Did you ever think you might need to find Angel investors to help finance your new company?
Startups need capital.
When you find Angel investors, they provide the capital.
By reading this guide, you discover a two-step business plan, sample business categories to include in your budget, people who might invest in your small business, what investors expect in return for funds, and how to decide which business expenses are worth making.
Let’s get started learning which business categories to include in your budget and how to find Angel investors to help pay your bills.
Business Categories Worth Investing In
Every business is unique in its own way, and that means that every business is going to need to use different tools and services to make it run smoothly.
Yet, there are some business categories that are almost universal, and these are the ones we’re going to look at today because it is highly likely that your business will benefit from at least one of them.
Read on to find out more, and you might choose to make the investment and start building your business in the right way.
Image from Pixabay
Business Categories
Before you can decide what to spend your budget on, you need to categorize your business priorities. There are no correct business categories since each company’s priorities will vary.
The business categories in this post are examples of business services you might want to invest your money in purchasing:
- SEO Services
- Shipping
- Marketing
- Travel
SEO Services
One of the most fundamental elements of running a business in the 21st century is to have a good website. You can no longer get away with throwing one page and an email address up online and expecting that to be enough; the buying public is becoming more sophisticated, and they will want more.
Yet even an attractive, user-friendly website with all the information your potential customers might want still isn’t enough if you don’t get your SEO – search engine optimization – right. Your website could look fantastic, it could be informative and unique, but with no SEO involved, no one is ever going to see it, and no one is going to buy from you.Â
This is why it’s worth investing in SEO services for your business. In very general terms, SEO is about incorporating various keywords and phrases, links, images, and more within your site so that search engines index it more readily. There is a lot to learn, and outsourcing this area of business can be useful, at least while you’re still learning what to do.
Freight Shipping
This is one of these areas that isn’t going to be needed for every business, but if you do want to export to other countries either now or in the future, or you even think it could be a possibility, it’s helpful to know how to find the right freight shipping company. It all starts with an international freight quote so that you can compare costs, and once your budget has been met, you will need to compare services.
Using a good freight company could well be the difference between making a profit and making a loss, so it’s crucial that you take your time when you need this particular service to ensure you are getting things right.
Marketing
Marketing is massively important for any business; without good marketing, all your other efforts will come to nothing. You need to show potential customers not just that you exist but that you can help them. The best marketing will show how a company can solve a problem; if you can do that, and the problem is a big enough one, the cost almost becomes immaterial.
The type of marketing your firm wishes to conduct needs forethought. For instance, will you engage in social media marketing? There are advantages to social media marketing that may convince your company to promote on social media. If so, you might want to outsource to a social media manager.
Email marketing used to be considered a must. Today, some firms believe email marketing is a dying breed.
Will you collect emails and distribute a newsletter to your list? If so, you need to choose an email provider. These reviews of the best email list providers show they charge different fees. Most charge depending on the number of list subscribers. Therefore, as your list grows, you can expect to pay more.
It’s true: Your marketing does need to be first-class to make an impact; there is so much competition in every sector that you’ll have to do something that really makes you stand out for positive reasons. This is why hiring experts can often be the best business service to invest in.
Travel Expenses
Prior to 2020, travel was a huge part of a company’s expenses. 2020 taught entrepreneurs they can save money by having virtual meetings using video conferencing technology.
Will your company continue virtual meetings or resume in person meetings that require travel expenses?
All of these decisions take forethought. Even a simple decision like whether to pay to fly your employee coach or first-class requires prior planning and budgeting.
How to Find Business Investors
You’ve made your financial decisions and set your budget. You need investors to help fund the business categories you’ve decided you need to spend money on.
Regardless of the investment source you choose, the investor expects something in return. No investor gives money for free.
Where will you find your investors?
- Go on Shark Tank.
- Find SBIC Investors.
- Find Angel Investors.
Go On Shark Tank
Startups go on the TV show Shark Tank looking for investors.
Don’t scoff.
Shane Pannell, the founder of the Sweep Easy Broom Company, went on Shark Tank.
The “sharks,” as the investors are called on the show, gave Shane $40,000 in exchange for 25% equity in his company.
According to Investopedia, the eight most successful entrepreneurs on Shark Tank received a total of 100 million dollars combined.
You will find the application to go on Shark Tank here.
Find SBIC Investors
“SBIC” Stands for “Small Business Investment Company.” An SBIC uses its own funds as well as borrowed funds to invest in small businesses.
Find Angel Investors
What is an Angel Investor?
An Angel Investor provides capital for new businesses. In exchange for the preseed funding, the Angel Investor gets a share of ownership in the new company.
This resource will help you find Angel Investors and SBIC Investors. Note: I have not used the service.
Find Angel Investors: FAQ
Where Can I Find Angel Investors for Free?
Although I have not checked out the resource, my research shows this source will help for free Angel Investors: www.Invstor.com.
Wrapping Up: Find Angel Investors and More Investment Opportunities
Takeaways:
There are many financial decisions to be made when you start a business.
First, you need to decide which business categories you will spend money on.
Next, you need to decide where you get the money. For instance, will you try to find Angel Investors to invest in your business?
Follow these steps in order. When you find Angel Investors, they will want to see your business plan that includes what business categories you plan on spending the money. Other investors will want to see your budget as well.
Readers, please share so entrepreneurs discover this two-step approach to financially planning for a business.
I look forward to your views in the comment section. Can you suggest additional business categories startups should invest in? Do you have ideas for how to find seed money for a business besides the idea to find Angel Investors and the other strategies mentioned in this post?
Authors: A contributing author and Janice Wald
Janice Wald is the founder of MostlyBlogging.com and co-founder of the Mostly Blogging Academy. She is an ebook author, blogger, blogging coach, blogging judge, freelance writer, and speaker. She won the Best Internet Marketer Award and the Best Blogger Award at the 2021 Infinity Blog Awards. Wald was also nominated as 2019 Best Internet Marketer by the Infinity Blog Awards and in 2017 as the Most Informative Blogger by the London Bloggers Bash. She’s been featured on Small Business Trends, the Huffington Post, and Lifehack.
This post was made possible by the support of our readers.
