Enterprise Podcast Network

Start-up companies will enter an industry with a fresh outlook, which can help them to develop an innovative USP. Unfortunately, their inexperience could potentially prevent investors from writing them a check. It is, therefore, important to prove you have what it takes to create a successful business. Read the five ways to sell your start-up company to investors.

Develop an organic relationship with a prospective investor before you make a pitch for capital. Research who they are and what they do, as they may have preferences on industries, business stages and risk thresholds. Learning more about an investor before you ask for investment will also help you identify their passions and experience within the industry.

Try to develop a rapport with them when first starting out, so they can watch your business progress over time. As a result, they’ll have more confidence in your brand, and you’ll appear less desperate for their investment, so you will have more power when the time comes to negotiate terms.

Investors do not want to invest in your passion; they want to invest in a strong brand that can provide an exceptional return on their investment. Marketing matters when it comes to pitching your company for capital. You must be able to professionally explain who you are, who your audience is, and how you plan to grow the business. For this reason, you should consider creating a high-quality video that will sum up everything about your brand and the benefits of investing in your new business, which will prove you’re not an average start-up. Contact Working Beautifully to create high-quality videos that will grab an investor’s attention.

It doesn’t matter how solid your USP is, an investor will not provide capital if you do not know your numbers. They want to be confident you understand your company’s finances and have a clear business model; otherwise, they will be taking a huge risk in your company. Not only must you know your numbers, but you must be able to articulate how your business will make money in a select timeframe, and their potential return on investment.

You cannot expect investors to invest their money into the company if you are not willing to invest your time. They will want to be confident that you are fully-committed to steering the business to success, which means you might need to give up a part-time job that could be taking you away from the start-up.

As a start-up company, it might be challenging to fill in every gap or answer every question during a pitch. However, you can guarantee an experienced investor will spot any potential issues immediately, and they won’t hesitate to test your knowledge and identify how you handle tough situations. Ensure you’re not left flustered by anticipating tough questions, so you will have the perfect response to instill confidence in your knowledge and brand.

As many entrepreneurs invest most of their money into their startup business, they may want to minimize their personal expenditure. Apart from your mortgage or rent, running a vehicle can be one of your biggest expenses each month. Thankfully, there are things you can do to cut your expenditure. Find out how to slash the cost of running a car.

Consider Buying a Used Vehicle

Of course, the best way to cut the costs of owning a car is to buy the best make and model for your budget. Those wanting to save money on a vehicle price should consider purchasing a second-hand car, so they can enjoy a reliable vehicle at a fraction of the original RRP. To do so, simply consult a dependable dealership, such as Bob Gillingham Ford, a family owned and operated Ford dealer.

Avoid Using Your Air Conditioner

You might not realize that running your car’s air conditioner could decrease its fuel economy by more than 25%. It is, therefore, a smart idea to either set the A/C to a higher temperature or avoid using it altogether. If the heat is unbearable inside the car, drive with your windows open until you need to turn the air conditioner on. You could save up to $120 annually in fuel costs.

Don’t Use Premium Gasoline

Unless the owner’s manual states otherwise, or you have a high-performance engine, you should avoid buying premium gasoline for your vehicle, as it offers next to no benefit. Premium gas costs approximately 10-15% more than its inexpensive alternatives, so save your money without compromising on fuel.

Drive Sensibly to Lower Your Gas Mileage

Did you know that speeding, hard braking and fast acceleration can quickly waste gas? Unfortunately, this can lower your vehicle’s gas mileage by an incredible 33% along highway speeds. Avoiding aggressive driving could help you to save between 13 to 89 cents a gallon, or $477 per year, which will depend on the highway miles you accumulate and how aggressively you drive.

Attempt to Drive at 50mph

It is common for your gas mileage to decline once you speed reaches over 50mph, which is why you should set cruise control on your car. To put this into perspective, you will pay an extra 20 cents per gallon for every 5mph extra you drive above 50mph. So, if you regularly drive 60mph on the freeway, you could potentially save $198 per year by reducing your speed. The money saved can, therefore, be invested directly into your new business.

Pick the Perfect Motor Oil

Are you using the vehicle manufacturer’s recommended grade of motor oil? If your answer is no, you could be lowering your gas mileage by 1-2%, as it will increase engine friction. Protect the metal surfaces within your engine by adding the correct oil into your vehicle, as this unwanted grinding could otherwise damage your car. What’s more, you should look for a motor oil that states it is energy conserving, which will indicate that it can reduce engine friction.

In business, communication is everything. Knowing what your employees, customers, and suppliers are up to is crucial to making good, timely decisions. Thankfully, the internet has provided us with some of the best communication tools of the modern era. Unfortunately, though, many businesses either don’t know about these tools or aren’t implementing them effectively. So, what are some of the most effective tools that you can use to stay in the loop with your staff?

Slack

Slack’s tagline tells you everything you need to know about this app: it’s “where work happens.” Companies like Airbnb, CapitalOne, and TicketMaster use Slack to manage their workforce. Slack brings all of your employees together whenever you need to start a new project, hire a new worker, test a new development, or plan for the future. Slack is a foundation for teamwork that simplifies communication across devices, operating systems, and time zones. Their streamlined messaging systems keeps you and your employees on the same page.

Flock

Flock calls itself a “communication and collaboration platform for modern teams.” Without such a service, the quality of work and the efficiency of your office can suffer. Flock has provided easier project coordination and faster communication to many businesses. It’s even fun to use, according to some of Flock’s clients which include Accenture, Landesk, and MotherCare. The software has a built in messenger app, to-do list, chat channels, and information-sharing center. You can even conduct virtual meetings via video and audio. What’s even better is that you can integrate external apps, such as Twitter, Google Analytics, and GitHub to make Flock work better for you.

Plivo

Plivo focuses primarily on voice and incoming SMS (Simple Messaging System or text messaging) services. In today’s world, these are more vital than ever, and thousands of businesses trust Plivo’s APIs and carrier services including Mozilla, PagerDuty, and CallRail. Plivo allows you to make calls to any country in the world, purchase a local phone number in 55 countries, and integrate powerful voice apps in your company’s websites and mobile apps. Imagine customers being able to call you from your website on their phone no matter where they are in the world as long as they have an internet connection. Plivo’s SMS API also allows for sending of text messages to any country in the world.

Yammer

Yammer is a social network for a business‘s internal use. Its whole purpose is to help people inside of an organization to connect to “make better decisions, faster.” The app has been compared to Facebook, even down to having profiles and “Like,” “Reply,” and “Share” buttons for each post. Because of this similarity, your team, most of whom are already on Facebook, won’t have to deal with a learning curve or onboarding experience with Yammer. You’ll be able to dive right in and get more work done, faster.

These are just a few of a plethora of tools that can help your team communicate better and succeed at what you do. What are some tools that you have found beneficial?