Are you looking for Investors? Here are 5 Tips to Score Funding for your Dream Project
Every kind of project requires financing. This money is required to manage all aspects of project from manpower to technology you need, all requires regular amount of money flow; even marketing budget takes big bite out of it.
A very common question which I usually hear is “How much money do I need?” Many people while reading this might think that answer is “It depends upon project to project” or some people might say “It depends on technology we chose or infrastructure cost etc.,” but my perspective matches to those who thinks that “It actually depends upon how well we plan”. Don’t hate me for this because trust me there is no defined principle to calculate how much you need to make things happen for you as young startup. But if you have planned well then it will surely cost you less than what you been thinking. Anyhow that’s not the context of this discussion, so let’s go back to same question and let’s divide it in two sections One, the development budget and Two, the marketing budget. You have to consider both at start because reaching out to large audience requires much more than you been thinking this long. So make sure you have your numbers ready when you are in front for any Investor. But telling them what you need does not impress them much, so you need to do some homework on your project report and stats to impress them. Trust me, you cannot predict decision of Investors so here are 5 tips which can help you to hit bullseye.
KNOW YOUR NUMBERS
You need money and you need to justify how 
good your project is that’s it and how much you need from VC to roll it. Nothing more nothing less. Do not fall prey to any unformal answer or something vague which can’t justify when questioned. Do not say ‘I Like’ to have this much amount because I am sure you already know that, your project requires this much amount.
Investors would love if you do come prepare with market stats and your targeted audience, followed by your project execution strategy.
THERE IS ALWAYS A COMPETITION
Know your competitors, if you don’t then trust 
me you are going to hit by many unwanted questions which can make you feel embarrassed on big day. So it would be great if you know your competitors and how your proposed system is better than its competition.
Never tell your Investors that you don’t have competition, I am sure VCs are not going to invest on something which is not required in market or does not have buyers, I know they would love to try new things but for sure it can be a road block.
DEMONSTRATE YOUR PRODUCT
Seeing is believing, that’s what I believe in too.
If you have just story to tell e.g. your system will do this and it can do that then let me tell you my friend you are living in stone age. Because Investors are not here to listen to your stories, they are here to make money. So try to create something for demonstration and let some Demonstration of your product generate some interest of Investors. Bring your animated presentation or If you can spend some extra bucks then prepare a working prototype of your software. Believe it or not VCs or Angel Investors would love to invest in something which they see is working or something which is actually possible, and it is not going to cost you a fortune because today open source technology is free, just download the right tools and start building prototype or working modal of your dream software.
YOUR PROJECT SHOULD BE YOUR PASSION
You should be passionate about your dream
Project. That’s the Fuel to keep going and achieve Success. Steve Jobs once said “people with passion can change the world for the better.” Look at any successful entrepreneur they are successful just because they were passionate about their work.
Investors are keen to know how passionate you are about your Idea or Project. Because they want to judge your confidence in your project and if they figure out you are not passionate about your project then you lose their money. Never give them option that if this will happen to project we can go plan B, or never give them option that you have two ideas and both are worth investing. Come on! You can’t have two passions.
LIMITED & TO THE POINT PRESENTATION
I know you are very good at preparing 
presentation or you have many points to explain. But Keep your presentation short and “To the Point”. Don’t stretch your company’s credibility and certifications too long. Investors want to see your project Idea and Strategy to Implement it, and if you can tell it in 5-10 Slides then you are almost there. While preparing presentation make sure background of each slide should be light and Font size should large enough so that it should be readable enough by Investors if they want to.
But Hey! Don’t ever read your presentation and if that’s the case then Investors can read themselves. So try to put keynotes in presentation and have some contents prepared to explain those keynotes in effective way.