• project description;
• calculation of the required amount of money;
• analysis of the commercial benefits that the investor will receive;
• payback period of the project: after what period of time the first income will be received;
• what are the prospects further development organizations.

When compiling business plan professionals recommend paying attention to every little thing.

Literally everything should inspire confidence in a person reading a business plan: the quality of the paper on which the document is written, appearance the folder in which it is nested, even when used in the design of professional graphic editors.

In more detail, how to write a business plan, we will tell further.

Step 2. Choose suitable shape cooperation

The cooperation between the business owner and the investor takes place in various forms. It is important to analyze in advance which of them will be most effective for a company that is looking for investments.

Investors agree to provide funds by earning income in the following ways:

• as a percentage of the invested amount;
• as a percentage of profits throughout the life of the project;
• as a share in the business.

The business owner, having previously decided on the option, must indicate it in the business plan. Nevertheless, it often happens that it is difficult for a novice businessman to find the necessary investments.

If a potential investor categorically disagrees with the provided model and wants to use another option for cooperation, this option should be evaluated. As practice shows, it is better to agree to its terms than to remain without funds.

Step 3. We resort to the help of experienced businessmen

Novice entrepreneurs can be sure that no one will understand them better than experienced businessmen who have been successfully working in this field for a long time. Most of them willingly help beginners with advice. Especially when these councils acquire a mutually beneficial form of cooperation.

Often experienced businessmen take beginners under their wing: they can give investments for a business project to novice entrepreneurs or recommend a project for investment to other businessmen. Even if this does not happen, it is quite possible that the professionals will give valuable advice and tips to help you in the future.

Step 4. Negotiate

Very often, a positive decision of investors to invest in a project is determined by competent negotiations. You should carefully prepare for them, even if you easily find mutual language with people and have good public speaking skills.

It is necessary to correctly answer the questions that a potential investor has and convince him of the prospects of the project. It would be wiser to think over all the topics for conversation in advance and prepare clearly formulated answers.

From the first meeting, investors usually expect a competent presentation of the project, as well as a business plan.

The invitation of a specialist who participated in the development of the project can also contribute to the successful conduct of negotiations. It will help to more thoroughly and better illuminate all its nuances and answer the most tricky questions investors.

Step 5. We conclude an agreement

The last stage of negotiations in case positive result is the signing of an agreement on cooperation or investment. It is important to carefully read all the terms of the contract. Even better, if there is a professional lawyer nearby.

The agreement must state:

• term of cooperation;
• the amount of investments;
• rights, as well as obligations that are assigned to the parties.

The funds are transferred to the businessman on certain conditions, in accordance with the agreement. Their essence is that finances should be invested in the implementation of the project.

The signed agreement should exclude the possibility of misuse of funds. Even part of the invested money should not be spent on needs that are not related to the implementation of the project.

The entrepreneur should focus on the above step by step advice. In attracting funds from investors, it is important to follow the sequence, only in this case the investment will be as effective as possible.

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Expert opinion

You are a seller and an investor is a picky buyer

Anatoly Saklakov,

President of the Kaskad group of companies, Perm

During the first meeting, the investor expects to hear from you an oral story about the investment project and the company. The presentation should be energetic and concise. When you represent your team, the contributor evaluates you as an individual, as an entrepreneur. Activity, honesty, ability to achieve results, intelligence, your leadership skills are the most valuable personality traits for investors. The stronger these traits are manifested in you, the higher the chances of establishing cooperation between you and investors.

Light humor and optimism will be a good help for you, learn to always set yourself up for a positive wave. Contrary to popular belief, most investors do not like professional presentations with slides, it is better to use diagrams, drawings on paper instead. The best option will provide investors with photographs of manufactured products.

How to write a business plan for investment

The business plan for the investor is economic and technical justification for the need for capital investment. It is mandatory to provide for an analysis of the effectiveness of a set of measures, an assessment of the reality and necessity of investments, and the solution of problems that will arise during the implementation of the project. A business plan is a logical and structured justification for the need and expediency of injecting investor funds into a particular business.

At the enterprise level, relatively small (local) projects are used more often. The business plan in this case acts as a document representing the results of a complete investment project.

Thus, a business plan can be included in the investment package as its component, replace it, or include multiple projects.

The business plan of the investment project is being developed to substantiate:

• degree of viability and sustainability of the project;
• the possibility of obtaining investment and credit resources, as well as the return of borrowed funds;
• proposals for the creation of joint and foreign enterprises;
• expediency of providing state support measures;
• direction in which the project should develop.

The business plan of the project for attracting investments provides for an accurate, competent and structured presentation of all the material that would characterize the business model offered to investors from all sides. The content of the text in the business plan should be light with clear and reliable information for contributors.

An important condition is logical structure the whole plan.

When drawing up a plan, the following principles should be followed:

1. Information must be true and accurate.
2. The wording should be short and correct so that there is no misunderstanding.
3. Calculations and arguments are needed to explain each stage of the development of the project.
4. No need to use redundant information.
5. It is not necessary to describe only the advantages of the project, while not mentioning its shortcomings.

Only a brief, reasoned position, which is enshrined in your project, can attract prospective investors. If your business plan contains incorrect information, a lot of unnecessary details, and complex professional terms, then it will be problematic for you to get investments in your project.

Structure The business plan has two parts. The first is the introduction, in which you briefly describe the essence of your project. The second is the main part, which includes the following subparagraphs:

1. General definition and description of the business development plan.
2. Information about the provided goods and services. Here the situation of this or that product/service in the common market is subject to consideration. A comparison with competitors and a description of the prospects are made.
3. Consideration of the scheme of promotion of your goods or services. We study all the ways to get the maximum income and sell your product to the masses.
4. Preparation of production and organization plan. The study of the technical base and the formation of order at the enterprise.
5. Discussing how your business plan will be implemented based on the required funding.
6. Investment plan.
7. Forecasting your company's performance in the future.
8. Economic efficiency indicators based on calculations. In other words, you must prove to the future investor that your project is really profitable for investments.
9. Consideration of all kinds of risks that may arise during production and sale. Risk assessment.
10. Plan of legal activity.
11. Information about the author of the business project.

