Any kind of products demands constant financial contribution to make customers want to obtain specific goods and services. We are to reveal a few secrets on how and from where to get financial support.
Have you ever thought about primarily steps to take before searching for money? Let us describe how you can prepare yourself to find the funds you require.
Market segment your product fits
You have to identify a specific fitting market niche for your digital product. It’s about validating a product and comparing it with already existing goods at the marketplace. As you know, your creation is going to take its place in the digital market world, and such environment – which might not always be friendly – is full of rivals, even if you’re not aware of them.
Follow these few simple recommendations to make the process smooth:
- Define the key purpose of your product
Your brainchild wasn’t designed only to perform certain functions. Think of figuring out what your customers might feel while enjoying your app or your website. What issues is it going to resolve?
- Decide on your Final Users
Without a doubt, every developer strives for designing and selling his or her digital product, so do you. To attain the desired goal you’re to identify who it is for. What people could be happy to take advantage of your masterpiece? Do you realize what your regular user is like? It could be pretty impossible to guarantee success, in case you ignore your target audience.
- Conduct research on your rivals
Gather some info on other players at the market. Today’s digital world is full of various offers. Early in 2019, there were over 2.1 million of iPhone products and more than 3.6 million of Android platforms. We don’t mean you have to check every single program – just study 3-4 biggest sharks of your market segment.
By the way, it would also be helpful for you to research on startups benefit from an MVP. There are much practical advice on the mentioned subject.
- Prepare your Unique Selling Proposition
Obviously, you see how critical it is to upstage those big sharks, thus, USP is a magic instrument to stand out from rivals and to charm the audience. What could be your one-of-a-kind killing feature?
- Supply your product with top quality features
One-of-a-kind killing feature is amazing, nonetheless, you need all the parameters to be outstanding. Write down all functionalities of your product – do other companies have them on a must-have list? That’s completely acceptable to have fewer functionalities – the more important is to install them better than other market players did.
Solving business matters
If you decide to refer to investors, assure them you’ll drive revenue from your product. Thus, devote enough time to include in your detailed business plan such elements, as:
- Estimations on how much time and money you require to develop beta-version of your product unless it’s already done. In most cases, it’s quite difficult to set deadlines, since you’re still designing it, so have no specific idea of how the final product will look like;
- Estimations on how much time and money you require to build a sustained product version;
- Ideas and approaches for promotion campaigns;
- Estimations on financial expenses and the time period you need to recover all costs. That’s one of the key points to consider before reaching out to potential investors. A person who agrees to give you money shall understand very clearly how you’re planning investments recovery.
Potential risks estimations are to be included in your business plan, thus, find answers to below questions:
- Will you require extra funds in the middle of a launching procedure, for instance? What are your chances to run out of budget half-way?
- Is there a possibility for your rivals to obtain any confidential info or to steal your concepts and ideas?
- What about the team you hire? Are they qualified enough to get the job done, thus, to guarantee high quality of the work?
Business plan is a preparatory phase on the way to raise your budget.
So, after everything mentioned earlier is nicely done, you got what to present to any potential investors to make a favorable impression. Those influential people will see in front of them, not an amateur, but a professional, thus, your chances for a positive response will increase.
Where to get investments
Well, now we’ve found our way to techniques of raising sufficient budget.
Cold statistics states that majority of promising projects never get a chance to see the world due to the absence of funds. The process to find designers, conduct testings, launch the final product, and promote it isn’t easily affordable moneywise. That’s a strong argument to consider available options to get as much money as you require.
Here are a few ideas:
- Personal financial sources
Your savings are actually the most trustworthy. In the best case scenario, it won’t be necessary for you to persuade people to invest in your creation.
- Friends & family
This might be the second-best solution. You could always speak to people who care about you and who have faith in you. What if they have such possibility and desire to support your product?
- Multiple developers’ contests
Such occasions are made to help people fulfill their brilliant ideas. Contributors are the ones to organize such events when winners get the budget they need to launch and promote their masterpieces. The only thing is that to win your product has to be really unique and exceptional.
- Credits
It’s one more way out for you. Get a detailed business plan to feel confident referring to a bank to get financing.
- Investors
Rich people or the whole corporations can facilitate your life significantly. Once again, make sure you’ve got a solid plan in order to present your product explaining how to make it bring money.
- Business partners
Those people could assist you to finalize and launch the product. When partnership agreement is signed, you get the money you need, and your partners receive their benefits as per contract terms and conditions.
- Sponsors
Those could be diverse establishments that are eager to support you financially in exchange for their brand promotion by means of your brainchild.
- A large client
A rich client might be happy to give you a hand. Such people decide to buy promising products before they become popular, and even before they’re actually created. Under such circumstances your task is to persuade a businessman that your idea and the product will work – a piece of cake, right? Just be prepared to keep that businessman updated on every single step you’re doing – he or she deserves to monitor the development and the rest since they risk their money.
- Crowdfunding
Mentioned solution implies you getting in touch with your target audience – getting them to find investments. We’d recommend you apply one of the reliable resources for such purpose:
- Kickstarter;
- Indiegogo;
- Boomstarter;
- Kiva;
- Zidisha.
After finding investments, when it all seems to be smooth and perfect, remember on continuous improvement strategies. You have to be on top of everything all the time – that’s the key to ongoing success.