7 Qualities Investors Look For In Every Entrepreneur

Raising money from investors to grow a business is one of the hardest things many entrepreneurs will face. They’d make tens and even hundreds of pitches, attend many networking events, and go through thousands of hours researching potential investors and institutions that can provide them with the required funds their businesses need to grow.

While almost every entrepreneur is focused more on seeking investment or a form of finance, few are focused on preparing themselves and ensuring they possess the core traits that investors look out for in an entrepreneur.

If you’re seeking investment to grow your business, here are 7 qualities investors look for in every entrepreneur:

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1). Your Track Record:

Investors want to know your track record. They want to know your experience at a previous startup, see what job roles you’ve played, what you helped the organization achieve, and in what capacity you were able to deliver your targets.

Investors don’t want people to learn with their money. It mostly ends up bad. They rather prefer to invest in people who have had some experience either by running a series of start-ups unsuccessfully or have worked in the proposed industry they want to start or run a business in. This way, there’s a higher chance of success.

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2). Relevant Skills:

If you’re launching or running a tech startup, it is expected that you should have a technical co-founder and a sales expert.

Running a business without the necessary skills required to maintain its daily operations and eventually facilitate its growth will keep you running in circles. The absence of these skills means the founders may either lose a lot of valuable time making mistakes or may waste a lot of money outsourcing to other startups or organizations who offer those services.

No single individual can know everything. So it’s important that every company has a great technical co-founder, sales expert, financial guru, and every other necessary piece required to smoothen out its operations and eventual growth.

3). Your Passion:

When you talk to an investor, they want to see the passion in which you’re able to deliver your pitch. They want to know how obsessed you’re with what you want to do, and will mostly only take people who’re passionate about their dreams seriously.

You don’t talk to an investor in a slow and boring tone. You fire up your excitement about the bright future of your company and do everything possible to bring them into the same light.

Since passion keeps people fueled and dedicated at whatever they set out to do, investors only prefer to invest in those set of individuals.

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4). Honesty:

No one likes a dishonest person. Even worse, no one will invest their money on a dishonest individual.

Honesty is an important value that every investor wants to see in any entrepreneur they choose to invest in. They need to know their money is in the right hands, someone who would be transparent about how it is used, and who will stay away from any illegal activities that could thwart the company’s growth.

If you come off as dishonest to any investor, no matter how you pitch your company, they’d walk away.

5). Humility:

What does your social life say about you? What do other people think of you?

No one wants to invest in a person who only prefers to show off the luxuries in their lives on social media. Also, no one wants to invest in a person who’s full of pride and loves to make a show of it to everyone.

Humility will enable you to listen to the opinion of others since no one is above making mistakes, will keep you from showing off on social media, and will ensure you understand that not everything is going to be perfect.

A proud person will always have problems convincing investors that it is safe to invest their hard-earned money in his or her business.

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6). Ambition:

What are your goals? What do you intend to achieve in the next 6 months? Which companies do you aspire to either be like or surpass? Which entrepreneur motivates you the most? And what do you want to achieve most in your life?

Ambition is a key quality tht investors look out for in every entrepreneur. They want to see how far you intend to take the company and to determine if they’d be willing to go with you on that long ride.

Ambitious people are always hungry for success, constantly create goals and timelines, and always see the big picture. Investors love this and are always willing to invest in individuals who show an extraordinary ambitious spirit and tenacity to achieve their goals.

7). Progress So Far:

A business that has already started and is experiencing a form of growth has a higher chance of securing an investment than one that’s still in the idea stage.

If you have made considerable progress so far, let the investors know. Highlight your strengths and opportunities. And ensure they’re considerably more influential than your threats and weaknesses. Show the potential investors your financial statements, and prove how a cash influx can greatly push up your margins.

If your progress rate so far shows immense promise, investors would be more than happy to put their money into it.

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What are your thoughts on these 5 qualities investors look for in every entrepreneur? Let me know by leaving a comment below.