As the year edges closer to its end (Hello Novemberđź‘€). It's time to start thinking and planning for business growth in 2023. A big part of that is thinking about how you can expand your business, improve your service quality or increase your product line.
The problem is, these things cost money! And while you might stay disciplined by reinvesting your profit into your business, this strategy will only offer limited growth.
To drive the growth you need for your business, you need individual or corporate investors.
In this article, we help you prepare for investor funding by highlighting 5 things you need to attract investors for your business.
1. Financial History
Potential investors will not be convinced by the crowd at your physical location or the number of comments under your Instagram post. They want to see your numbers. The inflow of cash and how much you are spending.
They also want to see the increase in profit over your entire period of operation so they can estimate the growth that their investment will deliver.
Luckily, Kippa app's reporting feature answers all these questions. It provides the ability to download reports that show the financial health of your business in one click. You no longer have to call your bank multiple times or make a physical visit.
2. Business  Registration
Registering your business name under the Corporate Affairs Commission provides confidence to potential investors that your business is legitimate and you are the rightful owner of the business.
If you haven't registered your business, you may find attempts to approach investors unsuccessful because they are informed of the risks of working with an unregistered business.
We know how important this is, and that's why we built Kippa Start to help you register your business without lengthy meetings with lawyers or resorting to unverified agents, With Kippa Start, you get your business registration certificate in days for N20,000 only.
3. Business Plan
You might be able to sit down with people and convince them by speaking passionately about your business. But this time-consuming process means you can only speak to one potential investor at a time.
As you search for investment for your business, it's important that you build a business plan that simply states what your business is, your history, your staff strength, your business model, your numbers (revenue, profit & future targets), the leadership of the business e.t.c
Sending this out before a meeting will project you as a confident business owner with a clear plan. This will also increase your chances of closing an investment deal successfully.
4. Competitive advantage
With so many businesses in Nigeria and in your industry, why should any investor take a second look at your business? This is a question you need to answer early in your search for investors.
Showing what stands you out among competitors is a great way to seal an investment deal. Your competitive advantage means that you are more likely to expand, make more profit and extend your product line than your competitors. An example of competitive advantage is the fact that you have a raw material supplier that provides you with goods at a cost-effective rate. This means your prices are the most attractive in your industry with a healthy profit margin.
It might also be that you have expert workers whose knowledge of recipes or processes means your product has a distinctive taste or quality. Your competitive advantage may even be that you have years of experience and active relationships in the industry. This gives you an advantage over other businesses with less experienced leadership.
Whatever your competitive advantage is, find it and own it.
5. Intellectual Property
Beyond your ownership of your business, the brand name, logo, colours, tagline or motto are important elements that make your business instantly recognizable among your customer base. They are your intellectual property! They help you build goodwill and recognition among your customers.
Ensuring that they are protected is a great way to build investor confidence in your business. This is because they are key to the expansion and growth of your business. Imagine you have secured investor funds and are expanding your business to another part of the country only to discover another brand using your logo, brand name and colours.
If you haven't registered these elements, it then becomes a battle to show that you are the rightful owner and get them to shut down.
An easy way to prevent this is to trademark your brand name, logo and colours for your business category ensuring that nobody can use these elements illegally.
Run your business with Ease
A crucial part of what the Kippa app does for your business is analysing financial reports to help you make better business decisions; help you understand cash flow. And overall, it gives you insights that reveal the bigger picture of how your business progresses.
Get everything you need to run your business in one place 1.
