00:00:08hi I’m Evan Carmichael and welcome to a
00:00:10special edition of ask Evan normally I
00:00:13shoot these videos in my hometown of
00:00:15Toronto Ontario but today we’re in seat
00:00:17John New Brunswick for a special edition
00:00:19this video is brought to you by American
00:00:21Express they’ve just launched a new
00:00:23Facebook page called timex mrs. canada
00:00:25you guys have like the videos I’ve done
00:00:26in the past please go check out their
00:00:28site I’m gonna include the link below
00:00:29today I’m going to answer question from
00:00:31one of our readers minutes who is asking
00:00:33about how to raise capital how to write
00:00:35a business plan and how to convince
00:00:37investors to put money into your
00:00:38business so vintage specific question
00:00:43was D reven the problem for me is that
00:00:46I’m an undergraduate and my total
00:00:47experience is approximately 24 months
00:00:50the biggest problem for me is to make a
00:00:52business plan for investors and then
00:00:54convince them about my capability have a
00:00:56great day and thanks again for the
00:00:58information regards vinit so thanks that
00:01:00much and VIN it here are my thoughts for
00:01:02you
00:01:04number one get some sales before I
00:01:08started on my car Michael calm I was in
00:01:10the venture capital business and looked
00:01:11up more business plans than I can
00:01:13remember most business plans get
00:01:15rejected right on the spot and you don’t
00:01:17get a chance to even come in and present
00:01:19your case these plans might have been
00:01:21fully written the idea might have been
00:01:23interesting enough but we had serious
00:01:25doubts about the entrepreneurs
00:01:26capability of being able to make this a
00:01:28success one of the best ways to stand
00:01:31out from everyone else is to achieve
00:01:32sales just get one person to buy from
00:01:35you and show investors that people are
00:01:37willing to actually pay you for what you
00:01:39do and you’ll separate yourself from
00:01:41ninety percent of the other
00:01:42entrepreneurs who are pitching their
00:01:44ideas you don’t have to be making a lot
00:01:46of money but proof that someone is
00:01:48willing to buy your products or services
00:01:50is a great first step to establishing
00:01:52credibility with potential investors
00:01:55number to build an advisory board after
00:01:59the executive summary one of the first
00:02:01places and investor will turn to in your
00:02:03business plan is your management team
00:02:05they want to know who they are
00:02:07potentially investing in and what kind
00:02:09of experience you have the less
00:02:11experienced you and your team have the
00:02:13harder it will be to convince investors
00:02:15to give you money one way around this is
00:02:18to build an advisory board talk to
00:02:20people who do have experience and ask
00:02:22them if they’d be willing to be your
00:02:24advisors they’re not liable like they
00:02:27would be if they were on your board of
00:02:28directors and the compensation for their
00:02:30advice is up to you often advisers are
00:02:33willing to join because they are excited
00:02:35about the future of your company and
00:02:36they don’t ask for any immediate
00:02:38compensation being able to show that you
00:02:41have a solid team advisors will go a
00:02:43long way to boost in your credibility
00:02:44and increase the chances of you getting
00:02:46the money you’re looking for
00:02:49number three pass the grandmother test
00:02:51there’s an expression within the venture
00:02:54capital industry around if your
00:02:55executive summary and business plan
00:02:57passes the grandmother test in other
00:02:59words would your grandmother understand
00:03:01the opportunity if you gave your
00:03:03business plan to her remember that most
00:03:05inventors are generalists they’ll know a
00:03:07little bit about your industry but they
00:03:09won’t know it as well as you do too many
00:03:11entrepreneurs fill their business plans
00:03:13with jargon complex industry terms and
00:03:15text speak so much so that investors
00:03:17have a hard time understanding what
00:03:19their companies are all about if an
00:03:21investor can’t read your executive
00:03:23summary once and immediately understand
00:03:25what the opportunity is then your
00:03:27business plan is going straight into the
00:03:28garbage and they’re moving on to the
00:03:30next opportunity make sure you show your
00:03:32plan the people who do not know your
00:03:34market and see if they can understand it
00:03:36before you start Christian investors
00:03:38pass the grandmother test I hope that
00:03:42helps VIN it remember if you want to
00:03:44improve the chances of investors putting
00:03:46money into your business and improve
00:03:47your credibility with them go get some
00:03:50sales build the advisory board and pass
00:03:52the grandmother tests if you guys liked
00:03:54the video please remember what’s brought
00:03:56to you by i’m extra business canada’s
00:03:57facebook page check it out include a
00:03:59link below I’d also love to hear your
00:04:01thoughts and feedback if you want to
00:04:02leave a comment below the video and stay
00:04:04tuned to the next episode