Similarly, project implementation steps for investments within the specified structure are subject to consideration. To put it simply, your business plan should contain not only information about your idea, but also information about its implementation.

It is necessary to consider the implementation of a business project for investment within the business plan of your project, which is official documentation and is carried out taking into account the wishes of your investors.

To determine efficiency business ideas, there is a system of indicators. It includes:

• Financial performance indicator that takes into account all outcome options for each party.
• A budget performance indicator that indicates how the investment will affect the republican or local budget.
• An indicator of efficiency in terms of economics, which takes into account the ratio of costs and results obtained for each of the parties.

In addition, it is necessary to assess how this project will affect society and the environment.

Commercial efficiency is the main indicator for a business, the purpose of which is to strengthen its position in market conditions and maximize profits.

The main indicators for obtaining an objective assessment of a project are:

• payback rate;
• business profitability index;
• net income from doing business;
• internal rates of return.

The ratio of the net profit received and the amount of capital that is invested in the organization of the enterprise determines the value of the size of the investment.

Based on the calculations, investors decide whether it is advisable to invest in the business the amount of money that the entrepreneur requires.

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How to attract private investment in business

Private investment is a guaranteed way to get financing for a business in any economic situation, even in times of crisis. However, one must take into account the fact that now investors do not demand a small block of shares, as before, but vice versa - they need either a blocking or controlling stake. In other words, they become co-owners of your business.

The differences between investment funds and private business investments lie mainly in the amount of capital investment, as well as in the amount of profit that investors want to receive from one or another source.

This means that private investors and funds have different investment targets. Those who are going to engage in small and medium-sized businesses, it would be preferable to turn to private investors.

In this case, you can get a small investment, and most importantly, borrow money, and not sell part of your company's shares.

In most cases, they contact private investors directly using contacts. However, if you apply for small amounts money from ten to several hundred thousand US dollars, then you can start looking for a private investor yourself. There are quite a few offers from private investors, so you need to understand that you have to spend quite a lot of time choosing the best and most profitable.

There are two main conditions without which you will not be able to attract business investment from a private investor:

• Accounting required according to international standards financial reporting.

Otherwise, you should not count on negotiations with the investor.

• Soft financial modeling.

It is important for an investor to know how the product in which he invests his capital will behave in various market conditions.

Expert opinion

It is more interesting to work with innovative projects

Stefan Gleinzer,

business angel, London

I love investing in business development that has a touch of innovation. I think that it is better to form a portfolio of various successful projects than to invest in the same area. Investing in business projects to create new digital technologies that, quite possibly, will change our world for the better is my choice. I prefer to invest in companies early stage their development. Despite the fact that sometimes I made many mistakes, I will not stop investing in business projects.

Expert opinion

I don't like it when money is kept under the bed

Kirill Shalankin,

private investor, Moscow

The money kept under the bed is not mine. Therefore, I decided to invest them in some project. My condition was equity participation in the project, or representation in it as a co-founder. To choose the right project for me, I spent quite a lot of time. I searched through friends, on various forums and sites on this subject. As a result, my selection process was divided into three stages:

• Acquaintance with the business idea and the entrepreneur.

The description that they provide me must necessarily contain reasoned information, on the basis of which I must choose this particular project, evaluating its prospects, as well as the attached calculations. I am a man of principles, so I will not invest my capital in projects that can harm people. An entrepreneur must explain to me the purpose of his business. Naturally, I pay attention to what impression the partner makes. Changing a business plan is easy; changing a person is almost impossible.

• Business plan discussion.

When discussing a business plan, it is important to think critically in order to calculate all the risks. I ask about what happens if there are problems with the development of the business, and what solutions will be taken to eliminate them. At the end of the conversation, I understand for sure whether the business plan is 100% thought out or not yet.

• Time for reflection.

If the results that I received in the first two stages satisfied me, I take two weeks for reflection to accept final decision about investing. If, after this time, I still have the desire to invest my capital in this project, I will do so.

Who assists in attracting investments in business on the Internet

If you are unable to find an investor for your business on your own, you can turn to specialists who will do it for you.

The most popular Russian-language services for finding business investments and investment objects are:

1. EASTWESTGROUP

The essence of this service is to find investments in an existing or frozen business. Thanks to him, you can save a lot of time and effort. To use this resource, you need to go simple registration, after which you can contact investors.

This service has over 10 years of experience. Experts evaluate the prospects, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of a particular business project, absolutely free of charge, which helps to attract investors to it.

After registration, you will immediately be able to contact a large number of investors, which increases the chance of receiving money for your business project. This service takes a small fee for finding a depositor, which is negotiated individually with each entrepreneur after the completion of the transaction. Before you receive the investment, you will not have to pay anything.

To use this service, you need to follow a few simple steps:

• Submit an application.
• Free consultation with a specialist.
• Read the Intermediary Service Agreement.
• To sign an agreement.
• Wait for negotiations between the investor and the service to take place.
• Conclude a mutually beneficial deal with the investor.

1. start2up

In fact, this service is a bulletin board. Here, startups, aspiring businessmen and investors place ads to find a partner.

This site helps to invest money for those who have it. And for those who do not have money to create or develop their own own business, it helps to find investments.

Ads are divided into categories based on the field of activity and the region.

The most popular business areas on this site are: “IT” and the Internet, education, art, culture and science, as well as real estate.

Already several thousand people use this service. Moreover, its visitors are not only Russian citizens, but also residents of the CIS countries and Eastern Europe. Thanks to such a vast geography, the chance of getting investments in your business increases.

On the site you can find a huge number of proposals for buying a startup, investing in a start-up business or in the development of existing business projects.

Moreover, you can buy a ready-made business.

Thus, thanks to various Internet portals, you can easily find an investor if your project is interesting enough.

Do not forget that there is such a thing as crowdfunding. Using one of its varieties - crowdinvestment, you can get financing for a share in a project for investors.

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Common mistakes businessmen make when investing in a business

Mistake 1.Ignorance of profit

Due to excessive confidence in their idea, some entrepreneurs cannot accurately calculate how much income an investor will receive.

