Starting your small business can be an adventurous and opportunistic time in your career.

1. SMALL BUSINESS
4 Fundraising Tips For Your
Jake Croman

2. FIRST
You should know how
much fundraising capital
you will need to raise.
A thorough business
plan allows investors to
understand that you’ve
thoughtfully identified
the risks and critically
researched the steps
required to break even
and generate revenue.

3. Create a business strategy to:
- Assess markets and competitors
- Gain insight on capital you need
- Avoid costly mistakes

4. BEST ADVICE
BEST AVOID
Plan a clear budget and ensure the ability for deficit
spending. Potential investors critique entrepreneurs on
the effectiveness and completeness of their budgets
and business plans.
Don’t underestimate your expenses. When setting a
fundraising goal, keep in mind that it normally takes
more than double the time to achieve the conservative
estimate of your revenue goals that are outlined in your
financial model.

5. 2. KNOW YOUR
COMPANY’S
VALUATION
Part of knowing how to start your business is to
first know how to correctly assess your company’s
valuation. Your company’s value is essential for
determining the cost of new capital while you seek
equity additions to your current capital plan.

6. BEST ADVICE
BEST AVOID
Make sure to assess the correct type of value for your
small business. You can lower your price if you’re a new
entrepreneur or haven’t yet released your product.
Many mistakes can be made when valuing your
business. Avoid choosing the wrong type of value and
assessing value via net profits over cash flow.

7. 3. CREATE AN
EFFECTIVE
FUNDRAISING TEAM
Fundraising strategy
requires an expert team.
Recruit team members
with standout skills and
utilize them in specific
roles.

8. BEST ADVICE
BEST AVOID
Recruit team members who already have investor
networks. Hire people who are great at building
relationships.
Don’t hire people who have no experience pursuing
outreach and setting up meetings with investors.
Infrequent meetings with investors may drag out the
decision process for them and distract you from
creating a quality product.

9. Attracting target fundraising audiences is
key to successful investments. It’s
important to match your product’s target
audience with similar investors. Determine
what your desired audience(s) want from
your product.
4.
DETERMINE
YOUR
FUNDRAISIN
G AUDIENCE

10. BEST ADVICE
BEST AVOID
Know your audience. When engaging with investors,
you don’t have to simply ask donors to write you a
check.
Beating around the bush; Asking for insufficient
amounts or unreasonably high funding; Focus on style
and substance; Don’t ignore individual donors.

11. Like most new entrepreneurs,
there will be hurdles to face
as you learn the ropes.
However, pursuing your
passion as a career can be
worth it in the end. The right
amount of training, focus, and
preparation can help you
effectively raise the capital
needed for your business
venture while building
sustainable, long-lasting
relationships.

12. THANK YOU!
w w w . J a k e C r o m a n . c o m