7 ways to attract investors and customers when creating your business

We’re so excited that one of our spikeview community members just won a $20,000 national business pitch competition! TuffToy is a student-run business that creates and sells durable dog toys. We love celebrating student success, so we wanted to be sure to give them a shoutout!

Are you the next young entrepreneur to stand out from the crowd? We gathered some pieces of advice from experts around the world helping people just like you create and launch a business. 

(1) Grow your personal network into a business resource.

Successful business owners will tell you that relationships are the foundation to success. When you’re young, a personal network is friends and family because you haven’t been in the workforce yet. But these people know other people who can help you. 

(2) Find a mentor.

This should be a natural extension of your network building. You don’t know what you don’t know. A mentor’s role is to help you reach your goals. Starting a mentor-mentee relationship while you’re still in high school or college is a huge advantage. 

(3) Develop a strong online presence. 

The internet is amazing, but only if you’re seen! You don’t need accounts on every social platform, but you do need a solid website that makes a good first impression.

(4) Improve your social skills.

Investors expect the entrepreneurs to be good communicators for effectively managing the business. This starts with your business pitch and extends to customer service.

(5) Show evidence of how your idea works.

You believe in your business, but you have to convince others to believe in it. Investors are going to want to know how many potential customers you can reach, and how you’ll grow the business.

(6) Write an executive summary of your business.

Put together a 2-page document that includes pictures and graphs to illustrate the important aspects of what you’re offering, the team, and how you could grow with the right investment.

(7) Talk with bloggers and podcasters.

In the early days it’s hard to get featured on the local news. But every industry has an audience that reads blogs and listens to podcasts. Find those outlets and try to get interviewed. 

Let us know if this helps. If you’re working on a business of your own, we’d love to feature you. Send a note to team@spikeview.com.