You will not magically be flooded with angel investors by simply joining an online funding community; these are sites that match entrepreneurs with potential investors. Truthfully, getting an angel investor in this manner is rare. You may be wondering why? The majority of angel investors will choose to invest close to home as opposed to a faraway city; they have a better grasp of local markets and can keep a closer eye on their money. A few may still require you to fill out an application online. At this point, you are probably wondering just how you can find your own angel investors.
Here are a few tips and techniques you can use in your search for angel investors:
Referral
You have often been told that it is not so much what you know, but who. The first half of this cliche definitely does not apply to angel investors, as they want you to be fully informed, intelligent and efficient in your business. However, the second half of the statement is very true. The easiest way to meet an angel investor is often times by referral. When you have a referral from someone, an angel investor has done business with before they are more likely to listen to your pitch.
Network
Networking is yet another method of finding investors for your company. You may not know anyone now who could introduce you to angel investors, however you can always get out and meet more people to share your ideas with. Of course, be careful that you do not give away technological or trade secrets essential to your business. Chances that you will be referred to the right angel investor will go up exponentially as the number of people who know about your business grows.
Prospecting
In the United States, there are over 9 million investors, most of which are business owners and retired executives. You could search your local area for retired business executives and present your ideas to them as potential investors. Since they are retired, they will have both the expertise and the money to help you move your business forward. Other business owners are also good potential angel investors, many of them would like to diversify their current investments and have the capital to do so. Finding your angel investor can be as easy as making a few phone calls or expensive should you choose to purchase a narrow and focused list of investors.