Tag: survival tips

10 Great Tips On How to Pitch Investors for Your Business

We are living at a time where startups are playing a crucial role in every country, they are turning into industrial giants that are taking the name of their country further and boosting their economy as well. Now, for any business start-up, the most crucial step is to organize funds so that they can take the business forward.

Arranging for funds, however, can become a nightmare for many entrepreneurs. Being an extremely important part of establishing a successful business, even minor mistakes made, while presenting your idea can lead to the loss of prospective investors and hence hinder the path towards the foundation of a successful business.

This list here comes to your rescue, by putting down mistakes to avoid during pitching. In this article, we will explore some vital points that will help you during the pitching of your business to investors.

1. Know Your Investor
2. Work on Your Pitch
3. Focus On Your Presentation
4. Present Your Business Plan
5. Increase Your Investor’s Interest
6. Make Your Proposal Unique
7. Be Humble
8. Avoid Exaggerating
9. Do Not Show Desperation
10. Do Not Be Overconfident

1. Know Your Investor

If you want someone to invest in your startup the first step is to get to know them well. Do your research before approaching the person or organization. Some mistakes to avoid during pitching to investors for your business. There is no need to get personally close all you need is the small official details about their area of work so that you can use it to your advantage while pitching.

Few points to consider while knowing an investor

Make a note of the different ideas that they have invested in earlier to find out what type of work they prefer to invest in. If you ask a person operating food chains to invest in a software business there are huge chances of you being rejected, so knowing your investment is extremely critical.

2. Work on Your Pitch

A chance to pitch can come up anywhere, a party, elevator, or on public transport. However, in these situations, there isn’t enough time at hand so reduce the length of your pitch. Ideally, try keeping it a minute or two long.

Most people start losing interest after a minute, hence, make the pitch small and effectively highlight all the attractive and remarkable points so that the investor is intrigued in doing business.

3. Focus On Your Presentation

Usually, start-up organizations end up putting all their points and ideas into a presentation hoping that the investor will be impressed, but a presentation filled with too many words will cause more harm than good.

When presenting, keep in mind that your slides only have a gist of the plan of action. It should be short, crisp, and to the point like your pitch. Try to wrap up your presentation in 12 to 15 minutes. Generally, you will get only half an hour with the potential investor including the time for Q&A, therefore, use the time wisely.

Main points to remember while preparing for the presentation

4. Present Your Business Plan

The pitch and presentation won’t be of any use if the business plan is not thoroughly laid out. If the business strategy does not highlight the goals of the start-up along with the expected revenue, size of the target market, and description of the start-up management team, the investors will not be convinced. The important point is to make them realize how strong the business is.

5. Increase Your Investor’s Interest

Every person wants to start a new company to provide people with better facilities and give them something but that’s not how an investor would think. An investor will only agree to fund a business if he is sure of gaining a profit; hence, you need to make sure that you mention your expected monetary gains for the next few years.

6. Make Your Proposal Unique

Sending your proposal to every potential investor through email in the hope of getting a response will not yield any results because investors are swarmed with thousands of proposal mails every day, so the chances of getting a call are very slim. You need to find unique ways of making your proposal stand out so that it can invest your potential investors.

7. Be Humble

When you land an interview, with a potential investor, be humble. Let them ask questions. If any flaws are pointed out in your model or plan, accept them and find ways to improve them. The investors have seen their fair share of business proposals and the advice they give will be beneficial.

Do not be stubborn and keep an open mind while answering. The reason an investor ask questions is that they are interested and wants to make sure that they are putting money in the right place.

8. Avoid Exaggerating

Exaggerating financial gains and lying about them is going to get the proposal rejected instantly. The investor will want to know exactly where and how much money is being spent. If you get caught while lying, it could make a big opportunity slip through your fingers.

9. Do Not Show Desperation

The funds are extremely important for the survival of the business. There might be an urgent need for the funds but showing that desperation to the investor would be a wrong call. Confidence is crucial and you must possess that regarding your business idea as it is very crucial.

10. Do Not Be Overconfident

Even though being confident is good, being over-confident and bragging about the growth and profits of the business will drive the investor away. This will give them the impression that you are not realistic and will get you rejected. Try to be subtle while approaching potential investors.

Conclusion

It’s always challenging to pitch your ideas to Investors as an entrepreneur. Focus on numbers while presenting your story in front of investors. Don’t forget to share the marketing plan. Otherwise, practice your pitch and dress well. Prepare yourself for your next pitch, while keeping the above points in mind.