Error 2.Benefits not calculated

First of all, you need to determine how much an investor can earn on your project.

Mistake 3.Asking for more than they need

Mistake 4."I developed New Product which is not yet on the market"

Many begin the presentation of a business project with these words. But they never thought about the fact that this is not on the market for the simple reason that no one needs it. If you presented your project in this way, then be sure to prove why it will be promising and useful.

Mistake 5.Lack of competitive advantage

It is imperative to have a competitive advantage that others do not have. At the same time, you should not give your business imaginary advantages that, in fact, do not represent any benefit for the project.

Information about experts

Ivan Rodionov, Director of the AIG-Brunswick Millennium Fund Direct Investment Fund, Moscow. Doctor of Economic Sciences. At the same time, he manages the AIG-Interros Russia Century Fund, a direct investment fund. AIG-Brunswick Millennium Fund is an American private equity fund. Founded in 1996. Manages $285 million in capital. At present, the fund has successfully completed all of its investment projects.

Anatoly Saklakov, President of the Kaskad group of companies, Perm. "Cascade". Field of activity: design and construction (KaskadStroy), trade and logistics (Logotrans, UralPromKomplekt, Dilon Finance, Dion Praha), property management (VKIU, URS Kama-flot), health services (Mir Zdraviya ”, Go! Fitness), beer production (“Burma”), retail sales (“Ounce”). Form of organization: group of companies. Territory: Russia; head office in Perm. Number of staff: 120.

Stefan Gleinzer, a German business angel based in London. Participated in the founding of companions.de, companionsTV, ricardo.de and myblog.de, Mendeley.com, RjDj.me, Last.fm. Stefan's investment in Last.fm, valued at several hundred thousand pounds, made him $22 million when Last.fm was sold to CBS. Stefan truly believes in the European spirit of entrepreneurship and remains an active business angel. In addition to his business interests, he received a PhD in foreign exchange risk management and worked as a DJ for 15 years.

To launch the project, we needed $200,000–300,000. At first, we managed on our own, investing mainly intellectual resources. Practically no real money was brought in - they limited themselves to literally a few thousand dollars. But at some point we were forced to look for an investor.

Askar Rakhimberdiev,

CEO, MoySklad

In this article you will read:

• How to attract investors to the company
• How to choose the right funding source

At each stage of growth ( table) the business may need to choose a source of funding. We wonderedHow to attract investors?when there was no company yet, but there was some idea, a beta version of the project. Our product is a cloud-based b2b service for trade management. We invite other companies to place their client bases, manage the range and balance of goods, create and print primary documents, maintain management records, analyze the results of activities - in other words, systematize and store confidential commercial information. The client must understand to whom he trusts valuable information and how reliable this resource is. And for the service to work without failures, you need money, and a lot of it. Money that the client will bring. It turns out a vicious circle: to bring the first client, you need money, and to get money, you need customers.

Table. Investments for companies on different life cycles

Check your partners urgently!

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Development stage	Distinctive features	Investors
Project Beta	The assets are only ideas and a sample of products, the management link has not been formed, business processes have not been established	Relatives, friends or private investors offering venture investments (business angels). State programs to support innovative products
Startup	Business processes are established, but the company does not make a profit, the team is at the formation stage	Private investors or venture capital funds. Foreign investors
initial growth	The company is gaining momentum, occupying a niche in the market, making a small profit	Venture funds and private equity funds. Bank loan
Business expansion	A stable profit appears, the company occupies a stable position in the market, business processes are debugged	Venture funds, foreign investors, state funds and banks
Company maturity	A well managed, profitable and fast growing business structure - perhaps one of the leaders in the industry. The assets include highly qualified management and well-established business processes, brands. Has a significant market share	At this stage, companies can publicly post information about the sale of shares for the relevant partner. institutional investors. Banks. Pension Fund

Investor or yourself

I see two ways for the development of the company. One of them, bootstrapping (glossary), is more conservative, but also less risky. For companies that do not aim for rapid growth, but prefer a static existence in the market with enough profit to live on, this path is quite suitable.

There is also an opposite model. A classic example is the Internet resource Sapato.ru. The owners received several tens of millions of dollars from the company's source of financing, bought a large number of shoes, and made expensive advertising. The idea is simple: by investing a large sum in the promotion and purchase of goods, to grow the business as much as possible and sell it in two years.

Glossary

Investments- long-term investments of capital in the economy with the aim of making a profit.

Investor- a person or organization (including a company, state, etc.) making capital investments associated with risk, aimed at subsequent profit (investment).

Foreign investor- foreign physical or entity, state, international organization, eligible to make investments in accordance with the laws of the country of their location.

Institutional investor- a legal entity actively investing in shares and other financial instruments. Institutional investors are insurance companies, pension funds, investment companies, mutual and charitable funds.

Venture investments- long-term investment of private capital in a promising innovative business that does not have access to the stock market. As a rule, a venture investor becomes a co-owner of a future company.

Bootstrapping- organizing your own business with very little or no outside funding. Advantages - fast way organize your business with minimal financial risks (a bootstrapper, by definition, does not own large sums).

Multiplier- a numerical coefficient showing how many times the amount of increase / decrease in the national product, income or money circulation exceeds the amount of investment, government spending, tax deductions initiating such a change.

Mutual investment fund (PIF) is a form of collective investment in which the funds of many investors are invested by a professional manager in securities to get an increase. Income and fixed capital do not belong to the management company, but are the property of the shareholder. Management Company charges only fixed percentage from the average annual size of the fund's assets.

Direct investments- direct capital investments in production: purchase, organization or expansion of the company. Direct investment also includes operations related to the establishment of control over the company.

How to attract investors

Consider the main types of funding sources. A start-up business can be financed by banks, investors or the state. We considered all options. A bank loan obliges the company to have a stable income or, if it is a startup, immediately reach a certain level in order to regularly deduct interest. An IT company is growing rapidly and becoming more expensive, but does not earn enough cash to return to the bank. Therefore, this method of obtaining funds was not suitable for us initially.

