A good business idea will leverage your existing knowledge and experience, or at least have low setup costs. It should also require little supply management or inventory control, which will shorten your time-to-launch and lower your expenses.
During the due diligence process, investors will ask for a detailed business plan, financial projections, and other documents. Here are some tips on what to include:
1. Investors Data Room
Investors want to see a lot of information and documents in order to do their due diligence. However, a startup may not want to give them access until they have vetted the investors and are confident that the potential investment is real. An investor data room is a great way to field many of the questions that investors have while still protecting sensitive data and documentation.
Typically, an investor data room will include critical startup documents such as financials and cap tables, market research and company strategy, incorporation docs, customer references, and IP information. Using granular permissions, expiring links, and watermarking, startups can customize the data room experience for each investor.
A good investor data room will also have features like short messaging and commenting that make it easy for investors to ask questions without leaving the platform. Having an investor data room that is easy to use can help expedite the funding process. Some founders will even create multiple investor data rooms for each stage of the fundraising process to better tailor the content to the specific investor.
2. Business Plan
A business plan is an important step to understanding the scope of your ideas and how much work will be involved. It also serves as a way to communicate the concept to others who need to know, such as bankers or investors.
A well-written plan will demonstrate that you are thinking strategically about your project and that you understand the scope of its challenges and risks. It will also help you define attainable product and financial milestones, so that you can stay on track and make progress toward your goals.
The business plan should include sections on the products you plan to offer, the market and competitors, a detailed management and organization section, a legal structure, and a funding request. It should also include a summary of the plan, which is designed to catch the reader’s attention. Often, investors will review only the executive summary when deciding whether to fund a business idea or not.
3. Team
A team is a group of individuals with a full set of complementary skills that work together to achieve a specific goal. The members share authority and responsibility for self-management, and hold themselves accountable for the collective performance of the team. They voluntarily come together for discussion, decision-making, and problem-solving, frequently using a structured process to accomplish their work.
Teamwork provides a more inclusive alternative to the traditional chain of command, and is often an effective way to improve business productivity. Teams may be used to develop new products or services, such as a coffee machine that automatically makes your morning cup of joe; a central vacuum cleaning system that saves you from the hassle of hauling a vacuum around the house; and shopping baskets placed at regular intervals in stores so that you can fill them as you go instead of carting everything home at once. In addition to providing a more flexible, efficient means of organizing work, successful teams create synergy, producing performance that is greater than the sum of its individual member’s performances.