One quite essential question when starting your own tech company is — where will the funds come from? You’ve got the idea, perhaps some relevant experience and your heart is in it; now the money needs to start talking. While it may be daunting, entrepreneurs are most likely to succeed when they can wholeheartedly and passionately sell their story for capital. Speaking clearly and compellingly to your story is at the core of the challenge to finding funding — and here are a few more key tips that will help your game changing startup begin on the solid financial grounding that will allow you to make it flourish.
1. The Lean Lifestyle
Dealing with a pre-revenue tech startup, low costs are especially vital. Before speaking to investors or making significant financial commitments, secure some traction first and be as lean as possible as you do this. Consider using typeform for building your mvp, choose co-working spaces over renting, or work from home. And for tasks such as design, or anything technical and time consuming, consider outsourcing, over hiring. Trustworthy students can be excellent sources of fresh energy and information. The more sacrifices you make on the front end, the better position you will be in to secure revenue down the road. For example, we taught ourselves photoshop to enable us to create the one of a kind, custom platform that is Designerex today.
2. All About The $
Execution is key. Not only will your laser focus on revenue attract investors, it will also build your reputation as no-nonsense and results oriented. Quite simply, live by the saying, ‘if it doesn’t get you traction, it’s a distraction.’ Eat, sleep, and breathe your concept until you find your product-market fit, and use that fit to acquire customers and revenue. Once supporters start to emerge, you will find it more and more come forward as you gain momentum.
3. Nurture The Network
Take every meeting. Answer every phone call. Go on every coffee meeting. You never know the source of your next investment, so you should seize every opportunity to grow and spread awareness of your concept. Persistence will yield results, and will eventually take you to the next stage in your development. Have faith you will get there, one latte or handshake at a time.
4. Play The Numbers Game
You must have the goods to back up your ambition; skill and know-how are vital to success. For a tech startup, understanding financial projections is key, and a financial spreadsheet is the language of love for your investors. Begin by downloading a financial projections template (which can be easily found online) and customise it for your business, well before you step foot into a boardroom to present.
Kirsten Kore will be presenting on the sharing economy at Australia’s leading and most established e-commerce event, Online Retailer Expo and Conference, on July 24th-25that the ICC Sydney. At this must-attend event, visitors will hear exclusive insider insight from key players in the industry (e.g. Unilever, HiSmile, Walmart) and will walk away with key practical insights, skills and knowledge. Acknowledging that the ‘future of retail is here’, attendees will have the opportunity to focus on the practical components of retail that are shaping the new norm of consumer interactions.
Women Love Tech would like to thank Kirsten Kore for her story.
Kirsten Kore is the co-founder of Designerex, the world’s largest peer to peer designer dress sharing platform and the first to launch in two international markets with its 2019 US launch.