Saturday 14 February 2015

Reasons Why a Venture Capital Firm in Singapore May Not Invest in Your Startup


Venture Capital Firms in Singapore

Getting financial support from a venture capital firm in Singapore is your biggest dream today as the city-state is, currently, the leading destination for venture capital financing in Southeast Asia. Great! But, while chasing the investors, there are chances that you might end up neglecting the factors that can drive them away from you. As an entrepreneur planning to raise capital, it is your biggest responsibility to ensure that you do everything the right way so that when the time comes to convince an investor, you don’t have to struggle much and things go smoothly. 

The VC industry in Singapore is still in its nascent stage, so any venture capital firm in Singapore would like to pour their dollars in startups that have proved their perfection in every aspect. Right from your first approach to your ultimate reaction on the rejection or acceptance of the investors, everything will come under the scanner. So are ready?
Here’s a list of factors that can disappoint an investor.

A Cold-call
You’ll simply invite a disaster by making a cold-call. Simply sending your business plan to the investors including VC firms and angels will do no good. It is only through a reliable recommendation that you can grab their attention. 

You Haven’t Proved Your Startup Potential
You are saying you have a great idea but where’s the proof? Have you tested your products or services on a set of beta customers? You have to have a strong value proposition to show the investors how sizable and scalable the market is. Unless you prove it, forget about the capital.

Your Idea Is Not Unique
If you approach a renowned venture capital firm in Singapore with a product or service which is already there in the market; in other words, something which is not in demand, the investors will move back. You have to think of a unique business plan so that you can tell the investors where you see your startup in the next 5 years. 

You Have A Poor Marketing Strategy
A great marketing strategy always drives demand for a product/service. If you fail to build a strategy strong enough to attract customers, then how will you convince the investors? You are ready to sell your product but if you don’t have a prior plan for boosting the sales and gaining a competitive advantage over your rivals, you have to stumble at every step. In such a scenario, it is impossible to gain the trust of an investor.

Your Team Lacks Efficiency And Doesn’t Believe In Teamwork
What comes next to a unique business idea is a highly talented, smart and efficient management team your company. The investors, typically, invest in people and not the product or service, co they want to ensure that the team they are investing in is creditable. Now if you have a team which is not just inefficient but also doesn’t believe in teamwork, you are nowhere.

You Are Not In Front Of The Right Investor
This is a very common mistake that the first-time entrepreneurs like you often do. So long you are knocking the wrong door, you won’t get access to the capital you need, as simple as that. The investor will either not respond or tell you straight on your face that you are in the wrong place.

You cannot Handle Rejection
If you are an entrepreneur, you have to learn to take things sportingly. Handling rejections is an art and not everyone can do this so calmly. But you have to and if you cannot, they won’t take time to say Good-Bye.

You Are Not Being Honest
Investing in a startup is a matter of great risk so if you are inviting someone to invest in your startup, you have to be very honest in your dealings. Do not keep things from your investors, at least, those things that can, directly or indirectly, have an impact on the investment. If they get to know about your dishonesty, it’s over.

Conclusion
So these are some of the points that you must have to take care of while approaching a venture capital firm in Singapore. For more information, you can consider becoming a part of an intelligent network like Merger Alpha that will take you one step closer to the right investors. Do visit Merger Alpha at http://www.mergeralpha.com/.
You can also leave your queries in the comment box given below.

No comments:

Post a Comment