First Step – Don’t Think about the Money!
Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of thinking “I need money to start my business”. They worry about finding investors before solidifying their product or service. However, before asking for money, new start-ups should be obsessed with creating and developing a product or service that meets the needs of customers.
Once you decide to start a business, step one is to create and develop the product/service to the point where you can share the concept and early prototypes with potential customers to receive feedback. Many products at this point get rejected by customers and need to be iterated or even scrapped altogether. Do not seek or spend excessive amounts of money before vetting your product in the market. Find customers who provide constructive feedback and lead to pre-orders. At this point in development, you are (very carefully) spending your own money. Use of, and effective management of, your personal funds shows future investors a) your commitment to the business and b) your ability to run a business (financial acumen).
Once the customer confirmation and demand (customer “pull”) is secured, it may be time to seek external funding to further develop the product and prepare for mass production. Many activities will be coordinated in parallel (product development, customer engagement, business planning, test marketing, and pre-launch planning). Far too often founders are obsessed with funding prior to the groundwork being done, but without the market feedback, product iteration, and customer pull in place, seeking financing is premature.
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