10 Skills Investors look for in an Entrepreneur | How to impress an Investor?
📖 Learning
The internet along with modern technology has seen a boom in the past decade. It has stimulated a lot of young people to turn into entrepreneurs by crafting their unique business ideas. The 2021 Entrepreneurial Spirit Index published by IPSOS shows 29% of Generation Z ranked as having a very high entrepreneurial spirit, compared to 36% of Millennials, 33 % of Generation X, and 25% of Baby Boomers. As of 2022, there are reportedly 582 million entrepreneurs worldwide. This growth has encouraged more people and companies to become investors.
The business you start might have huge market potential. But, for it to reach a wider market and attain success beyond the geographical limit, it needs constant financial support. This financial aid is offered by Investors and VCs who are always choosy about their investments. Investors expect certain qualities from entrepreneurs before they decide to invest. So, what are they? What are the qualities that an investor looks for in an entrepreneur? Let's see.
10 Skills Investors look for in an Entrepreneur
- In-depth Business Knowledge
- Team Building Skills
- Precision in Fund Requirements
- Communication Skills
- Passion towards Business
- Organizational and Leadership Skills
- Adaptability and Learning Skills
- Problem Solving Skills
- Strategic and Critical Thinking Skills
- Marketing Ability
10 Skills Investors look for in an Entrepreneur
Here are some of the entrepreneurial skills to impress an investor.
In-depth Business Knowledge
Pitching your business plan to investors requires inside-out knowledge of your business and its market. An excellent idea portrayed with poor business knowledge can be fatal. Moreover, the confidence with which you approach the investor has a direct effect on the funding. In-depth business knowledge gives you that confidence.
Before preparing your presentation for investors, gain clear knowledge about the scope and problems of your business and market. Construct a plan to solve those problems. You can gain that by interacting with your prospective customers and other market experts. Look for the questions, criticisms, and suggestions that the investor might toss at you. Be prepared for such things so you can provide a satisfactory response.
Team Building Skills
Many investors prefer to invest in businesses that have a good team. As Will Herman, a popular Angel Investor himself said, he believes in a founder who has a good team. It includes not only the co-founders but also the management team as a whole.
Every person can’t be an expert in all aspects of the business. So experiencing yourself in what you’re good at and building a team for other aspects can gain you a positive note from investors. Even an average business idea can be executed exceptionally through a good team. If you’re desperate about getting the investor’s concern, then knock on their doors with a competitive squad.
Precision in Fund Requirements
Being clear about the amount required and the ways of utilizing them is a significant factor seen by Investors. Opting for an open-ended request for funds shows your lack of business awareness. Get to know the market well and be as accurate as possible in your need for funds.
Determining the channel of fund flow is another important and challenging factor. You need to be more specific to the investors regarding what ways their money will be utilized. It could be for customer acquisition, product development, or anything. Pitch them with specific numbers to gain their interest.
Aishani Biswas
Communication Skills
The primary quality of a good entrepreneur is his Communication skills. The success of a business depends on the coordination between various departments, teams, and stakeholders. All these can be successfully bridged through effective communication by the entrepreneur.
Therefore investors expect entrepreneurs to be good communicators for effectively managing the business. This will be keenly observed during your pitching. Now, what makes one a good communicator? Deep knowledge develops confidence and this, in turn, grooms you to be a good communicator.
Passion towards Business
Create a vision for your business and develop a sense of passion while running towards it. The more passionate you are, the more determined you’ll be towards achieving your goal. The path to success in business will be loaded with ups and downs. How you overcome it depends on how passionate you are about your vision. Investors look for such dedicated and vision-driven entrepreneurs to invest their money.
Organizational and Leadership Skills
The success of the business depends on the way it is organized and managed. Coordinating teams, assigning appropriate tasks, and motivating them towards the company's goals are some of the functions that come under organizational and leadership skills. A leader inspires his employees directly. Therefore, this skill becomes essential for the success of a business. Due to its impact on their investment, investors expect this quality in you during pitching.
Adaptability and Learning Skills
An entrepreneur should always be open to learning and suggestions. Adapting to the constantly changing market is a crucial skill that an entrepreneur should possess. It keeps you alive in the face of a competitive market.
Experienced investors may provide you with advice regarding the business. Even some people you meet, customers, or your failures might teach you something. You must keep yourself open to such learnings. Failing to look around and close yourself off might land you and your business in trouble.
Lakshya Singh
Problem Solving Skills
Every entrepreneur must possess problem-solving skills to deal with day-to-day business challenges. Problem-solving is a combination of various other skills like analytical and critical thinking. It starts from identifying a problem and may involve taking complex decisions for business growth. You can develop this skill by going through various case studies of organizations and thinking from their perspective.
Strategic and Critical Thinking Skills
Strategic and critical thinking becomes essential for the overall development of entrepreneurial skills. You should be able to foresee problems from various perspectives to arrive at the best solution. Critical thinking becomes essential for making strategic business decisions.
Developing the skill of thinking strategically and critically would help you out beat your competitors and expand your market reach.
Marketing Ability
Communication skills will help not only to sell your ideas to investors but also your products to customers. This requires a clear understanding of customers' needs and preferences, your competitors, market conditions, and other external factors. Investors look for your team’s ability to convince a person and make them buy your product or service.
Yash Gupta
Conclusion
Investors believe more in you than your business plan or products. Their investment depends on the value of trust you offered them. Trust can be built from possessing a combination of various skills mentioned here. Gaining as many skills as possible is always an added advantage to you and your business.
FAQs
What are the 10 Entrepreneurial skills?
10 important entrepreneurial skills an investor looks for in an entrepreneur are:
- In-depth Business Knowledge
- Team Building Skills
- Precision in Fund Requirements
- Communication Skills
- Passion towards Business
- Organizational and Leadership Skills
- Adaptability and Learning Skills
- Problem Solving Skills
- Strategic and Critical Thinking Skills
- Marketing Ability
Who are the top angel investors in India?
Some of the Top angel Investors in India are:
- Rajan Anandan
- Mohandas Pai
- Ratan Tata
- Anand Chandrasekaran
- Anupam Mittal
- Kunal Shah
- Dheeraj Jain
- Gokul Rajaram
- Amit Somani
- Vijay Shekhar Sharma
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