The government programs that I studied were designed mainly for manufacturing companies. The state provided money for a specific task. The main part of the funding was to go to the establishment production processes, purchase of material and logistics. For wages, the start-up company allocated own funds. In IT, this scheme does not work. In our country, for example, at first 80% of all money went to wages and related taxes. Now, as far as I know, the conditions have changed, they have become more flexible.

Let me remind you that it was 2007, the topic of startups was not yet so developed. Events that gathered investors and provided the necessary information were also not to be found. The choice of funding source was not easy. I knew of only a few funds that were engaged in direct investment. But, as it turned out, they were not interested in startups, but in companies that had already entered the market and brought in a stable income.

In search of an answer to the question "How to attract investors?" found a foreign fund that would like to invest in a Russian project. It turned out to be Ambient Sound Investment, founded by four engineers who created Skype. Few people know that Skype was originally developed in Estonia, then bought by eBay. Having received a decent amount from the sale of the service, the founders decided not to create new products, but to invest in high-tech companies. I learned that they would be interested in investing in Russian business, and sent (of course, via Skype) an offer, where I presented a business plan indicating the size of the market, the size of the expected profit and growth prospects, and named the specific amount that I wanted to receive from them. After some time, I was invited to negotiations in Estonia.

There are several professional communities where investors and business start-ups can post their proposals. Some of the largest investment platforms are Farminers.com and StartupPoint.

Probability of the investor's participation in the business

Needless to say, investors are different. Our company had two investors: one of them acquired a stake in the company, and the second is our partner. In the first case, Ambient invested $200,000 in exchange for a 30% stake in the business. When acquiring a share in a company, the investor expects to sell it for as high a price as possible after some time (one, two, ten years). If the business grows and develops successfully, in a few years the investor can receive several million for the investment of several hundred thousand dollars. And this is quite normal. Companies often run multiple funding rounds, and at each stage total share investors (there may be several) increases. But here the situation is ambiguous. It may happen that at some point the proportion of founders becomes very small. Then the business may go into decline - the founders will begin to feel like hired employees. It's already psychological moment, and this line needs to be clearly felt by both investors and founders. I would not recommend choosing such a scheme.

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The second option is the so-called strategic investors. They acquire a large block of shares in order to participate in the management or control of a company operating in the same (or close) line of business as themselves. Typically, the acquired organization is focused on developing new lines of business or expansion. Strategic investors are large companies, market leaders. In 2010, 1C company became interested in us - in fact, our direct competitor. The interest was caused by the fact that they want to develop the direction of cloud solutions, so they are interested in us as partners with experience and an established base.

Estimation of the investor's share in the company

The investor's share in the company being created usually consists of two parameters - the size of the company's source of financing and the estimated value of the company after investing. When analyzing the estimated cost, the risks associated with the development of the product, the professionalism of the team, the need to attract additional product etc. To determine the amount of funding at the current stage (round), a detailed analysis of the company's budget and the factors necessary for its successful growth is required.

An IT company that has already entered the market can be valued by annual revenue, which is multiplied by a certain multiplier. The coefficient for each industry is different and depends on many indicators. This topic deserves a separate article. In addition, the Western market already has extensive statistics that will help determine the multiplier.

In our case, Ambient requested 30% of the company's shares. At that time, I had no experience in assessing the value of the company and, accordingly, the percentage of the investor's participation in the business, so we agreed to these conditions. We proceeded from the fact that investments should be enough to grow the company to a certain level, and in addition, we will have the opportunity to further exchange part of our stake in the next round of investments.

Signing agreements

The first negotiations took place in October, and already in December we signed the so-called term sheet - an agreement that was not certified by lawyers and, in principle, did not oblige us to anything. In it, we prescribed the volume of investments, the share of the investor in the company and our actions to develop the business. At the next stage, the second document was developed - the agreement of the participants, which detailed the details of cooperation. It was already drawn up by lawyers. The agreement was signed in December - in February we were supposed to receive the money. But everything turned out to be not so simple.

Receiving the money

We signed the agreement in December, and received the money only in May. There were two attempts to transfer funds from our investor.

The first is through a contribution to the authorized capital. In this method, there is a subtlety that is not known to everyone. In an ordinary Russian company, the minimum authorized capital is 10,000 rubles. An investor, investing money in a startup (for example, $ 1 million), wants to receive guarantees as a share of the company. But if we proceed from 10,000 rubles, its share will be equal to 99.999%, that is, much more than indicated in the investment agreement. There is a loophole, and a legal one. In the authorized capital there is the concept of the nominal and actual value of the contribution to the authorized capital. In the tax document, you can specify the investor's share based on the nominal value - it will be equal, for example, to 100 rubles. (9% in the company), but in fact the investor transfers the real amount - $ 1 million. Few people know about this, although it is quite legal.

When trying to invest in this way, we received a tax refusal. It turned out that if the contribution to the authorized capital is made in dollars, this possibility should be explicitly spelled out in the charter, which was not the case in our case.

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Then we tried another way - a convertible loan. By the way, this procedure is safer for the investor. He issues funds, and the loan agreement states that within such and such a period, the investor may demand the return of funds invested in a startup or a share in the company. But for an LLC, in which there is no concept of shares, this scheme does not work very well: when the loan is repaid, non-operating profit appears in the company, and these are extra taxes.

In general, after suffering for several months, we suddenly found out that Estonians can transfer funds in ruble terms. And in May we were able to get real money.

Askar Rakhimberdiev Graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute. Prior to starting his own project, he was responsible for the development of SaaS solutions for Aspect Enterprise Solution customers, and also managed projects at Auriga.

