The Art of Selling Your Idea to an Investor

You spent hours and hours working on the details of your product, perfecting your idea or your prototype. You know you have something great and with the right investor this startup will be a great success. So what will it take to make an investor eager to inject money into your idea?
TEXT BY FARAH DIBAH AYOUBI

According to Ghatim Kabbara, Founder and Managing Director of Blue Ocean Consulting Group, many startups lack an effective story that will sell their idea to an investor. They spend a lot of time developing their product, but stop short at getting someone to invest in their startup business.

Perfection?
Kabbara urges, “Lots of people think the product has to be perfect. But it will never be perfect. You just have to start.” Products such as Coca Cola, Marlboro and Windows are great examples of how a product will still sell regardless of its imperfections. “At what version of Windows are we today? I’ve lost count,” adds Kabbara. Strong advertising that makes consumers warm up to the product is more powerful than the perfect product details. So maybe it is time you stopped focusing on the product attributes and spend more time figuring out how it impacts your potential consumers.

Storytelling time
To pitch to your potential investor you need a great story. When it comes to storytelling to get an investor on board it’s all about creating excitement and projecting a successful outcome.
• Come up with something that makes people dream. A story that your investor wants to believe in too.
• Think about why you are here. The best way to get an investor excited is to make him/her relate to the impact you are going to make on the community or a particular market. Are you trying to make people’s lives easier? Is it that you want people to feel a certain way? Happy or stress- free maybe? Or are you in this because you want to lower their monthly expenses? Maybe your ‘product’ is saving the environment or giving people more time to spend on doing the things they love.
• Think about how you are going to sell it. Even though you are pitching to a big investor, your consumer is actually your first investor. If the consumer can’t or won’t buy your product, you will have a great product, maybe even an eager investor, but no cash coming in. So your investor wants to be convinced that the way you are going to sell your product will excite your consumers enough to make them buy it.
• Here is where you need to show the investor how you intend to connect the emotions of your consumers to your product. To the consumer, you are selling a feeling. When they connect to that feeling they will buy. A great example of this is Apple. The reason most people buy Apple is not just because of the product, but also because of the feeling that Apple is about people who actually think differently. Another great example is Nike. People relate to the Just-Do-It feeling. You get the feeling that you can workout almost twice as hard when wearing Nike shoes. When thinking about how you are going to sell your product, Kabbara suggests, “You need to think beyond the physical product attributes and connect with the experience the consumer will have when buying it.”
• Be honest. Have integrity. Selling a product is not about making money anymore. The days of doing business because you are in it just for the money are over. Consumers don’t buy into this anymore.
• Think big. Be hungry and ambitious. Investors believe in someone who will go the extra mile because settling is not an option and big can be bigger and better can be best.

Going back to the drawing board and taking a good look at your product with all this in mind will help you determine whether or not you are ready to pitch to your investor. When an investor gets excited about your idea and feels convinced that you are going to make a positive impact on a large market of people, and make money while doing it, then you will have mastered the art of creating the winning story that captivates your investor.