The document discusses an online home accessories and gifts retailer that is seeking £500,000 in investment. Over three years, the company has grown revenue from £247k to £3.05 million while maintaining high gross profit margins of around 60%. The investment will allow the company to expand its product range, audience, marketing efforts and production capacity as it aims for a 4-year exit via trade sale. Key details include the company's niche brand positioning, established client base, and ability to customize products through its Asian production facility.

1. / aristos peters
EARLY STAGE FUNDRAISING
‘Show Me The Money’
Tech Meetups

2. My Big ‘Early-Stage’ Picture
 1 EIS Investment & 3 sweat Investments (but not an angel)
 Founder Institute, Seedcamp, Oxygen (& other ‘new/program’
accelerators)
 WeKlik (investment ready, fundraising & corp fin)
 Angel Groups (Networks & Clubs)
 Keiretsu Forum (Angels, HNWs, Family Offices)
 Beer & Young (growth/expansion finance for £1m+ T/O)

3. Funding – What’s Out There
 Program or the New ‘Accelerators’
 Debt: Borrow against assets or near future opportunity (Sales contracts, IP, etc)
 Grants (sector, location)
 Funding Organisations (SEIS & EIS seed funds, VCs, Angel Networks/Clubs)
 Competitions
 Crowdfunding
 Go get a fundraiser / broker / intermediary (Individual or Corporate Finance)

4. The Door Opener
 An Executive Summary
template / Structure E X E C U T IV E S U M M A R Y
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 1 – 2 pages
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p r o p o s it io n o n c e s c a le d u p . I t h a s d e m o n s t r a t e d a m a r k e t f o r it s g o o d s in
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•
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- Investment Outline
in c r e a s in g t h e p r o d u c t r a n g e , a u d ie n c e b a s e a n d s a le s r e v e n u e s v ia it s • N e t P r o f it £45
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a n d p r o d u c t o p p o r t u n it ie s a n d n o w t h a t t h e b r a n d a n d b u s in e s s h a s b e e n • G / P r o fit £825
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- Business Summary
2012 /1 3
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• N e t P r o f it £337
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2013 /1 4
o p e r a tio n .
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- Customer Issues (the problem)
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• N e t P r o f it £500
c o n f ig u r e d a s a p a r t n e r s h ip b u t is t r a n s f e r r in g t o a n e w lim it e d c o m p a n y .
T h e C o m p a n y h a s d e v e lo p e d a g o o d c lie n t b a s e a s a r e t a il a n d t r a d e 2014 /1 5
f u r n it u r e s e lle r , w it h c lie n t s in c lu d in g ; R it z C a r lt o n H o t e ls , S h e r a t o n H o t e ls , • Turn o v er £ 5 ,9 0 0
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- Product/Service
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in A s ia w a s p u r c h a s e d in 2 0 0 9 w h ic h w i ll a id o n e o f t h e c o m p a n y ’s k e y
d if f e r e n t i a t o r s , t o b e a b l e t o c u s t o m i s e a n d t a il o r m a k e t o o r d e r . T h e
d e s ig n a n d p r o d u c t io n f a c ilit y a llo w s t h e ir u n iq u e a n d o r ig in a l d e s ig n s t o s t a n d a p a r t b o t h in t h e r e t a il a n d t r a d e
s e cto rs .
- Target Markets / Sales Channels
C u s t o m e r I s s u e s : C u s t o m e r c u s t o m is a t io n is a k e y o ff e r in g t h e C o m p a n y c a n p r o v id e o v e r a n d a b o v e t h e
s t a n d a r d o f f e r in g s t h a t t h e h ig h s t r e e t a n d o n lin e r e t a ile r s o f f e r . T h e C o m p a n y a r e a b le t o m a n u f a c t u r e t o o r d e r
a n d h a v e t h e f le x ib ilit y t o m a t c h a n d f u lf il n e w c o n s u m e r t r e n d s a c r o s s a n u m b e r o f p r o d u c t a r e a s . S lig h t
v a r ia t io n s in t h e o r d e r f r o m t h e c u s t o m e r ( s iz e , c o lo u r a n d m a t e r ia l) c a n b e a c c o m m o d a t e d , a s t h e r e is n o
m e c h a n is e d f a c t o r y lin e . T h e c o m p a n y a ls o in c o r p o r a t e s t h e e t h ic a l s o u r c in g o f it s p r o d u c t s a s a k e y c o n s u m e r
- Sales & Market Strategy
p u r c h a s in g p r in c ip le .
P r o d u c t / S e r v ic e : T h e a im f o r t h e C o m p a n y is t o d e v e lo p a s a m u lt i- c h a n n e l r e t a ile r . R e t a ile r s w it h s u c h a
f o c u s h a v e c o n s is t e n t ly o u t p e r f o r m e d t h e ir p u r e - p la y c o u n t e r p a r t s in t e r m s o f s a le s g r o w t h . T h e C o m p a n y
c o n t r o ls t h e c o m p le t e s u p p ly c h a in , w h ic h in c lu d e s u t ilis in g t h e ir o w n d e s ig n t e a m in A s ia a n d w o u ld lik e t o
r e a c h o u t a n d c r e a t e m u lt ip le c o n s u m e r ‘t o u c h - p o in t s ’ s u c h a s : t o o p e n a n o u t - o f - t o w n b a r n - s h o p s t y le o u t le t ,
- Competition
e s t a b lis h a P a r t y P la n d ir e c t m a r k e t in g n e t w o r k , p a r t ic ip a t e in t r a d e f a ir p r o g r a m m e s ( in c lu d in g a C h r is t m a s
m a r k e t s c h e d u le ) , p r in t c a t a lo g u e s / b r o c h u r e s f o r v a r io u s t r a d e a n d r e t a il s e c t o r s , a s w e ll a s t o e n g a g e a n
a g e n t n e t w o r k t o r e a c h t h ir d p a r t y r e t a ile r s .
T a r g e t M a r k e t s / S a l e s C h a n n e l s : T h e C o m p a n y h a s t w o m a in r e v e n u e c h a n n e ls w h ic h a r e c o n s u m e r r e t a il
( 7 5 % ) a n d t r a d e r e t a il ( 2 5 % ) b u t h a v e a ls o b e e n d e v e lo p in g a s e r v ic e o f lu x u r y h ig h - e n d in s t a lla t io n s .
- Future opportunity / Exit C o n f id e n t ia l 1