"My Warehouse"- an Internet service for managing trade and warehouse accounting, designed to automate small and medium-sized businesses. Ranks among the leaders Russian market SaaS applications. Official website - www.moysklad.ru

Ella Gimelberg General Director of ZAO Consulting Agency S&G Partners (Moscow)
Journal "Financial Director", No. 4, 2007

The presentation of the project to the investor does not imply one-way communication. The investor to some extent has already familiarized himself with the information set out in the business plan, and is waiting for answers to concrete questions, on the basis of which he will be able to make a final decision on the possibility of entering the project and the terms of the transaction. It is highly likely that the investor will need to answer the following questions:

• how an investor can enter the capital of the company (purchase of bonds, shares, shares of authorized capital, creation of a joint venture), whether it complies with current legislation, whether legal due diligence of the company has been carried out;
• what return the investor will receive, how much it correlates with the industry average market return, what are the risks of not receiving or not receiving income, whether financial due diligence of the company has been carried out;
• whether the board of directors and the management of the company share the philosophy of the investor; whether the activity of the enterprise in the future will run counter to the objectives of the investor;
• how the investor will withdraw from the company's capital: is it possible to enter an IPO, sell a block of shares to another investor, buy back a block, credit refinancing;
• how the interaction with minority shareholders takes place, whether they get seats on the board of directors, whether there have been previous attempts to “dilute” the stakes of minority shareholders;
• whether there are audited financial statements in accordance with IFRS or US GAAP, which company is the auditor.

The scope of the questions varies depending on the proposed structure of the transaction, the type of investor (institutional, strategic, etc.) and the ultimate goals of the contracting parties.

When preparing a business plan that can lead to success, you will have to spend a lot of time and effort, collect and analyze a significant amount of information. So that efforts are not in vain, it should be remembered that the further fate of your idea and project largely depends on both the form and content, and how you present your business development plan to the investor.

Investors are different, problems are the same

According to the results round table conducted by the editors of the magazine " CFO»

Investor requirements for a business plan

The participants of the roundtable noted that different categories investors have different requirements for the content of a business plan, so when drawing up it, it is important to take into account which investors the company plans to attract.

Leonard Gaponenko, Vice-President, Director of the Investment Department of Complex-Oil Group of Companies (Moscow): There are three types of investors: banks, portfolio and direct investors.

Bank he is only interested in repaying the loan and paying interest on it, even if these payments “fail” the project in the future. From this it is clear what should be contained in an investment project: first of all, the authors must demonstrate that the project can generate enough funds for timely payment of interest and repayment of the loan.

Banks prefer annuity payments (in equal shares), but this option is not optimal for the authors of the investment project, since it deprives them of flexibility in the disposal of free funds and worsens the project's performance compared to a special loan repayment schedule. Therefore, it is desirable to present to the bank two options for repayment of the debt, demonstrating an obvious difference (increase in the profitability of the project when paid on schedule at later stages).

It is equally important for the bank to have liquid collateral, which in case of failure of the project can be easily implemented. As a result, the funds received can be used to repay the loan and pay interest on it.

portfolio investors- These are, as a rule, speculators who "play" on changes in the market value of shares. They have access to significant sources of free funds, with which, in the event of a favorable market situation, they can quickly buy and then sell shares of enterprises of interest to them. Calling them investors is a stretch. Investment projects and business plans are of little interest to them, if they consider them, then only from the point of view of studying the market of efficient enterprises.

Direct investors differ in that they gain control over the enterprise and often become its owners. A direct investor sends funds directly to the enterprise, for which there are many schemes. As a rule, the investment agreement clearly spells out the conditions for investing funds and the return on them that the investor can count on (in this case, direct). For example, an investment agreement with a subsequent exit from the investment.

In this case, the investor receives temporary control over the management of the enterprise for the duration of the investment in the enterprise. When the investment goals are achieved, he will be obliged, on the basis of the contract, to complete the procedure for “withdrawing from investments”, that is, to give (sell back) the shares. Thus, the project itself and the benefits that it can bring to it are important for a direct investor. It is these investors who should be contacted with investment proposals and projects, having a business plan in hand. When studying an investment proposal, they will primarily look for answers to the following questions:

• how much money is required to invest in the project;
• for what purposes they will be spent, what is the cost structure;
• how realistic the project can be judged from the submitted application;
• what is the organizational scheme of the project implementation;
• is there a team that is aimed at implementing this project, what is its composition and qualifications, does it have experience in implementing similar projects;
• what is the company that makes the offer;
• whether the company invests its own funds in the project, and if so, to what extent;
• what benefits will the investor get from participating in this project.

Leonid Astrin, financial director of OAO Mosmetrostroy: Portfolio investors do not really make investment decisions based on a business plan. They are guided by the current and forecast performance of the company. The business plan in this case acts more as a reference material, so it must meet the expectations of the market. It is desirable that the main indicators (for example, profitability, liquidity, capital turnover, etc.) are not lower than the average for the industry, but also do not go “out of bounds”, and forecasts do not run counter to the opinions of leading analysts.

You can get money for the project from banks and direct investors. Prepare to have your business plan reviewed on at least two levels. At the first level, it will be studied by lower or middle managers. AT best case(if the investor is interested in the deal) at this stage, the investor's staff will help you adjust the business plan so that it satisfies the formal requirements.

Next, the business plan falls into the hands of the decision maker. And here already any experienced investor will "read between the lines." First, the investor is interested in the solvency of the applicant. Based on the business plan, he will try to understand how you can implement the proposed plan and how sincerely you are going to follow it. If you manage to convince the investor that you wrote the business plan not for him, but for yourself, then count on serious attitude to your project.

The investor, of course, is interested in the financial forecast. And an experienced investor will first look at forecasts of revenue and costs. Based on these figures, it will general idea on the financial parameters of the project. The two main questions that an investor will seek an answer to are how well the revenue is predicted and how well the costs are planned. If your arguments on these two points are unconvincing, all further calculation is meaningless. Do not over-calculate. For example, when revenue is predicted with an accuracy of 10%, then the profit forecast should not be more accurate. A number with three decimal places will look out of place.

Alexander Chirkunov, Deputy Director for Economics and Finance, Ergonom LLC (Novosibirsk): In my opinion, there are two key points that investors pay attention to.

First, the rationale for the benefits that the implementation of the idea will bring. This is reflected in the risk analysis, marketing, economic, legal and other components of the business plan. Secondly, an explanation of why your company is needed to implement the project. Usually, for this, the business plan provides information about the company, its experience in implementing similar projects, information about personnel, administrative resources, availability of licenses, etc.

