super-charging your investor recruitment strategies

Super-Charging Your Investor Recruitment Strategies For Success

In Financing Resources by Brandt A. Handley

Securing financing and finding & attracting the right investors might be a consistent focus for your Middle Market organization. Ready access to funds with investors that “get” your unique potential and challenges can be key for your growth. Your needs for investing partners on day one of your business will surely be quite different down the road. It makes sense for you to continue evolving and re-defining who you’d like as investors. And, to update how you’ll go about attracting them.

What To Evaluate Before Beginning Your Search

Several factors should be considered before you begin locating and courting new investors for your Middle Market company.

  • What is your current investor landscape like?
  • Do you have investors in place and if so, what is your overall relationship with them?
  • If you have investors currently, how diluted is your percentage?
  • Have you reviewed your funding contracts to verify your equity percentages?
  • What is the overall end goal of your Middle Market firm?
  • Once you have a very clear understanding of your current landscape, you can start deciding exactly what types of investors you’ll want to attract and what you are looking for in your investment deals.

    What Matters To Potential Investors?

    At a minimum, your investor pitch should cover your products, customers and how you deal with competition. In addition, you should consider covering your founder(s), deal structuring and potential exit strategies.

    While what matters to one investor might not be significant to another, for the most part, those six items should cover most everything an investor would want to know about the health of your business.

    Instead of focusing on how innovative your product base is, consider shining a spotlight on your customers. Specifically, how enthusiastic they are about your products and services and what data demonstrates you know what your customers want & need. Make sure you can effectively show you’ve done your homework and know your current and ideal customers thoroughly.

    When your Middle Market organization views your exit strategy, you’ll want to know who would potentially take over the business or be interested in acquiring it. You should have a very good idea of what your company will continue to achieve without you at the helm and what an acquiring company would be gaining in terms of clients, talent, existing business, data, and assets.

    Who Do You Want On Board With You?

    When you originally began, you likely were excited about the potential of any investment. Keeping your dream alive and growing were your strongest motivating factors.

    As you’ve grown into the Middle Market, you likely can afford to be much more selective. Part of your planning process before you start recruiting investors should be to think about the types of investors that are most closely aligned with your ultimate goals.

  • Who do you want to give part of your organization to?
  • Who do you want to be in regular communication with?
  • What types of investors exist for your needs and which seem to match your business ideals?
  • Evolving and re-defining your investor recruiting strategies starts with a clear understanding of where your Middle Market firm is today and where you’d like it to be in the future. Knowing what matters to investors and how to attract the investors that will help fund your goals is an essential part of formulating your strategies.

    So what’s in the Mighty Middle Market for me? — get it right now at www.Go4ROI.com.