Thinking of raising money? Start with a business plan.
A good business plan isn't just an afterthought – it should be the cornerstone of your fundraising strategy.
Most CEOs and entrepreneurs think of their business plan as nothing more than a written description of current performance and future prospects.
Sounds simple enough, but it is often hardest for CEOs and entrepreneurs to build a narrative around their business that really speaks to investors.
Done correctly, the process of building a business plan means you are defining a strategy and building a narrative that showcases what is best about your business as well as creating a compelling investor proposition.
This all helps to increase the ‘invest-ability’ of your business and compete with the thousands of pitches most investors receive.
We've written hundreds of business plans and helped entrepreneurs and CEOs get ready to successfully raise more than £200m since 2016. The facts are:
Most entrepreneurs who haven't raised funding before don't always have the full picture of what’s happening in the market.
Your investor proposition and narrative matter. We often find that clients (regardless of whether they are a brand-new start-up or had several years of growth) struggle to package their business in a way that made sense for an investor.
At the same time investors are typically overwhelmed by the volume of pitches they receive, and only the most credible business plans and pitch decks stand out.
Building a narrative that is compelling, authentic, defensible and helps the business stand out from literally thousands of other pitches often makes all the difference.
Having a realistic go-to-market and growth strategy (that can be defended) helps entrepreneurs and boards understand timelines, risks and returns generated with additional funding (and when). This can also help manage investor expectations and provide them with a plan for achieving higher valuations later on.
Many entrepreneurs and leaders are notoriously bad at selling their skills and expertise, but a business is all about the people. Investors are looking for great people, who have the ability to execute. This can also help investors better measure and understand risk.
How do we help?
The Summerhill Group works with clients in Technology, Fintech, Professional Services, Hospitality and many other industries to help them get ready to raise funding from investors. We've worked on more than 200 business plan projects and helped raise more than £200m.
We offer fixed-price packages to help you get ready to raise money, understand the market and ultimately, build a compelling business plan.
You can view more about our services here, or contact us on 0203 468 1239 for more information.