How not to make mistakes when drawing up a business plan

The round table participants tried to highlight the main mistakes that companies make when drawing up a business plan, and gave recommendations on how to avoid them.

Kevin Nerkovskiy, Financial Director of CJSC Bosch Vostok (Moscow): Two groups of errors can be distinguished. The first one is errors related to the essential points of the project:

• the business plan is not adapted to the location of the future business (for example, you intend to make felt boots in a hot country);
• the project strategy, which is described in the business plan, does not meet market requirements;
• the structure and needs of the market are unclear;
• there is no detailed description of competitors or comparison of your project with competitors (price, location, advantages and disadvantages);
• there is no data on development prospects and ways to improve business;
• personnel-related factors such as salary, training, recruitment methods, and type of management are not taken into account.

The second group - errors based on excessive optimism. The most important and most common of them is the overestimation of revenue. An investor can easily check information about revenue based on data from competitors in the sector in which you are located. In addition, sometimes companies are silent about the risks. I emphasize that it is necessary not only to identify and assess risks, but also to come up with the most catastrophic scenario for the implementation of the project and prove to the investor that you are ready to overcome such a situation.

Another important point. Quite often, companies are very detailed business plans hundreds of pages. It is possible that such a "talmud" will not even be opened. The business plan should be clear, concise (no more than 30 pages) and without "water". All the main points of the business plan must be brought to the very beginning, on the first two pages - do not forget that the investor's time is more valuable than money. There are cases when investors receive up to 300 business plans per month, so they often limit themselves to reading only the first pages. To focus on certain points, you should use applications. This can be either a summary of key employees, or graphs, drawings, etc.

Alexander Chirkunov: I agree that the business plan should not be overloaded unnecessary information. If the document discusses any macroeconomic trend, then it must necessarily be associated with this project. For example, we are talking about the construction of a car wash complex using automated equipment. By itself, the tendency to increase the number of cars is only relatively related to the number of future customers of this particular complex. It would be more correct to note the growth in the number of car wash customers in the region under consideration, referring to specific marketing research data and noting the reasons for which customers choose the services of your company. When submitting a business plan for the construction of a cement plant, the trends in the development of the construction industry will be of interest only in the territory where the sale of products is expected.

Another of the mistakes in drawing up a business plan is its formation on the basis of subjective optimistic estimates, which are not always made by professionals. Large banks providing project financing use the services of investment consultants, who, as a rule, at the expense of the company offering the investment project, evaluate the submitted business plan for its compliance with reality. Wherein Special attention refers to the marketing component, and also analyzes the sensitivity of the project to possible risks.

Leonid Astrin: Quite often, companies do not take into account how large the submitted project is for the investor. So, in a large Western bank, a $1 million project will most likely be considered by a clerk, while in an average Russian bank, a $10 million project will most likely not be accepted without the personal approval of the president. The level of consideration is very important, because it depends on how formal it will be.

If the decision is made by a junior or middle manager, his the main task- waive responsibility for negative development events. To do this, the project must, first of all, satisfy all formal requirements. Possible "sharp corners" are best smoothed out. It is desirable to support your calculations and assumptions formally - with marketing research, statistical reports, official documents, etc.

If the business plan is considered by a top manager or owner, then they are primarily interested in the essence of the project. A document with an abundance of information that is not directly related to the project will cause rejection, any manipulation of the numbers is likely to be noticed and give rise to distrust of the entire project. But an honest discussion of the risks and weaknesses project with highly likely create more favorable than negative impression about you.

What to look for when presenting a project

If there is interest in the business plan, you will be asked to make a presentation of the project. The participants of the round table shared their experience on this issue.

Leonard Gaponenko: Before you make a presentation to potential investors, you can recommend doing the following:

• for clarity, diversify presentation materials with diagrams, graphs;
• think over the possible and most probable scenarios of negotiations with investors, predict difficult questions that may come from the investor, and pre-prepare responses to them;
• evaluate your business status and compare it with the status necessary for negotiations. If, in your opinion, your official status is not enough, you should require the management of the company to provide you with more high status, temporary or permanent, necessary for the successful completion of the mission;
• hold two or three trial meetings with second-tier investors, summarize them, on the basis of which it will be possible to make adjustments to the documents submitted to investors and to the scenarios of communication with them.

Dmitry Anisimov, financial director of Mediamir LLC (Moscow): The main thing is that there should be no discrepancies in the presentation prepared on the basis of the business plan and the business plan itself. Preparation of a presentation often goes hand in hand with the completion of a business plan, individual moments constantly refined and corrected. This situation often occurs when MS Office is used in the preparation of a business plan, rather than a specialized software solution. In this regard, inconsistencies in some indicators are almost inevitable. Mistakes like this make investors irritated and suspicious that a team that can't deliver a quality presentation is unlikely to be able to successfully implement a project, and as a result, your plan may be rejected.

Alexey Grebenyuk, Head of Investment and Project Finance Department, ProjectLine LLC (Moscow): Usually, the project initiator does not personally present the business plan to the investor (more precisely, to the investor's credit committee). As a rule, this is done by employees of a credit institution who prepared and analyzed the business plan materials together with the project initiator. Nevertheless, sometimes the project initiator is personally present at the investor's credit committee, where he can be asked questions about the project. Naturally, the initiator must know the topic perfectly, be well aware of all the intricacies of technology, marketing, development strategy, and project management. Sometimes it is useful to have a short presentation of the project with you ( this requirement rather refers to working with Western financial institutions).

It should be remembered that the financial market, including the world market, despite the apparent breadth and capacity, is actually narrow. All potential investors of a project often know each other personally, so the project initiator may have only two or three attempts to implement his project with the involvement of an investor. If the project is not worked out in detail, the development strategy "does not appear", then there is every chance to miss the opportunity to attract an investor: such a project may simply be unnecessary for the market.

2 For more details, see the article “How not to make mistakes when drawing up a business plan” (“Financial Director”, 2003, No. 4, p. 22 or on the website www.fd.ru). — Note. editions.

It is great when an entrepreneur has enough funds necessary to conduct business. But this is not always the case. In 9 cases out of 10, an entrepreneur is forced to look for third-party resources to invest in his business. This requires careful thought and planning. possible ways search for financial injections and protect yourself as much as possible.