5. The Approach
 It’s a different landscape with its own language.
 Think of it as a campaign (?Months, people, £money)
 95+% of businesses approaching investors …. No guarantees.
Many don’t get to the deal negotiation stage

6. Getting Ready
Investment Ready > Often just means developing the
tangibles of biz plan, ES or pitch-deck)
Deal Ready (The smart stuff) > Get: advisor/mentor,
financials stress tested, traction, benchmark, exit &
valuation). This is called ‘de-risking.’
Above all, tell your ‘investment or opportunity’ story
(not your product/service or business story)

7. Some Turn-offs
 The overload: “Here’s all our data (50 pages & 4
attachments), tell us what you think.”
 The drip feed: “Here’s the biz plan, finances will be ready next
week.”
 No start-up experience but plenty of blue chip CV.
 Everything Outsourced. “We have selected an agency to
manage our sales.”
 Opportunity greatness overrides all other considerations.
 Flowery, vague, over spun, hyped up, dressed-up and totally
entangled with ‘marketing speak.’No acknowledgment of
possible uncertainties or weaknesses.
 No early chunky salaries – Be exit motivated.

8. Investor Questions
 How many investments done to date?
 How would you get involved / what do you offer (especially if young or
new angel)?
 Smallest & largest deals (£?)
 How many in last 12 months (or 24)?
 How many times have you syndicated with others?
 Would it be ok to contact any of your past/current investments for
references?
 Would or could you bring in any colleagues on the deal also (if you’re
not taking the whole deal amount)
 Will you be looking to follow-on if necessary?
 Have you managed to exit yet? Had any failures yet (references)?

9. I’m done – thank you very much
 Linked In requests > I am not an open networker or
collector of profiles. If sending me a connection request, say
why you want to connect.
 If emailing me > Send a really good executive summary. No
NDAs, no business plans and no email outlines.
 Remember > When fundraising you are in competition and
YOU WILL get filtered. So do everything you can to NOT get
filtered.

10. Questions?
/ aristos peters
blog > > http://weklik.wordpress.co.uk
twitter > > @ w e k l i k
linked in > > http://www.linkedin.com/in/aristospeters
email (We Klik) > > apeters @ weklik.co.uk
email (Keiretsu Forum) > > apeters @ keiretsuforum.com