Every entrepreneur needs a combination of factors to help him reach his goal – whether it is making money or making the world a better place for people. He needs to start with an idea that is unique or at least different from what is already available in the market. He needs to have the resources – human and otherwise – to implement and execute the idea and turn it into a saleable product or service. He needs to have a robust marketing strategy to take the product or service to his consumers. And finally, he needs money to help him turn his dreams and plans into reality.
Where entrepreneurs stumble
Ideas occur, free of charge – unless, of course, he is hiring creative people to brainstorm on his behalf and come up with innovative ideas for business – but for everything else, he needs funds –lots and lots of it. And that is where the entrepreneur stumbles – lack of sufficient cash flow to give life to his creativity. He is unable to get the funding he requires because of a variety of reasons.
To begin with, he needs an extremely strong and distinctive idea to make the cut with funding bodies. There are times when his idea or concept is not properly thought out or it is similar to other products in the market. In such a case he is unlikely to get the money to pour into his business.
Proper business plan
Every good idea or concept has to be converted into a marketable proposition in order to be able to persuade investors to finance the entrepreneur. He has to draw up a proper business plan based on thorough research of the market, the competition, the consumers, resources, government laws and regulations, etc so that he can convince the investors of the workability of his concept. If he does not have a detailed strategy and plan of how he is going to reach his target, he is unlikely to make headway with potential investors.
The entrepreneur has to be aware of what his company is capable of – if he over-estimates the potential capability of his company or if he fails to take note of where he can flounder, he will not be able to impress investors sufficiently.
Team of capable personnel
He has to have on board a team of capable personnel who can help him take the business to success and he has to project his team to investors as being the best at guiding the business to its target. He needs to be aware of the strengths of each person on his management team, be able to tie in their capabilities with the company’s objectives and be prepared to highlight this when speaking to funding bodies.
At times even when he has a good idea and a workable business plan, he does not know where to go and who to approach for funds. Lack of knowledge will diminish the chances of obtaining the right amount and type of funding. He needs to research funding sources and check out the kind of projects different investors put money into before he can approach them to finance his enterprise.
