Investors need reassurance that you are truly going to use their money to move the needle and not just run it through. A plan/roadmap gives them confidence that you have a plan for success. 

To create a solid plan you need to focus on the following 3 questions. What will the funds be used for? What is the timeline? What do you plan to achieve with these funds?

🏦 Identify your SMART business objectives. State your business goals and translate them into marketing activities. Make sure that the goals are SMART – specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely. Also, outline the key initiatives that you want to undertake, such as product development, market expansion, and operational improvements.

🚢 Spice it up with details and breakdowns. Split your budget into big buckets: Product Development, Marketing and Sales, Operations, HR, and Others. Provide for each bucket as much detail as possible – technology upgrades, marketing spend, or new hires - be specific. The more the better. 

🏗 Create a timeline and milestones by marking the dates when and how funding will be used. Think about milestones (i.e., key events such as new product launches or entering new markets) that will measure business success. Define Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), which are numerical milestones, often in the form of a ratio (for example, customer acquisition cost, monthly recurring revenue, or user growth rate targets) that will be used to track success or failure upon reaching your target milestones.

🎡 Define what results you expect. Describe how the funding will elevate your value proposition, benefiting your business with competitive advantage and increased market share. Detail the specific gains for your investors.