Chasing after investor support in the form of venture capitalist help often requires making proposals both verbally and in writing. Both have to be up to par to capture a private investor’s attention, but the written version is often the one that gets the scrutiny after the fact. Private investors often judge a business investment proposal in two forms:
- The person making the pitch and whether he or she has the moxie to handle a major growth in the business successfully, and
- The actual details of the business as to whether it’s worth putting money into for a big gain down the road.
A writer can definitely help with the second part, but he needs to understand up front that the reading audience is not interested in a generic history lesson or a management plan. Instead, the private investor primarily wants to know what specific factors about the given business are worth putting money into.
The written proposal asking for investment needs to focus on selling the valuable aspects of the business. This could be proprietary knowledge no one else has, a key product or service everybody wants but only the small business has at the moment, or the proverbial great idea no one else has thought of yet and the small business owns the patent or copyright.
Take the example of writing a business plan. An organizational business plan, to be used as an internal road map for a business, will contain all the critical elements that explain where a business has been and where it’s expected to go. However, this approach doesn’t sell the business as a proposal to an investor. Instead, it’s often a bit like reading an entry in an encyclopedia, dry and factual.
A business plan of a small business written for a venture capitalist is another matter entirely. It involves research proposal writing services that specifically market the best aspects of the current business to the investor, answering the critical questions of who is running the business, what it’s worth now, what it will be with the right support, and what the potential investment return can be in terms of profit.
The categories of the business plan for the investment may be the same, but the narrative and writing will be scripted towards convincing the reader of the same investment message throughout the proposal. Even if a venture capitalist reads just the plan’s executive summary in 30 seconds, he should be able to walk away with a solid idea of what the business does and what it offers him as a potential financial return with the right support. If that message is missing, the writer didn’t do his job.
Businesses that need an investment writer should take the time to vet a potential writer and confirm the person understands both how to write a business proposal as well as how to pitch it to a potential buyer or investor. Samples are often a great way to check for the critical skill. Without this key talent, the time spent paying for the writing will miss the target as the written product won’t do its job with a potential investor.
Tom L is a freelance writer available on WriterAccess, a marketplace where clients and expert writers connect for assignments.
