How to win over investors for your business

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Winning over investors is tough work; you have to plan, present, and prove you're a worthy investment. Aside from a convincing business plan, you also have to win over their confidence and encouragement. This blog will help you reflect on your capabilities and show you how to impress investors. So, let's start with a checklist:

1. Pre-pitch

2. The pitch deck

3. Striking the power pose

4. Software due diligence

5. Handling questions

6. Post presentation

7. Dealing with rejections

Making a solid pre-pitch

The pre-pitch sets the stage for your investor to recognize you amidst all the other businesses. It will help you develop the narrative and make a solid impression on your investors. Often, the pre-pitch involves meticulously detailed business plans and profit projections.

Resources to add in your pre-pitch:

• Cover letter

• Target market

• Market research

• Value strategy

• Pricing model

• Investment plan

Cover Letter

Use your cover letter to establish what your business is about and the progress you have made so far, while highlighting why you chose that particular investor.

Target Market

Include your defined segment in this section and add how much demand your product/service has in your market. Include how you're working towards the benefit of your customer. Show how you fit the industry standard while creating a business that inspires and surprises customers and prospects. It is best to show exactly how much of the market share or potential customers you will have, too.

Market Research

Your market research will help you showcase how different your business is from its competitors. Mention how you're going to reach your customers. If you had conducted surveys while researching, make sure to add that too. This research is your insurance and your exit strategy, in case the investment doesn't pan out the way you envisioned it.

Value Strategy

Outline how indispensable your business is; share a well-defined strategy on how you plan to scale your business and create new avenues. Attach a well-detailed plan on how you intend to achieve it.

Pricing Model

Segment your potential customers and then devise your pricing plan. Often, your market position can influence your pricing, but when you're planning the pricing strategy, don't let it get in your way, rather treat it as a point to remember.

On a similar note, never price your product at the lowest in the market, even if you only want to expand your customer base. The lowest price in the market is a precarious position, and you might find yourself giving the product away for free at one point.

Investment Plan

Describe at which stage your business is. If you're at the early stage, you will have to submit your financial projections and break down exactly where the investor's capital will go. If you're in the middle stages, investors will need additional metrics like your current customer acquisition rate and churn rate before deciding. If you're at an inert stage, investors may also offer to buy you out or propose a merger.

The pitch deck

Use the pitch deck to solidify your case, as it helps you propose your plans better and show your investors how passionate you are. Corroborate every proposition you make with case experiences or scientific research. Most investors know there is a sociological aspect to buyer behavior, so it is necessary to add both experience and numbers. Highlight your pricing model (how much influence you will have over your market position), value strategy, and their ROI. Investors like it when you show what they stand to gain from your business.

Striking the power pose

Know your investors, gather all the intel you can before the presentation. While there might be bigger dilemmas, you might solve the trivial ones, like if your potential investor prefers professional attire to casual attire. Put your best foot forward. Your team's chemistry should be on display while you pitch, so that the investors can know you are all on the same page. Familiarize yourself with all the tech tools you are about to use to avoid glitches.

Software due diligence

Investors, especially during IPOs, are impressed when you put technology to good use and introduce them to the next best thing. They also expect you to have a robust business tech ecosystem with a decent data architecture that will help you scale and expand your venture. Software due diligence is a mandatory process for businesses that sell technology or technology dependent services. This process ensures that your tech is secure and compliant. Their inspection might also extend to your integrations and additional apps, so ensure you're up-to-date on all your subscriptions.

All in all, your business tech is checked to ensure it doesn't become an obstacle to their investment. If you can show how this will positively impact your operations without breaking the bank, you can expect them to support it. That's why we recommend getting one subscription for a unified platform. This way, it also doesn't seem like you're signing up for multiple software subscriptions and then trying to make them all work together.

Handling unsavory questions

Carry yourself with confidence, and wear it on your sleeve, but speak with a cadence that exhibits humility. You did your research, so there's no need to fret. Words like operational efficiency, productivity, collaboration, data-driven, roadmap, and success metrics can come in handy while navigating through this jury.

To prep you, here are some unsavory questions that might come up:

1. Why aren’t you profitable yet?

2. Why should we believe your revenue projections?

3. This all sounds great—but what’s the catch?

4. Are you a solo founder? Isn’t that risky?

5. If this doesn’t work, what’s your exit plan?

6. Are you in this full-time, or is this a side project?

7. Do you have an IT guy?

8. How much are you personally investing? (The scariest question)

Were you able to answer these questions within the confines of your room?

Post deck pitch

Approach this gray area between the pitch and the verdict with positivity. Yes, there may be things you could have done better, but what's done is done. Don't blame yourself for any hiccups or falters.

Instead, focus on doing some good PR for your business during this time, which will increase public favor. If you're a small business, send a post-pitch email thanking the investor for opening up their schedule. And if your investor is one of your parents, you know what to do.

Dealing with rejections

This is a time to self-reflect and plan your next move. You may not be presented with the exact scenario again, but you can still apply the experience you've gained. If you're in a position to ask your investor why they rejected you, do it. Asking for feedback will help you improve your service.

Be open to revisions, sharpen your skills, find the right connections, and build up your credibility. Remember, people tend to be biased, even if your pitch was perfect, so take rejection with a grain of salt, and if possible, do not double down on your originality. Talk to a confidant and get back to pursuing a deserving investor.

Why we would like to invest in you

Running a business, envisioning its future, and getting investors is no easy job. Wouldn't you like it if at least one of these things took care of itself for you? That's where we pitch in. With Zoho One, you can streamline and automate your processes, ensure customer data security, make predictive analyses, and drive success metrics—all for the price of 1/4th of your other subscriptions.