Startup Pitch: Essential Questions To Ask Before Approaching Investors

Passion is key to turning your dream business idea into reality. However, you also need funding to run it smoothly. Whether you are a startup or a well-established business, money is the lifeblood of any business.

Especially if you are a startup, at some point, you need funding to grow your business. And one of the smartest ways is to approach investors. Yes, if your startup idea is fair and strong, you may find investors who are willing to invest in your startup. But what questions should you ask yourself before pitching any investor? What is special about your business? What kind of benefits will investors get? These types of questions you need to ask before pitching any investors.

You have a great idea and want to expand your business but fail to impress investors; you might have to suffer a lot. If you really want to convince investors, you have to craft a solid pitch deck that compels them to think twice about your idea. You can also review your pitch deck if you are continually getting NO.

Well, here we have come up with three questions to ask yourself before pitching to any investors. These questions will help you sell your idea effectively in front of investors.

Does Your Startup Match The Portfolio Of The Investor?

Startup investors listen to many pitches in a day, and they are presented with new and innovative ideas, but few of them walk away with a deal. This is the very first question you need to ask yourself before you pitch to any potential investor. If you belong to the food and beverage industry and want to develop a Deliveroo similar app, then it would be good you pitch someone who is occupied with the same business.

According to Leta Capital, investors are usually willing to finance businesses that have similar business natures. So conduct proper research, do Google, and study their business. Try to find out more about the companies they have invested in before. It will give you a clear idea about their investment choice and preferences.

You can do competitor research, do social media to check their investment history. If your startup product and investor’s business differ in nature, they might not take an interest.

Do You Have The Right Team For Success?

Unfortunately, just having a great business idea is not enough. You should have the right skilled team for huge success. One of the greatest considerations for an investor is to check your team’s expertise and efficiency. There have been many incidents where business owners, co-founder have awesome business tactics, but teams are not that expert to handle the situation at the right time.

So your team should be well-versed with technical and marketing background. Launching and running a startup business takes tremendous hard work and effort. Your team’s strength and experience will determine how successful your product or service will work in the market.

Building a team comprised of certain backgrounds with essential skills is critical to any startup-especially if that startup is seeking to raise funds from an investor.

Are You Telling YOUR Story?

There is always a time-consuming and brainstorming process before you represent your idea. The startup is all about transforming your dream into reality. When you are crafting a pitching deck, tell your backstage story to investors because they are interested in your business’s background information.

They often want to know when and how you came up with the idea and why you want to execute it desperately. Please talk about the problems you have encountered and how you overcame it. You can also see how you and your team worked towards it and made solid products based on customer’s preferences.

Remember, the people you are pitching to may not have the same vision and specialization as you, so don’t underestimate and tell YOUR story accordingly.

Arrange each point in the proper context and make your storytelling accordingly. You can also include interesting examples that encourage them to invest in your startup.

Final Words

If your startup is your dream and really want to make it huge, be mindful, and approach investors with a unique pitching deck. Once you answer the above questions, you will be able to find solutions and pitch any investor. Strong team, appealing product or service, right marketing strategy, and perfect pitch will surely help you raise funds from investors.

Maybe, you won’t close the deal the first time, but your speech and attitude towards approaching them will surely leave a long-lasting impact on them. It may take certain attempts but don’t give up and make sure you have answered the above questions before pitching any investors. It will make your fundraising journey interesting and exciting.

Author bio

Deep Monteria

Deep is a serial entrepreneur and blogger who wishes to support the ground transportation industries with his writings. He covers up all the known and unknown facts around the industry and puts it together to create trending articles across different websites. He also includes details on the latest trends, fun facts, business expectations, strategies, and models to follow to achieve success in the transportation sector.