2 January 2018
Whether you have a business idea, are starting or scaling up your business for rapid growth, equity investment can be a viable source of funding.
We asked the professionals presenting at Velocity Growth Hub’s Investment Masterclass for their top tips to get your business investment-ready in 2018.
“Investors won’t leave a stone unturned when assessing your business and neither should you. Plan well in advance. Be clear about your vision and your growth strategy so that management, employees – and investors – can buy into it. Understand what you must change to achieve your vision.” Laurence Whitehead, MD, MHA MacIntyre Hudson
“Understand your financial position, particularly the indicators that investors will use to assess underlying business health. Plan for unexpected events by developing ‘what if’ scenarios in your financial projections.” Rebecca Hughes, partner, MHA MacIntyre Hudson
“Be sure that the information about your company as filed at Companies House and as contained in your statutory books is indeed the reality as your potential investors will be undertaking due diligence to verify this, but remember that’s only one half of the story. Do due diligence on your potential investors too.” Kirsty Simmonds, associate, EMW Law
“Get your business fundamentals right and inspire people to believe in your dreams. Focus on revenues, get a good lawyer and get yourself on to Seed Enterprise Investment Schemes and Enterprise Investment Schemes.” Alan Wilson, CEO Expandly Ltd
“Business angels want to see energy, ambition, focus and direction. They don’t want surprises. Keep things simple – complexity raises issues. If you get into a verbal fight with an investor, you lose.” Steve Martin, syndicate chair, Minerva Business Angel Network
“Think carefully about your role in growing the business and how to build a winning team. Think about how you can better be ‘investor worthy’”. Lewis Stringer, senior relationship manager, British Business Bank
“You don’t have long to make an impression with investors. Make sure your pitch defines the problem, who experiences the pain and how your solution deals with it in a new way.” Steve Chown, entrepreneur development manager, NatWest
Velocity Growth Hub’s A to Z of Growth Finance workshops, delivered in conjunction with the British Business Bank will help you understand the types of finance available which best suits your needs. Workshops are in Milton Keynes, 17 January and Bedford, 7 February. The Investment Masterclass will give you what you need to get yourself and your business investment-ready for 2018.
Follow the Velocity team on Twitter for more top tips, they’ll be covering a different topic each week. @VelocityGrowthHub
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