FAQs

How do we find investors for business?

Look for relatives and friends who are interested in your business, private investors are also there to choose from, crowdfunding platforms can also be used to find investors.

Can we pitch an idea to the company?

Yes, an idea can be pitched to the company but with the proper showcase that fulfills the criteria of that exclusive firm.

How can we convince the investor?

Investors can be convinced in many ways, some of the most common techniques to follow are to have a clear business plan with proper knowledge about its type of audiences, market conditions, and competitors. One also goes ahead with the convincing part by asking for the guide from the investor itself.

How to approach an investor?

Approaching an investor seems bigger task than actually dealing with an investor. One can always take the help of any intermediate party available, or the best approach for an investor is to go with the means of asking for a guide rather than directly coming up with the investing part.

June 28, 2022
How can Small Textile Brands Recover from the Pandemic? | Survival Tips for Textile Industry

In the course of the ongoing pandemic, many businesses faced a downfall in their progress of making a profit. Likewise, small textile brands encountered a behindhand in making a life out of the pandemic market.

While the small textile brands are highly populated by poor people, in order to make a small earning by stitching, embroidering and threading clothes all day. After the government of India proclaimed lockdown, many small scale industry workers returned to their hometowns and migrated, waiting to get circumstances back to normal.

Things were normal when the Government set a time duration to conduct their respective business i.e. 10 am to 6 pm. Whereby, small textile brands worked for 24 hours to meet the targeted profit of the day or month or year. But, the coronavirus unfettered the nation with high cases from April to July 2021, imposing tight lockdown again.

According to the reports, it is stated that 70% of workers didn’t return to work and saw a 60% drop in the sales of textile. On the other hand, the small textile brands faced an epic hurdle in purchasing raw materials from the suppliers as it is unsafe in trading, due to escalating death rates in the country.

Besides, the small textiles have to accept those who are willing to do any task, as the industry is facing a lack of manpower. As is the case, there might be unskilled workers joining the small textiles brands which ultimately leads to the production of low-quality textiles; and people won’t buy poor quality products. Besides, the small textile brands are bungling the concept of technology.

Here, we’re gonna discuss the chance of small textile brands to expand their market from the effect of the ongoing pandemic.

Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Textile Brands
Things that hampered the production of small Textile units
How can Textile brands survive the Pandemic
FAQ

Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Textile Brands

The whole Covid-19 pandemic situation made the economic status of the entire world go upside down. As per the study, the 2020’s economy has gone down by –3%.

The world faced a major fallback economically correlated to the 2008–2009 financial crises and the surveys say that it may take at least a year to attain the normal state and solidify their thrift. India is one of the major countries that encountered a high difference, definitely not in a good way.

Considering the available resources and fast-growing markets many foreign institutions were ready to invest in India, and that may have cultivated a huge disparity in the availability of employment.

The textile industry has a huge part in employment creation in India. The closing of the mart ended in creating an unpleasant reaction in the growth of the textile industry; few minor cloth crews curbed their exposition.

Due to the low profit, many units limited their human resources and there were pay cuts. Out of all states, the worst pretentious states in cloth manufacturing during the epidemic are Punjab, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

Impending Challenges in 2021 for Small Businesses

The Covid outbreak was uncertain for all of us, but small businesses were the most affected ones. So, here’s a case study on Challenges in 2021 for Small Businesses.

StartupTalkyAnagha S

Things that hampered the production of small Textile units

Fewer Transportation Facilities

Transportation is the primary element that makes a huge effect on production. The businessmen need transport to supply the product, to get the raw materials and to deliver the goods.

Due to fewer transport facilities during the lockdown, the transportation of goods and buying of fresh products for sales were halted. The people were not even able to deliver the finished products.

No Labours

As transport was not available frequently, the migrant workers shifted back to their hometowns. Their wages were cut short and the companies curtailed human resources.

Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa are the states that produce large amounts of human resources, considering the less income, transport problem and their health risks, they moved to their places. So the limited availability of the labourers resulted in the production.

Lack of Raw Material

During the pandemic, the demand for the raw crops reduced and due to that agriculture underwent. As the overall demand for the crops reduced, the production of cotton and silk were also reduced, resulting in less or no availability of raw materials. And as the chemical units were focusing on other significant courses, the dealings of synthetic lessened and the synthetic textiles were affected.

No Capital

Many small textile units were shut down as the production and earnings lowered.

Market size of the Textile Industry in India

How can Textile brands survive the Pandemic

Well, in some way or the other, many businesses are recovering the loss from the effect of the pandemic by engaging efficiently in producing and serving the goods to the customers. And in the case of small textile brands also hyped their production in many ways during this ongoing pandemic.

