This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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Hey listeners, welcome back. Hope you've been well. Hope you've been making some progress. And just in case you got stuck somewhere, well, that's okay. Hope you are able to make progress from here.
You know, that's what it's all about, is just kind of finding ways to move forward and try different stuff. And eventually you're gonna find something that really takes off. You just gotta stick with it and keep iterating. All right, so over in our part of the podcast world, as you might know, if you've been listening for a while, we usually focus on strategies to start your business on a tight budget. And I just think that's smart.
Even if you have some money to spend, you know, why spend money unnecessarily? There's all kinds of businesses you can start without going into debt or even just devoting, you know, a lot of resource too. So today's episode is a little bit different. We're making a slight exception because we received an intriguing question from a listener who is developing what they consider to be a groundbreaking mobile app. In fact, they've got a plan to revolutionize the way people shop for groceries.
So they're looking for ways to raise the capital needed to take it to the next level. So I am the first to say that even though I'm a big fan of starting your business on a tight budget, some innovative ideas do require a financial boost to truly flourish. So let's talk it out. Let's see if we can be helpful. You're gonna hear this listener's detailed question and my answer in just 30 seconds.
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I'm a recent college graduate who's developing a mobile app that I believe will revolutionize the way people shop for groceries. And I'm willing to invest my savings into developing the app, but I don't have much money. So I need funding to take it to the next level. What are some ways that I can secure funding for my app and how can I make that pitch more compelling to my potential investors? Thanks for the show and for all that you do.
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Hey, thanks so much for the question. Love to hear about this revolutionary way to shop for groceries. These days, I'm not shopping for groceries in the store much. I just tend to order them through another mobile app, but maybe this one's gonna be better. So who knows?
Definitely a lot of people shopping for groceries. So it's a big market. Now, before I answer the question, and I will answer it directly, to be fair, but just beforehand, let me suggest, or let me try to suggest that there might be an alternative. There might be an alternative to going out and seeking outside funding. So I would just ask you, do you really, really need outside capital?
And if the answer is yes, okay. But I would say that we have seen so many creative projects get started through the DIY bootstrapping side hustle school model. And then you don't have debt. You aren't beholden to anyone. You haven't given away equity in your project.
There are just so many benefits to doing it that way. So I just wanna plant that seed. But as promised, I do have a resource for you. Couple things here. First, head to angellist.com/startups.
So just go to angellist and look in the startup section. And it's pretty cool because these days, you can often find people and funds, like venture capital funds, to pitch directly. You don't necessarily need a middleman. Sometimes that can be helpful. But there's also lists of all these different funds that have investment capital to allocate, and they're looking for the right projects.
So there's a process to it. You wanna prepare a solid pitch. You want to demonstrate the market potential of your app to the best of your ability. And in fact, to make your pitch more compelling, ideally you wanna have a functional prototype of your app, if possible. It depends on how far along you are in the process.
But if you have that, it makes it much easier, just much more believable. Like, oh, okay, here's the promise to revolutionize this thing. And here's a prototype that looks like it could actually do that. That's very helpful, as well as some market analysis to highlight the potential impact on the shopping experience. So that's AngelList.
One more idea is to look at local startup competitions, because depending on where you're based, like lots of cities, and there's some that are virtual now too, which allow for people all over the world, I would check out some startup competitions because that can be a good way to get in front of investors and also to get feedback from people who know about these things, who know specifically about mobile apps, who know the grocery industry, might have some subject matter expertise that could benefit you. So I would check out AngelList, I would check out startup competitions, and I would just think, do I really need this capital? If so, yes. But if not, maybe there's another way to do it. That's my two cents, all completely free, no equity, no debt.
I hope it's helpful. I'm excited to hear what happens with your project. Listeners, if you have a project or a question or an idea, sidehustleschool.com/questions. If you just go to the website, there's an ask Chris section, click that. We'll feature your questions and updates throughout the year, along with reports from other listeners as they launch and grow their projects.
It's all completely free, it comes out every day. My name's Chris Guillebeau, this is Side Hustle School. [Music]
- From the Onward Project.
