When preparation meets opportunity, many are possible and the likeliest is an inevitable success. The reason why we believe money is scarce is because it is not given to everyone. You will have to meet money standards and one of those is credibility.
We know the bank wouldn't say no to someone like Warren Buffett if he wanted to get a loan. This is a visioneer that before he is looking for finance, there are ready-made flywheels to get things moving.
Maybe you don't have that big flywheel currently and it will seem difficult to get attention. Nevertheless, ahead of such times, you need to master one thing; ‘quality proposal drafting’. I could remember I wrote a post recently centering on putting eyes on every available opportunity.
The idea was the fact that the growth and expansion of a business will depend on how easy it can access soft fundings. One of them was through government grants and loans; an opportunity that presented itself to us and we never cared until that window closed. We are waiting for it to open.
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Even as we wait, we can't be putting our eggs in that one basket of opportunity. We had a quick board meeting last week talking on this and the main suggestion was that we need investors if we will hit the expansion target.
Adding to that, we will have to be good in convincing. I told my copartner to learn how to write a good proposal should such opportunities come our way. It will definitely come but how good we are will determine as close we can get to grabbing every one opportunity.
Can you explain your business vision and roadmap in a piece of paper to an investor? Can you even make an oral quick briefing that makes any sense? I can is one thing, having a road map that traces ALL the hows is another.
Personally, I can say I am slacking in this area and I will be building on this to become better. My idea is to start putting the entire business into paper more frequently. I must know what I can do with an immediate N2 m N5 m, N10 million or even more. It is proof you have a business direction.
What makes a good business proposal? It is all about understanding its market and what centers it. You have to be good in sound history of such an industry. Many feel a good proposal is all about NOW.
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No, a good proposal must carry the past, present and future of that industry. Let's take for instance you wanted to get a loan to enter into the soap making industry. How will this brand scale? Ok, you may talk about your product's uniqueness which is also very valuable.
Nevertheless, you have to understand the market in entirety. How important is soap to society? First we are looking at health benefits here, something that will attract human attention to daily usage. Soap has been in application for a long time when entering into history. With more awareness of both self and environment cleanliness it is playing a huge part. Talking of its future, the human population is growing so yes, there is a vacancy for a usual demand.
You can see where I am heading to, a good proposal is about better industry expectations. It has been one of those things I am looking at around my current area of business specifications. The early days I entered was just for the love of running a business but to make and keep it a brand, it all about what the future says about this industry. Of course many hot cakes sectors have become obsolete and several others are likely to soon join.
To conclude, let me add, a good industry is about compilation of past, present and future. This is what helps to pull out a good proposals assuming you are faced with such situations. As an entrepreneur, study your market history, do well to always put it down. You will in the process find some leakages that need amendment.
The idea is to summarize what you do, how you do and how it will continue to be done in the near future. No one wants to invest blindly, the sole aim of investment is profit
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