One of the most stressful events any entrepreneur must endure is dealing with finance people. This is why many entrepreneurs try to self-fund or “bootstrap” (run the organization as lean as possible). However, many entrepreneurs will seek some sort of financial assistance. Whether it is a loan to get operations back to normal after unexpected problems or venture capital to help get a business “to the next level,” many entrepreneurs will be faced with the daunting task of dealing with investors.

When dealing with investors, confidence is going to be key. Many investors will attempt to break down entrepreneurs and gauge their reactions. Investors will ask hundreds of questions, with each getting more difficult while expecting qualified responses for each question. Even if an entrepreneur is unsure of the answer, it is important to be able to answer the question to his best ability and with the best delivery. I was involved in an investor meeting where for three hours I was grilled with question after question. I had to repeat many answers and was often required to re-read parts of the business plan (and the research) to validate my answers. The questions got more specific and it almost seemed like a game to the investors. Luckily, at the end, things calmed down and the meeting ended with a handshake and promise to talk further. I can easily attribute that to my ability to answer questions under pressure–even though my confidence was shot afterwards, I had it while in the meeting–and that is when it counted. Subsequently, when I talked with the investors, they told me they were impressed with my answers, even though they felt that some my answers were outright wrong (and they had the evidence to pack up that claim). They said I was cool, calm and collected–and that is exactly what they are looking for.

It is critical to understand non-verbal communication. All too often I was in meetings where I was thinking one way, but if I understood the non-verbal actions of the participants, I would have been thinking the other way (and the right way). Often, understanding non-verbal communication can help an entrepreneur shift the conversation. If the entrepreneur is talking about something and is able to understand, through non-verbal communication, that the person(s) he is pitching to are uninterested in the conversation, then the entrepreneur is at an advantage and understands that he should shift the conversation around.

Figuring out equipment problems and technology issues is vital. When an investor requests a business plan, the entrepreneur needs to make sure the format he sends it in is compatible with the investors computer. Entrepreneurs should take advantage of Adobe PDF, which is basically the cure-all to any sort of incompatibility issues when dealing with any type of written document. Also, it is unprofessional for an entrepreneur to take out time to fiddle around with projection screens and computers. If it is possible for an entrepreneur to bring a projection screen which he knows is compatible with the potential investor’s technology, then he should do so to avoid any incompatibility problem.

Entrepreneurs should make sure to follow-up after the initial meeting. Entrepreneurs need to understand that many investors deal with hundreds of meetings and hundreds of business plans–it is very possible for an investor to overlook and forget about a meeting. Entrepreneurs need to follow up, ask if there is anything they can do to serve them, and should follow up on any requests of information from the meeting. Nothing looks better than an entrepreneur who took time to research the requested items, delivered it in a professional format and offered to set aside time to discuss anything else. If an entrepreneur makes it easier for investors to deal with them, then many investors will reciprocate and make it easier to deal with them. This is professional courtesy at its best.