Think for a moment about your vehicle. How does it perform in certain kinds of weather? Does it become more difficult to steer in certain conditions, or does your vehicle have special tyres or features that allow for a better grip on the road? I think we can agree that the more reliable your vehicle is on the road, the more confidence you will have when driving it.
The same can be said of your business. Without elements in place to provide it with a grip during inclement weather, confidence can quickly be lost, both on yours and your investor’s part.
Business Conditions That Can Threaten Your Grip
There are many threats to businesses of every size, and they can occur right from the moment your idea is formed. Not only that, but as a small business owner, you will be wearing several hats and handling everything at the same time. A new business also has that ever-present uncertainty of having sufficient funds to keep things going.
The good news is that this particular ‘road hazard’ can be avoided when an investment is made at the early stage of your business. This, however, carries risk for the investor. Can they believe what’s in your business plan and take a leap of faith? It’s at this stage that your business plan can actually become a threat to your grip.
Your Job Is To Test
Before you write your business plan or ask for money from investors, you must have completed the work of testing your theories about how customers will behave and how they move from curiosity to purchase decision. You’ll then need to keep testing until you’ve discovered a strong business model with a high chance of success.
Shout It From The Rooftops
One way to give your business more grip is to ensure that as many people as possible know about it. This will likely involve advertising it in carefully-selected areas. Of course, before you do this, you’ll want to conduct some market research. Completing these tasks before you seek out investors will give you the foundation you need to prove your venture has grip, as it will show them that you are capable of repeatedly acquiring the customers you need.
Prove Your Grip, Reduce Your Risk
Do you have factual evidence of your business’s success? In order to get the financial help you need, you must provide information that tells investors they can be confident riding along with you; something that proves your business has the grip necessary to power everyone down the road.
Demand
The active proof that your business is in demand will be your sales. The more sales you have, the more confidence your investors will have in you. Of course, demand only describes one of many elements that must come together in order for an investor to make a decision about you.
You will also want to ensure you have information relating to those who are actually using what you’re selling, in addition to some form of written document outlining an individual’s intent to buy your product, or a supplier’s intent to work with you.
Beyond these two confidence builders, you can include additional proof of demand of your products by sharing your website visitor stats. But it won’t be enough to simply list the total number of visitors; your investors will want to know how many of those visitors actually converted to sales.
As an entrepreneur, you need to be aware of what threatens your grip, as well as its importance during your business’s early stages. Talking to a knowledgeable mentor or business plan advisor can help you better understand the impact of grip, so you can ensure your business has it at every stage.