How to Raise Capital When Starting From Zero

Photo by Etienne Martin on Unsplash

Everyone has heard the saying, “it takes money to make money.”

It is true that the more money you have, the easier it is to access capital.

However, there is no reason why not having money should stop someone from being able to raise capital.

Here is a quick list of ways that you can better position yourself to attract capital for your business:

• Wear a suit. This is a simple yet extremely effective choice that so many people neglect to consider when meeting with a loan officer or VC.
• Market research. Have robust data on the market you are entering, demonstrate exactitude in your presentation of the data, and try to anticipate questions and have answers ready in advance.
• Financial planning. Use real, data-driven projections to provide a financial plan for the business. Demonstrate financial and accounting literacy, have all your key metrics memorized, and help connect the dots for your investor to give them a vision of the ROI they can expect.
• Presentation. Having a strong brand kit, a killer slide deck, and thoughtfully crafted folios can go a long way to helping you secure funding.

In my experience, it has been far easier to negotiate a deal, close a sale, and secure funding when I am…