One of the regions with the most dominant and dynamic startup ecosystems in the world is no other than Asia. A lot of new startups’ lifecycle demand international investors to support the growth of businesses and push concepts, ideas, and synergies to thrive.
Entrepreneurs often get challenged with navigating international investors and getting them to pitch in, and this can get quite daunting especially for new businessmen. But it needs to be done, and it is critical if you wish to fuel the growth of your startup company. Facing foreign investors can really be a predicament as opposed to local investors. Without common grounds to connect, difficulties in exchanging notes in the industry and sharing value systems similarity, you need to be able to come up with smart ways to engage with these challenging investors to avoid awkward cross-cultural gatherings.
One of the most important things that you have to be able to tackle is making foreign investors understand the local context. To do this, you have to plan well before you delve into the exchange.
Create a Convincing Story
Since most foreign investors don’t really have an idea about the new country they’re going to invest in, you have to help them with it. Foreign investors usually have limited knowledge out of business reports that don’t really help them with making a good decision regarding investment. Your job as an entrepreneur is to make sure that the investors can understand the business model means in the market they are going to pitch into.
Find the most commonly known facts about the market and make investors understand what moves your target market and the reason your idea is rooted in the local context. Try to make anecdotal stories to build an understandable narrative for your investors and make your presentation interesting, using supportive data and media as well as other resourceful references.
Explain Structure
Country representatives of international funds must be able to interact with the founders and share their understanding with the investment committees to help investment decisions to be made, as it is based on the inputs of the committee. A good decision can only be made if there’s a good understanding of the business’ growth potential.
Level Up
International investors value quality and impressive brand creation. You have to be able to appeal to them as they will be very meticulous in evaluating product quality and services. Convince the international investors of your brand’s power and potential with a well-designed presentation to emphasize brand value creation.
Prepare Well
Convince them of the stability and potential regarding revenue, scalability, traction, future roadma[p and growth prospects in the local and overseas markets so that the investors can be interested to associate. You must be prepared for all questions regarding those matters, even ones that are unpredictable. Understand the current business standing and targeted growth and make the investor understand those as well from their domestic market.
Get a Good Partner
It is not easy to face international investors. Find a presence who is experienced to help you navigate through the obstacles, someone who has an existing relationship or has gone through international investor meetings to make it all go smoother and easier.
Be Ambitious, But Not Arrogant
Everyone wants to show a good impression when they interact with investors. Be careful that you might come off as arrogant instead of determined. So, choose your words and attitude carefully.
