Funding is Like Fishing

If you ever want to develop your invention into a profitable business, you will probably need to seek funding from outside investors. Most banks simply will not loan for purposes of trying to develop and market an invention.

When you seek outside investment, you need to have the right frame of mind and approach the process with the realization that you are basically "fishing" for investments.

Those who have ever gone fly-fishing (or watched the movie A River Runs Through It) understand that fishing works like this:

You try to find the best fishing hole and the best fly to use there. The fly should "match the hatch," which means it should imitate the items that the fish in that hole are currently feeding on. Of course, this means you must first determine what the fish in that hole are feeding on!

Next, you cast your fly to a likely looking spot. As your fly drifts downstream, you need to make constant adjustments so that it moves along with the current as naturally as possible (referred to in fly-fishing circles as the "presentation"), thus increasing the likelihood that a fish will bite.

The large majority of the time the fly floats to the end of its drift without any fish taking the bait. Occasionally a fish swims up to take a look. But often it sees something suspicious in your presentation and darts immediately away.

Sometimes a fish strikes at the fly but does not get hooked. Usually, when this happens, you make another drift past that fish. Sometimes a fish gets hooked, and it feels like a big one, but it gets off within seconds. Sometimes you hook one and bring it into your net, but it's a small one.

Sometimes you get very excited because you have obviously hooked a very big fish. You play it for a seeming eternity with great skill so that it does not break off and get away. You're completely exhausted from the epic battle. But when you get it into your net and examine it, it turns out to be a carp, not that lunker brown trout that would be so delectable in your frying pan.

But occasionally-- very occasionally-- you hook that big fish, bring it in, take it home, fry it up, and it tastes absolutely delicious!

Of course, in this example, the fish is the funding.

If you don't know how to fish, you will probably be ineffective. If you don't have the equipment or the patience of a good fisherman, you will probably be ineffective. Especially, you must have the perseverance and the fortitude to go out there, rain or shine, and flail away at that fishing hole!

Make Them Want It

If people are not buying your product it is because you have not made them want it badly enough.

If your target customers want your product enough they can almost always find a way to pay for it. They are making choices with their money and they are choosing to spend it on things other than your product or service. You must change their priorities for them!

Think of the guy who comes home with something and his wife says: What the HECK did you buy THAT for; you don't need that!!! (Answer: "Because I wanted it.")

If you can get this to happen to your customer, you have done your marketing job!

Of course I say the above tongue-in-cheek, but it illustrates a point regarding marketing: Think about convincing people to buy your product even though they do not need it. If you can deliver a message this effectively, you will have little problem with those who do need it.

A lot of this is related to things like: peer pressure; being trendy/on the cutting edge; being respected/admired/looked up to; getting a promotion at work; looking/feeling better; gaining wealth; etc. These are emotional aspects of life. The real need is to have the emotional aspects of our lives fulfilled; your product is a tool that you are offering to your customer to accomplish this.

Now, can you apply this to your offering and your customers?

You shouldn't completely ignore the "need" aspects of your product, but you should understand that the basic triggers that get people to act are usually emotional ones.

Who cares about your new business?

Here is an interesting post from SportsLizard Entrepreneur Blog: Why no one gives a sh*t about your new business . This is the crux of what entrepreneurs need to learn to be successful. The trick after that is developing and implementing a plan to do something about it!