One of the biggest questions for any startup is: How do we raise funding?
The funding question can be an intimidating one. It’s intimidating because it can be difficult to navigate how to raise funding for your business. Moreover, it can be a challenge keeping track of and evaluating where funding should come from while figuring out where these sources for your raise can be found. The important thing to remember is that funding accelerates what you already have going for your business – you want to ensure you are doing everything you can to propel your success forward.
Here are a few quick tips to keep in mind while you consider raising for your business:
Find the best funding for your needs. This may be debt financing, self-funding, or bootstrapping. Each method has pros and cons. Pursue the one best suited to your business needs and situation.
– Choose the right investors for your raise and initiate a conversation. You don’t need to know an investor before approaching for funding.
– It’s okay to raise funding from family and friends. As a general rule, ask for no more than $5k per person and ask for these funds as a donation.
– Consider your deal structure and figure out what type of structure works best for you. Usually, convertible notes are a great way for startups to kick off a fundraise.
– Milestones are important and attractive to investors. When crafting your fundraise story focus on key milestones because these milestones demonstrate that you are making progress.
For an in depth look at raising funding for your startup, check out our guide: How to Raise Funding.