{"id":6266,"date":"2019-03-20T15:50:44","date_gmt":"2019-03-20T15:50:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/?p=6266"},"modified":"2024-01-15T15:10:35","modified_gmt":"2024-01-15T15:10:35","slug":"dealing-with-investors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/dealing-with-investors\/","title":{"rendered":"Trim-It on winning the challenge of dealing with investors"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMoney Matters<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tTrim-It on winning the challenge of dealing with investors\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\tStacey McIntosh<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/video><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Need to get a haircut but can\u2019t make it to the barbers? Don\u2019t worry, Darren Tenkorang will bring it to you. He\u2019s the founder of mobile barbershop Trim-It, a company he started following his studies in business at Sussex University and a stint working in marketing for betting company Paddy Power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So how does it work? If you want a haircut, you book via the Trim-It<\/a> app and Darren\u2019s team will send a barbershop in a van to your location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In interviews with the Startup Van<\/a>, Darren talked about starting his business, the challenges he faced when it came to dealing with investors and finding funding<\/a>, and how a bit of initiative opened the eyes of a potential investor. Here\u2019s what he had to say\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On trying to find funding<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We definitely got a lot of people stringing us along. It\u2019s funny now because we\u2019ve raised now and I can even decipher who is a time waster off the jump. But we had situations where people would have a meeting with simply to serve their own ego. To prove they were an investor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had it big time. People would talk to us, have a meeting, take us out for lunch. And, I suppose, taking you out for lunch is not too bad \u2013 because I didn\u2019t have any money in the bank!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On growing Trim-It<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of my investors, we go for regular walks, and one day he pulled me up and said: \u201cDarren, one of my biggest fears is you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And this is when I was a naive little entrepreneur. And he was like: \u201cYou\u2019re mad. You\u2019re actually mad.\u201d I\u2019d tell him: \u201cYeah, next month, we\u2019ll have 50 down the road. It was just unrealistic sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And some of the business advice he\u2019s given me, which was sound, was just \u201ctake it step by step\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said he\u2019s seen companies blow up because they\u2019ve grown too big. The founders have too much of an ego. And I suppose this process has really humbled me and helped me just realise I should take it step by step, grow at my pace<\/a>. So that\u2019s what I\u2019ll be doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Trim-It
Trim-It founder Darren Tenkorang talks about dealing with investors<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Navigating a new world of business finance<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So we didn\u2019t actually speak to any VCs (venture capitalists) but it took time. It took a very long time. And bearing in mind, I\u2019m just not part of that world \u2013 until now. I had no connections to angel investors<\/a>, to VCs, to institutions or people who could give us a bit of money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So it was navigating that world and even learning how to talk the language, to an extent. Because I\u2019d be going to a meeting and I\u2019d be speaking to an adviser, and I\u2019d be like: \u201cYo, Andy, I beg you drop me some peas.\u201d And it just doesn\u2019t work like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So it was me kind of just re-educating myself just so I could break some of the barriers. I\u2019ll give you a few examples. When I was going and reaching out to investors, I was doing a lot of cold calling. Like emails and what not. And that just wasn\u2019t effective for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dealing with rejections<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I suppose for a founder, you have this baby and you think it\u2019s amazing, you think it\u2019s going to change the world, and then you\u2019re just getting rejections. In fact, you\u2019re lucky if you get rejections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019re actually getting air most of the time. And that\u2019s what was very, very difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founders have a bit of ego. And your ego\u2019s constantly getting bruised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it\u2019s humbling, it\u2019s actually a good thing because it brings you back down to reality and you have to realise that this thing is difficult and you\u2019ve decided to go down the hard path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about finding funding<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n