Whether you want to give your business a flying start, or you want to kick your business into high gear, attracting investors is of significance. Individual  investors have different criteria for investing, but there are certain things that they all  avoid.

The reality is that there really is no easy way to raise money Its painstaking work, takes a lot of time, and pulls you away from the other pressing tasks facing the company. There certainly are things that entrepreneurs can do to increase their odds of raising money successfully,

1. Focus on Revenue. Revenue is the key factor that separates the companies that have made it, from the ones that are still unsure of whether they’ve actually got something that people want. Many companies seem to think that they need to should keep working on the product till just before its market entry. Although a significant amount of research, development, and product creation does make a difference, it should not be the sole criteria for adjudging revenue. The key focus here is the scenario when a saleable product isn’t generating revenue. It might be because the marketing isn’t right, or the sales plan was undeveloped, several other reasons, but the entrepreneur doesn’t take these factors into account and takes the product back to the lab. The lesson?  If you are looking for funding, and you have a product that is saleable, go sell it. If it sells, chances are someone will give you money. If you’ve got revenue, everything else is easy.
2. Invest in your own business. In most cases, investors don’t want to run your business. Nothing will put off  investors  more than the knowledge that they are the only ones risking anything. They want to know that you are as committed as possible to running your business. They want your money in the business, whether it is $5 or $500,000. They want the surety that the owner of the business isn’t going to suddenly get up and walk away.
3. Have a Solid Corporate Structure. Raising money becomes difficult, particularly in equity,  if there is a sizable number of equity shareholders to start with. If a business has been selling their shares to all and sundry, all the while diluting themselves in the process, it doesn’t give investors who come into the picture later,much confidence that the entrepreneur has faith in their vision or even recognizes the value of their business. Its important for new companies to be strategic in their financing efforts.
4. Don’t Hide Assets For technology companies, this is a reference to making the intellectual property into a separate holding company. For more industrial companies, this refers to presenting the building as a separate company. Either way,investors are not fooled when they are told that the holding company is off limits.. Although this gives tax benefits, its important to recognize that investors desire as much security as possible.
5. Pay Yourself. Often entrepreneurs willingly forgo salaries, which enables them to report a higher than normal bottom line because their expenses have been artificially decreased. Although forgoing your salary during the initial phase is not too difficult, it’s a better idea to pay yourself the salary, but leave the money in the company as a shareholder loan.Raising money is never easy, but there are things that can make the road smoother. Avoiding the five deal killers outlined above will get rid of several roadblocks and make the difference between a successful transaction and none at all.