No Story, No Money

Image from Unsplash by May Hirschi

When it comes to asking for money from micro financers or Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), you must have a story that is concise, but relevant.

I’m not talking about a 20-minute story, I’m talking about 1–3 minute story of your journey and the business.

I often hear entrepreneurs sharing information that is irrelevant to the discussion, such as I’m one of only three in my industry. If being one of three had made an impact on the work or the journey you have taken, fine. Otherwise, it’s irrelevant.

I encourage you to:

1. Think about what is truly relevant in your journey or your business.
2. Consider whether the information you are sharing is important to the initial meeting, or if it would be better left to a second or third meeting.

The reality is that viable lenders will never write you a check at the first meeting.

If someone does, beware! If someone is crazy enough to write you check without knowing you, they are probably going to drive you crazy trying to get the return on their investment.

If you have information you haven’t shared that you feel is connected, you might have to spend the time to unfold the connections and then decide is it relevant for this initial meeting, or is it important to bring up next…