Selling your idea to an Investor

Building a business from ground up and working on its growth constantly is hard no matter what industry you’re in or what type of products you offer. And when it comes to fundraising, there are some unique challenges that believe it or not can be tackled through Sales Strategies!

When one has a dream to change their life for the better through their own entrepreneurial ventures, they can’t let anything come in the way of achieving what they set out to do.

Snigdha Sur is one such example who has raised funds from stalwarts like Y-combinator, Precursor Ventures, New Media Ventures to name a few. She is the founder and CEO of The Juggernaut, a digital media publication headquartered in the USA that documents the unstoppable rise of South Asians and South Asia. Snigdha is a young trailblazer with a passion to tell South Asian stories to the world as a young brown immigrant. It was an amazing experience to be interviewing her on Ace the Sales this week.

Sharing below some of her first-hand experiences and tips on Sales, Business Growth and Fundraising –

How to pitch your idea while seeking funds from multiple investors?

Fundraising pitches can be tricky. As an entrepreneur pitching your idea to investors, it’s important to remember that people who are experts in your industry tend to be highly critical and will most likely approach what you do with a certain degree of scepticism. Lessons from Sales come handy here as you need to take notes on what works and how people react to your pitches.

Find investors who are credible and have succeeded as entrepreneurs. Understand that it’s okay even if they are not experts in their field because if they are, they might be hard on you, and it might be difficult for them to envision what you are trying to sell.

How to handle the business challenges in the early-stage?

It can be easy to feel overwhelmed as you start a business, but showing up is the only way to get out of this zone. Focus on solving a market need and show up irrespective of whether you get a yes or no. After all, this is what sales is all about. Utilize the skills you’ve accumulated so far and try bringing out the best in everyone around you through teamwork and collaboration.

It is essential to give yourself the grace to learn new things. Keep experimenting and be okay with things going wrong. Having realistic expectations and deadlines is good, but don’t be hard when you take more time to reach your goals. While self-confidence can take some time to develop, it is possible to regain and maintain it by having supporters who have faith in your ideas on days you fail to notice.

How to ensure business growth and accelerate sales in the first 6 to 9months?

Invest heavily in marketing and other traditional levers to avoid a cold start problem. Instead of focusing too much on scaling, focus on thinking outside the box. Leveraging social media as a distribution system from a business perspective is also helpful. This objective can be achieved by posting relevant content on social media platforms, experimenting with a mix of paid and organic marketing like Facebook ads and hosting events to attract potential customers.

How to sell your idea to investors?

An organized sales funnel can make all the difference between winning and losing in this highly competitive marketplace. Don’t underestimate the process though, as building a well-engineered sales funnel is not easy. Also, know exactly who you’re going after by analyzing your ‘target segment’ or ‘Personas’ by understanding their thought process. Get inside their head and see things from their point of view.

Treat it like a number game and make sure you’re tracking each step in the pipeline: from prospects who have never heard of your product to leads that you’ve sent engagement emails to and then moving them through your sales funnel all the way to closed deals. Identify at each stage what the conversion rate is for each segment of the sales funnel so that you can determine whether it is going wrong (or right) with your current marketing and sales efforts.

Key Takeaways

• Choose the people you think will understand your idea and what you’re selling, even if they are not the best investors.
• Be persistent and show up every day even if you don’t have a way to find your customers yet.
• Experiment without being afraid to make mistakes and create that learning space for yourself.
• Having a sales pipeline is non-negotiable. Keep track of your data and build a Sales Pipeline with a list of prospects.
• Give yourself a breather, take time off from the process to focus on your energetics.

Roshni Baronia is a Sales Coach and Consultant for women entrepreneurs.

She is the host of the Podcast Ace the Sales which encourages and enables women to fall in love with selling. Roshni is a TEDx Speaker, Author, and International Summit Speaker. She is on a mission to equip women with sales skills, systems, and strategies that help them take their business solution to more people, potential clients, and the world at large.

Originally published at https://www.roshnibaronia.com on March 3, 2022.