Consider options for raising additional funds. Let's analyze who can act as an investor. We will try to provide practical help to an entrepreneur in need of financing, amounting to step by step guide looking for an investor.

The purpose of attracting an investor

Investment- this is a third-party injection of funds into a specific project, program, undertaking on a long-term basis, calculated on a delayed profit.

Why would entrepreneurs need outside funds, because then they will have to share profits? The purpose for which a businessman may invite others to contribute financially to his “brainchild” may be one of the following:

• growth and development of current activities;
• attraction of additional or missing resources;
• increase in fixed assets;
• development of technologies;
• entry into new areas of business.

Types of investment injections

According to the degree of participation in the project, investments can be:

• portfolio- funds are invested in a group of projects, and in several business areas or in different organizations at once;
• real- capital is intended to finance a specific project in order to obtain real profit.

According to the features of the investor, investments can be divided into:

• state;
• private;
• foreign.

According to the nuances of the financed project, investments are allocated:

• intellectual;
• production.

To the extent possible for an investor to control their investments:

• controlled;
• uncontrolled.

Options for attracting investments at different stages of the project

To get money for his project, he must show his worth. And in order for the project to work, money is needed. How to get out of this vicious circle? For each stage of the project operation, it will be more expedient to attract investments from different sources.

1. Planning stage. If an entrepreneur has an interesting business idea, perhaps a model or sample of finished products, but management and processes have not yet begun to improve, then it makes sense to ask for funds from such sponsors:
   • inner circle (relatives, friends, like-minded people);
   • public investment (there are special programs to support some innovations);
   • venture investments (they are designed just for risky startups).
2. Start of the project. The business plan has been developed, the team is being formed, the process has started, but there is no profit yet. In this case, money for further promotion can be given by:
   • venture funds;
   • private investors;
   • foreign sponsors.
3. Good start. The organization took a certain place in the market, the project began to make a profit, albeit not too much so far. To expand activities, funds can be provided by:
   • direct investment funds;
   • venture investors;
   • banks (at this stage of the project, when the first results are already visible, credit organizations can already risk their own funds).
4. Growth and development. When the profit is already obvious and stable, it will not be difficult to find investors. Such a company would be happy to invest in:
   • venture funds;
   • foreign capitalists;
   • state funds;
   • banking institutions.
5. Well done business. When the growth and prospects of the business are not in doubt, the company occupies one of the leading places in the market, investors may even “fight” for the right to invest in a clearly profitable company. In this case, you can no longer just accept sponsorship investments, but publicly sell your shares. In addition, you can take as investors:
   • private entrepreneurs;
   • banks;
   • Pension Fund.

Main sources of investment

In addition to private investments, an entrepreneur can be invested by banks or the state.

Public investment"sharpened" for specific programs. Their rules are very strict and not subject to adjustment. For the most part, these programs are designed for manufacturing companies, so not every entrepreneur can benefit from state support. As a rule, public money is intended for the purchase of equipment, materials, and transportation costs. The entrepreneur will need to look for funds for wages, advertising and other expenses on his own.

Bank investments, i.e. business loans will not be given to anyone. In order to borrow money for a specific business, it must have already been started or the borrower must have another stable income. This is due to the need to pay bank interest.

Private investment- the most promising sponsors for a novice entrepreneur. Among the numerous types of companies and funds that are ready to provide financial assistance at any stage of the project, any businessman can find the right one for him.

One of the forms of investment convenient for beginner businessmen are business incubators– organizations that specialize in financing and supporting entrepreneurs at the beginning of their business journey.

As part of the "incubator", a businessman can rent premises for preferential terms, he will be helped with accounting and legal support, and will be provided with consulting services.

Finding an Investor: A Step-by-Step Guide

If an entrepreneur has set himself the goal of attracting investment capital, a difficult path begins before him, which he will have to go through step by step.

1. Choosing a reliable investor. The investor will become a strategic partner, so you need to approach his choice very responsibly. To do this, you need to clearly understand what type of owner of money may be interested in your project. The choice depends on:
   • stages of the project;
   • own financial opportunities and resources;
   • the presence of additional investment-attractive factors (unique assets, liquid collateral, an original and viable business idea, etc.).
2. Proposal formation. Having outlined the circle of prospective investors, you need to convey to them the information that they can profitably invest their funds in your project. To do this, you need to correctly “pack” information about the project:
   • highlight the benefits
   • justify profitability;
   • provide a realistic business plan;
   • clarify the circle of future consumers, that is, the potential sales market.
3. Drawing up an investment summary. All the attractiveness of the project for investors should be presented as concisely and concisely as possible. A correctly drafted investment proposal - "advertising" of your project - can be more effective than a personal meeting with future investors. If a businessman does not feel able to do this, one of the consulting companies can be entrusted with drafting a proposal.
4. Distribution of investment proposals and resumes. The optimal number of potential "sponsors" to whom an offer should be made should be determined. One or two appeals may not produce results, and a large number of recipients will cast doubt on the seriousness of your intentions. Practice shows the greatest efficiency when contacting 10-20 potential investors: the response rate will be quite sufficient.
5. Negotiation. If your appeal is of interest, a personal meeting will be necessary, which will decide the question of the possibility of investing. Negotiations should be carefully prepared: create a short, bright, persuasive presentation in which you need to highlight key issues related to the project. It is advisable to use illustrative and handout materials. A potential investor will certainly ask a lot of questions.
6. Documentation. Personal agreements are recorded in official document, a kind of contract. In the practice of investing, such paper is called a "letter of commitment" or "drafting the terms of the transaction." It has no legal force, but is preliminary in relation to future official cooperation, which will begin after the signing of the contract. Only after that the company can receive the coveted funds.

We have already considered questions regarding the search for an investor. Today, we continue the logical series, and pay attention to the issue of winning the attention of investors. Many people think that finding a "business angel" is the key to success, 90% of the path traveled. I want to immediately dot all the "i", and clarify this situation. If you have found a person who is ready to listen to you, ready to consider the option of investing money in your project - that's good, but the most difficult thing happens later. You need to interest him, make a simply gorgeous presentation, present your project from all angles, literally make an investor fall in love with your startup in just 10 minutes. In one of our last articles, we already talked about, and it would be very useful for many novice businessmen to read it.