Unlike other industries, small textile companies lack digital marketing and ergo became a great drawback in achieving their goals.

Here are some ways that the small textiles industries could employ to stay resilient in the market from the effect of the ongoing pandemic.

Make sure workers are Safe and Vaccinated

During the first lockdown in the nation, many small scale workers migrated as per the government rules. So, the first thing that small textile brands should take care of their workers is to prevent the fatal virus across the nation, whereby the necessity of healthcare nearby, nutritious food and safe & hygienic shelter should be rendered to the workers and make sure their vaccinated.

Stay Informed with the Latest Government Guidelines

Secondly, small textile brands should stay informed; the Government should inform the measures and up-to-date information regarding the pandemic to the small textile industries. As is the case, they will take necessary protocols assigned by the Government in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Make sure your financially stable to operate your business

The small textile brands should be financially stable in meeting requirements such as paying wages to the workers, purchasing raw materials, light & power, fuel and transportation and so on.

Furthermore, industries should be producing goods & services at a minimum cost of production and maximum optimization of the product.

Stay in touch with your key stakeholders

Small textiles brands should be in touch with their key stakeholders in order to sustain an affiliate relationship with them.

Provide Recess time for Workers

Brands should provide recess time for workers, who are working 24/7, as this would aid to reduce the cost of excess labour & augment efficiently and effectively in the production of goods and services.

Make necessary changes according to the environment

Lastly, the small textile brands should accomplish the set of goals without any objections in doing so and respond to any changes happening in the working environment.

If the above points are followed by the small textile brands, then the chances of getting opportunities in the market are high during the pandemic.

What will be the Scenario after Coronavirus Outbreak?

Many economists suggest that recession is bound to happen considering the ongoing threats and situation in which businesses are shutting down, Checkout the possible scenario after Corona outbreak.

StartupTalkyVarad Kitey

Conclusion

The countries confronted a huge economic deterioration. No country was nimble to evade the losses that the pandemic resulted in. The economic rate of the country is poorly approximated to the financial crisis the world faced in 2008–2009. But it doesn’t mean it’s not possible to improve it.

Fetching back to regular and recouping the stability like before the pandemic may take a few months or also years. And the small textiles that faced a great loss have to find a way to improve their state. They have to create new strategies to sell their products in a modern way and yet not skip and obey the government protocols.

FAQ

What is textile business?

The Textile industry consists of the design, production and distribution or marketing of yarn, Fabrics or readymade clothing.

Which city is famous for textile in India?

Bhilwara is India’s largest manufacturer of fabrics and is also known as Textile City of India.

Is textile industry profitable?

Yes, textile industry is considered as a profitable industry for new and aspiring entrepreneurs.

October 2, 2021
Survival Tips for Startups during Lockdown

Today almost every country in the world is under lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic to contain the coronavirus outbreak. Small businesses, startups & entrepreneurs are wondering how to survive lockdown. On one hand, you want to keep the operations going as long as possible but on the other hand, the health of yourself and your workforce is the top priority. There are survival tips that must be followed to protect your company to avoid closure of business.

The business has surely been slow since the last few months and with the coronavirus pandemic rapidly spreading around the world, the economies are falling down drastically. Now, as over a Billion Indians are under lockdown due to the novel Coronavirus. It has created many hurdles for many established business, startups and their employees to survive in markets.

Humankind has never witnessed anything like this before. Companies are complaining about stranded supplies and non-uniform implementation of orders by law-enforcing authorities. In addition to this; the ever-changing government rules and notifications that are putting restrictions on transport, gatherings, etc.

Due to COVID-19, there is a huge cloud of uncertainty and darkness but as an entrepreneur needs to deal smartly with the circumstances and understand what can be done differently to get over this crisis. Many are looking for business survival tips in lockdown.

While people are locked inside their houses for safety concerns,many major companies have adopted new ways to operate like asking employees to work-from-home, safely shutting down facilities, etc. As the markets have witnessed record falls, it is more difficult for startups to survive in this situation. So here are some strategies to help startups survive during lockdown.

Be Open and Honest with your Customers

Right now we are all facing uncertainty, may it be self-employed, business owners, stay-at-home parents or working a full-time job. It is important to keep our relationship with existing clients alive. Empathize because they are as badly hit as we are. So be honest with your customers and tell them what actions your business is taking.

