As summer comes to a close, you should be thinking about what you’d like to accomplish this fall. Most of us tend to relax in August but find ourselves unprepared for September. Here’s how you can make the most of August and plan for fundraising in the fall.
- While everyone else is vacationing, you are setting your strategy, planning and preparing for execution come September.
- Once Labor Day passes, you have everything in place to make use of the entire months of September, October & November effectively and efficiently.
- Getting the most out of September means you are not scrambling in December when most investors and funds take a pause until mid-January and February.
Fundraising Strategy & Planning in August
Deciding to fundraise for your startup is a HUGE decision. CEOs report that fundraising can take 70% of their time. That’s time taken away from product, marketing & sales, which can greatly impact your business.
You need to be super strategic and specific about how you go about fundraising. August is the perfect month to chart out your game plan because, likely, other parts of your business are slowing down.
“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Maximize Every Month in the Fall
Investors are more likely to invest in startups coming through their network. This means you need to build relationships and re-establish old ones. Solid relationships built on trust take time.
Effectively preparing in August means you can maximize every month in the fall to nurture important relationships.
“Since you are not sure of a minute, do not throw away an hour.” ~ Benjamin Franklin
Treat December like a Hard Stop
Like August, business slows down again in December. Personally, I’ve seen startups scramble during the holidays to close their round.
Since angel investing is a side hobby for many early-stage investors, they’re not too focused on your business come Thanksgiving. Failing to close a round before December means you will likely wait until February.
Is your runway good through at least February of next year?
August is a great time to 1) maximize your fall efforts to beat the December deadline, and 2) ensure you have a backup plan in case you need to wait until February.
“Plan for what it is difficult while it is easy, do what is great while it is small.” ~ Sun Tzu
Other Reasons You Need August:
- Not everyone takes August off so you are likely to land August meetings with people that are normally unreachable in September when business picks up.
- You can build a multi-pronged strategy. Include an application or two to accelerators in your fundraising plan so you have multiple options when one doesn’t work out.
- While nurturing all of these relationships you will also come upon other opportunities like clients and customers. Many of these may have the budget to spend before the end of the year.
⭐Customer money (a.k.a. revenue) is just as good if not better than investor money.
⭐Customer money increases your chance of getting investor money.