Finding the Right Investor for Your Business
Starting a business isn't a walk in the park. Before generating huge amounts of profit, you need to figure out where to get funding. Self-funding can only take you so far; thus, finding the right investor is vital to get you started. Not only can investors fund your business, but they can also contribute their expertise and insights to ensure your success.
As you'll find out today, finding the right investor for your business takes perseverance and careful consideration.
In this episode, Lorraine Gnanadickam talks about finding an investor to help your business reach its full potential. She shares her journey of starting a business entirely from scratch while raising a family. We also talk about the value of building a for-profit company for-good.
If you want to learn the ropes of finding the right investor for your business, then this episode is for you.
Here are three reasons why you should listen to the full episode:
- Learn how to find an investor that is right for your business.
- Discover tips on starting a business from scratch.
- Lorraine shares the value of making your for-profit business for-good.
LISTEN NOW (and check out the Resources and Episode Highlights below):
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WATCH NOW (and check out the Resources and Episode Highlights below):
Resources
- Download the Workbook and jot down relevant notes as you listen to/watch the show
- Visit FoodSt for tasty and healthy meals!
- Apply to be a cook for FoodSt.
- FoodSt on Instagram and Twitter
- David Hancock — The co-founder of Afterpay and a FoodSt investor.
- Connect with Lorraine: Linkedin | Twitter | Facebook
- The Influence Alliance — A business-building community for changemakers who want to build a sustainable and scalable business they love.
- The Influence Alliance Free Podcast Series
Episode Highlights
[02:16] About Lorraine and FoodSt
- FoodSt is a service that lets home cooks sell their food to people who don't have the time to cook themselves.
- Lorraine has always loved cooking and sharing food. She started working as a chef but soon shifted careers towards corporate, medical devices and pharmaceuticals.
- Because of her demanding jobs, there came the point when Lorraine wouldn't have the time to even cook for her family. She found herself resorting to takeaway and supermarket meals.
- Lorraine's search for a solution led to FoodSt’s birth.
[05:48] The Right Way of Starting a Business from Scratch
- It took Lorraine and her husband months to understand what their business needed to thrive.
- Lorraine first invested in hiring lawyers, which helped her understand how to build safe and sustainable ways for starting a business.
- She made sure to involve regulators in every step of the business-building process.
- The next thing Lorraine did was create a business model.
- After a year of planning and building, Lorraine launched her business.
[14:03] Common Startup Mistakes
- Don't build anything until you know what it is exactly.
- Lorraine wasted lots of money because she invested in technology that didn't work out.
- Remember: every mistake is a chance to learn.
[16:41] Finding an Investor for Your Business
- Lorraine and her husband funded their business themselves at first.
- They eventually went for a crowdfunding campaign and had a lot of pledgers. Legislation changes, however, stopped them in their tracks.
- Fortunately, they got an investor from that crowdfunding campaign. They also got David Hancock as an investor recently, and they're now scaling their business.
- Persevere and pitch your business to potential investors constantly. If you get rejected, learn to adjust your business to demonstrate that in your next pitches.
- Finding an investor also involves profiling them. Make sure your investors have profiles that match your business.
[22:18] Nurturing Your Relationship with Your Investors
- To nurture your relationship with investors, you have to prove you know the ins-and-outs of your business' financial side.
- You also need a plan to move your business to a particular milestone that aligns with what your investors want.
- Make sure your investors believe in you and see the value you can bring.
- Lorraine is currently working with investors to expand her business so she could cater everywhere in Australia.
[28:18] Making a For-Profit Business For-Good
- Lorraine believes that businesses of the future need to tap into the for-good.
- FoodSt is both for-profit and for-good as it empowers home cooks, enables busy people to eat better food and brings people together.
10 Powerful Quotes from this Episode
‘We wanted to make people’s lives better, and we didn’t want to be negligent in the way that we went about our business’.
‘With my medical background and having had worked with regulators in the past, I thought it was really important and really a key ethics of our business to work with regulators and do things the right way’.
‘There were a lot of people that said, you’ll never be able to do it, there is no way. But we did it. And it was just through absolute relationship building and a lot of investment of time and energy into setting it up the right way’.
‘Everybody said to us don’t build anything until you know exactly what you’re building, but we know what we’re building’.
‘There’s different types of investors that look for different things that invest in certain industries that you know are at different stages of their investment journey’.
‘What you have to do is to demonstrate that you have a good knowledge of the financial side of your business and that you have a plan to move it towards a certain milestone’.
‘You want to make sure that the people that are investing in your company believe in you and see the value that you can bring’.
‘Businesses of the future need to be tapping into that for good. Our business, yes it is for profit, but what we’re doing is we’re empowering and enabling’.
The forefront of everything that we do in our business is all about empowering people to cook from home and to be able to earn some income doing what they love’.
‘The fundamental basis is it starts with a really good intent. That food, because it's made with such care and love tastes better, and it's better for you, which then makes the customer happy to keep ordering that food’.
About Lorraine 
Lorraine Gnanadickam is the founder and CEO of FoodSt, a startup that enables home cooks to sell their dishes to others in their neighbourhood. FoodSt makes it possible for people with busy schedules to have home-cooked meals without any extra hassle.
Lorraine also has extensive prior experience in various commercial and intrapreneurial roles within the medical devices and pharmaceutical industries. As a passionate entrepreneur, she eventually built an original business from scratch while raising a family.
If you want to connect with Lorraine, you may reach her through Linkedin, Twitter, or Facebook.
Enjoy This Podcast?
Starting a business isn't a walk in the park. Thus, finding the right investor is vital to get you started. In addition to funding your business, they can also contribute their expertise and insights to ensure your success. If you enjoyed today's episode of Ambitious Entrepreneur Podcast, then hit subscribe now!
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To staying ambitious,
Annemarie
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