Getting Prepared To Make Your First “Ask For The Money” Presentation

It is about time that you are making your very first “get the money” presentation. I am not going to tell you much about my first presentation for money, since it was so long ago. I think I was 3 years old and wanted some candy. I am sure it did not turn out very well. I think I did the presentation in front of the wrong audience and I was not very professional. My ‘ask” presentations have gotten much better especially since I know how to effectively raise capital today and every day.

How can you get prepared to make your first professional “ask” presentation?  The first thing you must do is place yourself in front of the right audience. If you are doing the presentation in front of a group of people without any resources, you might as well be talking to the wall. If you are talking to people who have shown interest and know something about what you are working to achieve then your chances soar! So, think of doing a presentation in which the potential investors in your project have a mix of people who know you and people who don’t have a clue as to your reputation, experience level, motives, or character. The great news is the people who know you will probably advocate for you. 

Second, you must be able to anticipate and answer the objections that the “money” client will ask as part of your presentation. It is better to answer some of the questions while doing the presentation rather than the “money” client bringing it up later.

Third, while preparing for the presentation put yourself in the client’s shoes. How much experience do they have in the investment you are pitching? Do they have the amount of money you need? Have they been burned in the past by another investor? Are they angry or dissatisfied with their current investment strategy? What is their emotional state about investing (Hands on, Auto pilot, Fear driven)?

With any investment, whether promoted in person, by mail, telephone, or on the Internet, a wise money lending investor should always slow down, ask questions, and get written information. Only one of my investments that I am currently managing is registered with the SEC. Hedge Equity, LLC fund loans money and supplies at an excellent rate of return to investors who participate in the fund. Typically, you will not have a registered fund and the investments will be “one time only.”  So, explain to them “these investments are not FDIC insured, they are not registered with the SEC and they can lose all of their money.”  Explain to the potential investor you are not registered with the state securities agency.

Other considerations to include in your presentation: You will need to explain to the investor that you are incorporated. If you are not then you will need to get this done! Explain to them how you are able to reduce their risk of loss.

Explain to them what the risks are associated with this investment. What are the costs to hold the investment? How easy is your project to liquidate in an emergency? State again that they could lose everything!  Explain who will be managing the project and what should be the expectation of the return (don’t quote figures unless they are known to be high net worth investors on the first date)!  In the presentation, you should explain how they get paid back, how long will it take, and paint a picture of the result.  You need to find out what is important to them. The whole meeting is all about them. If they don’t get what they want then you are not going to get what you need.

Letting the money lender know what your experience is and what type of reserves you have is very important. Letting them know what your “skin in the game” is also helpful. Let them know you are paying people back their money with interest.

You have just read some of the learning lessons I have had over the past 30 years of raising capital from people who don’t know me. You can do this. So, you don’t have any experience, then this is a perfect time for you to partner with someone who has the background and proof to be sustainable, like me.  If you have a few gaps in being able to answer the above questions then let’s work together on a project. If you are a potential investor who has the funds and want to deploy them in a safe and secure way, then we should have a meeting and ask me all of the questions I mentioned above. You will walk away knowing that your investment will be paid back first before I make any profit.

Think about what you can do with $1,000,000 in cash to invest in your future. That is the basis of a great presentation.

Russ Hiner