Today we will talk about how to attract an investor, what to say at a presentation, how to approach the preparation of a plan, what points you should definitely take into account, and what it is better not to remember at the first meeting. This article is step-by-step instruction, the successful implementation of which will increase your chances of obtaining a long-term investment.

How to attract an investor: establish a real business for a long time

The advice seems obvious - real business and for a long time. Who is doing it wrong? But it turns out that a lot of young startups expect to quickly make a profit, jump to the skies, but at the same time they do not see their company at all in 3-5, or even 7 years. One simple question: “What will your company be like in 10 years?”, Can lead to a stupor 99% of novice businessmen. What are there 10 years, if the plans were not thought out for more than 1 year.

Remember that investors will invest their money only in long-term prospects, in projects that, having paid off for another ten years, will work stably, with the prospect of development and conquering new markets.

How to attract an investor: a good team

To attract an investor, you must have an excellent, high-class team. You should not hide your partners, open all the trump cards, show how good you are, what you have worked with, what success each of you has achieved. Be sure to explain why this particular person is entrusted with a certain function, why he is better than others.

In general, imagine that you are in the market and selling yourself, while not just selling, but trying to get the maximum benefit. The investor must understand in whose hands his money will be, on whom the development of the company and future profits will depend.
If there is a link that you want to strengthen, you know a person who is able to do this, but he works in another company, then tell the investor about it, hint that additional funds will be required, but it is this person who is able to accelerate the company’s new level.

How to Attract an Investor: Good Presentation

A presentation is a must-have when meeting with an investor. Large projector, thoughtful slides, maximum information, minimum text. At the beginning of the article, we already noted that we had previously considered the secrets of presentations from Apple. Get information from this article. Believe that it is simply priceless, and if you can master at least 10% of Apple presentation techniques, then you are guaranteed success in 99 cases out of 100.

The purpose of the presentation is to make it clear to the investor what he is dealing with. A maximum of 10 minutes of speech, learn to concentrate a person’s attention on the things you need, a minimum of terminology and difficult-to-understand words. What does an investor want to see? The numbers, the prospects for the project, and who it will work with. Give it to him.
Another important advice- do not be self-confident. Practice, work through every detail of the presentation, every movement and word. You must be confident, feel as if everything has already worked out. Easy, not forced, with a sense of future success.

How to attract an investor: positive dynamics

Before presentations, ask yourself the question: “Why do they want to invest in us?”, and then you will find the most important answer - profit. The investor is of little interest, in most cases he wants to make a profit, he wants to be sure that his investments will pay off and will bring a stable, good income. If you have an existing project, are looking for financial incentives to enter new markets, or increase sales, then all you need to do is show a positive trend in profit growth over the past year.
Perhaps the investor has doubts, then as soon as he sees that the project is successful, that he only lacks a small investment in order to take a huge step forward, believe me, all doubts will disappear. The guarantee of payback and profit is the basis of investment.

How to attract an investor: business cleanliness

And The investor must be sure that his investments are safe, that nothing will happen to the business. No lawsuits, fraud, violations of laws, registrations for nominees, etc. The business should be as clean as possible, without a single flaw. Only in this case you can qualify for the investment. Believe that your project will be checked a dozen times from all sides, up and down. Investors communicate with each other, and if you try to deceive someone once, then do not expect loyalty from others. With a high degree of probability, they will already know about the risks of working with you and your company.

How to attract an investor: truthful information

Don't hide anything from the investor. Even if you understand that this information may affect the prospect of investing, then still tell it like it is. It’s worse to hide some risks, and then upset the investor with bad news. Know you're not playing computer game where you can save and start again. Everything is serious here, there is a right to make a mistake, but only if the possibility of such a mistake was calculated in advance.

How to attract an investor: identify a competitor

It seems to many that if there is no competition, then this is good, we need to talk about it. On the one hand, yes, the lack of competition makes your life easier, but on the other hand, the question arises, why not? Perhaps the chosen niche is not interesting to anyone, perhaps it is unprofitable, or there are many risks? If I have such questions, then investors will have them 100%. You must definitely identify a competitor, because wrestling stimulates development, develops the spirit of competition, makes you fight and be better every day, one step ahead of your opponent.

How to Attract an Investor: Don't Lie About the Numbers

Very often, young businessmen try to overestimate profit figures, or underestimate potential costs. Understand what to build business relationship on a lie is a utopia. Sooner or later, and most likely sooner, everything will come out. Expenses, as well as income, will be visible in the reports, they cannot be hidden. Therefore, once again revise your numbers, think carefully about everything. The main thing is to be confident in yourself and your campaign.

How to Attract an Investor: Be Prepared for Tricky Questions

Not a single presentation will pass without questions from the investor. They will be different, from simple ones about your company, team, prospects, to tricky ones, for which there is only one correct answer, or rather, the one that the investor wants to hear. Of course, you can’t write all the questions, you won’t be prepared for everything. The main thing to understand is that you should not get lost. Feel confident, know what you are talking about, calmly, measuredly, smoothly and clearly explain your position.

For example, they often like to ask questions specifically about your role in the company: “Do you see yourself as the head of the company for a long time? Or questions about the prospects of the project: “What is the liquidity of your startup?”
There may be different options, but the best answer to the first question is: “My goal is to build and develop a company in the long term. If it is in the interests of the company that I leave the post of head, then I will do it without any problems. ”
The second question can also be answered very correctly: “To be honest, we don't think much about liquidity. The goal of the team is to build a powerful leader who will qualitatively stand out from the competition. I am sure that then there will be liquidity.”

How to attract an investor: exceed the promise

I have already said that you should not overestimate the numbers and expectations. It’s better to even lower them a little, and then pleasantly surprise with the fact that certain stage completed faster. Earlier they reached a new level, earlier they captured funny spheres, earlier they began to fully recoup the costs. The only thing you should not do before is to spend all the money invested in you.