Experts say, company’s website must be designed well as many customers can visit it during lockdown. Adding an FAQ section to your website is the easiest way to give your customers the info they need. Consider creating a pipeline of business through digital outreach. It is necessary to connect with older customers.

Work from Home Efficiently

Working from home is not a new strategy anymore but how to work efficiently from home is the question before many employees. In almost all affected countries, the advice is to work from home if you possibly can. According to a research, 86% of people feel less stressed working remotely.

To work efficiently, employees need to use the right kind of tools. Thus, startups must ask their employees to use video conferencing tools like Zoom, Google Meet, Skype, Slack, etc. Apart from this, one must ask employees to maintain strict hygiene while working remotely also. One must ask teams to have regular communication to inform about progress and updates.

Manage the Expenses

At this point, the only thing startups should focus on is staying afloat and come out of this situation diligently. This can only be done by managing the expenses in a proper way. Question every expense, get rid of everything that is not important, re-negotiate agreements with suppliers, take a hard look at team costs, chase every single receivable, and do not sell without advances. In times like this, the single focus is to keep the business afloat at all costs, which may need founders to be very careful.

Find out what Help Government is offering

Many governments across the world, are just putting measures to fight COVID-19 but they are also rendering financial help to startups and SMEs to restore falling economy. For instance, the UK has announced plans to offer various grants, loan schemes, reduced business rates, and statutory sick pay relief for SMEs.

The US Government recently announced a $2 trillion relief package for its citizens and businesses, impacted by Covid-19 pandemic. New Zealand’s measures include wage subsidies for small businesses. So, it’s your responsibility as entrepreneur to keep yourself updated with any such help offered. It is advised to check your local city or state website to find out what steps officials are taking or what is available in your area.

Related: 9 Founders Shared their tips on Surviving Coronavirus Outbreak

Update your Google My Business page

If you haven’t got one yet, it is advisable to claim your Google My Business listing now. It’s free and it will help customers find your business online. If you already have Google My Business page, log in to your account and you’ll see a new option on the homepage called “Coronavirus (COVID-19) ” option that has been added recently.

By following the link, you will reach a page where one can make suggested changes to their business information. There one can update their business hours, adding extra services they are offering to customers or their local community or informing them about delays to normal service and so on.

It is necessary to communicate with Suppliers and devise plans accordingly

Move your Sales to Online Shop

Now, selling your products one-to-one is impossible due to lockdown but selling online is still an option. Selling online has never been easier and now is the perfect time to start an online shop to earn extra revenue. Depending on your country, postal services and couriers might still be running, otherwise, lots of companies are starting to offer “doorstep deliveries.”

It is totally safe as the business owner drops the parcel on the doorstep and the customer collects it from there, so there’s no contact involved. This is also a great way to help the people in your community get the goods they need. This may help the operations keep going due to continuous cashflow.

Keep in touch with your Suppliers

Because of restrictions on transport and meetings, there might be interruptions in the supplies you need to make your products or do your job, depending on your line of work. Knowing this ahead of time and keeping track of inventory can help you prepare and set realistic expectations for your customers.

You can ask the suppliers or vendors how long it will take them to deliver the goods. If it’s going to take you longer to fulfil orders than usual, your customers will be more understanding if you let them know in advance.

Looking at the current scenario, stabilization of inventory and logistics may not be achieved immediately. But businesses should then turn their attention to pre-booking rail and air freight capacity and using after-sales stock ensuring continuity in their supply chain network.

Take Tough calls

According to experts, the need of the hour is to make a impartial analysis of the current state or position of your startup and take tough calls based on that even if it means merging your startup with another venture. Sooner or later, startups will come face to face with the reality-survive at any cost.

To take such calls, entrepreneurs would require support and help to think clearly. A few other options, that founders can explore, are holding on a favourite project or letting go of a resource that might be valuable but not affordable at this hour.

Have Patience

During this tough time, having patience until things restore back is really essential. For this, a team has a valuable role to play. A Team should be strength, motivating and bonding the team is important. A leader must share the situation so that the team can support and help. Sharing the problems can give hope and might find you a solution to deal with the situation.

Also Read: How Different Sectors will Resume their Operations after Lockdown?

Conclusion

Each new learning becomes a rule, and each failed attempt becomes new learning. In the matter of just a week, India went from a do-not-panic state to a state of complete lockdown. So during such testing times, there are several financial and legal aspects that all businesses should bear in mind to lower risks and cut down on their losses. By adopting the appropriate strategies, any business can survive this lockdown. And remember it is a matter of time!

May 21, 2020