Funding can be the key to unlocking your options for growth so keeping your business front of mind with the investor community throughout your journey is important. This, of course, can be a challenge when you have so many other priorities at play.

At the end of the day, investors are not simply looking for a return on their money; they want to see an opportunity for growth and a clear end goal. How do we win the battle for capital? What does this journey look like together? Why should an investor choose your company over another? What makes us different? These are some of the common questions you will come up against when seeking investment. Having a clear strategy and vision for your business will naturally give you the answers you need.

Communicating the value of your business to investors🔗

Over the years we’ve worked on solving the challenge of communicating your vision and key messages for a number of high-growth businesses at different stages in their lifecycle. In essence, we help business leaders harmoniously position themselves to investors while rapidly growing.

We’ve created a playbook that uses strategic marketing communications to increase deal certainty and maximise value at the point of transaction. At the heart of this solution is synthesising the equity story with your brand narrative.

The term ‘equity story’ is generally used by corporate financiers to describe why a company is a valuable investment opportunity, what the growth potential is and the competitive advantage on offer. When meeting investors, you’ll need to educate them on where your business sits in the market, what the biggest growth opportunities are, and how you’ll ultimately give them a return on their money.

Then there’s the brand narrative. This covers everything from your purpose and the way you articulate your value proposition - right through to the brand’s look and feel and digital presence. Once there’s a sense of clarity on each aspect, it’s important to relentlessly tell this story via external communications. Repeat, repeat, repeat until it starts to stick in the minds of the people that matter.

A clarity of vision to inform everything you do🔗

When working with Total Processing, a payment solutions business, we created a narrative that aligned with its vision of becoming ‘the most customer-focused payments business in the world’. In a highly competitive and consolidating market, where customer service was often poor, Total Processing had an opportunity to convince its target market why they should be the first choice.

This vision was then brought to life through robust corporate communications that told compelling stories about the firm’s value proposition and ambitions for growth. This led to them being ranked by The Sunday Times as one of the UK’s fastest-growing technology businesses, as well as winning countless other awards along the way.

Whilst we know there are other factors at play when convincing investors, including scalability, the strength of the leadership team, or the quality of your product - having an iron-clad narrative is essential to connecting with this group on an emotional level.

This was the case with Total Processing. In November 2023, the company was acquired by NomuPay, a European payment platform. On completion of the deal, NomuPay’s CEO, Peter Burridge said: “What impressed me the most was the team’s drive to become the most customer focused payments business in the world.”

Whilst it may seem like a simple sentence - it was the thing that resonated most with Burridge as the next stage investor. He clearly saw how Total Processing’s obsession with its customers provided a point of differentiation, and how the firm was able to bring that to life in everything it did.

Finding a way to articulate your unique selling point can be a challenge when setting up and growing a business. You’re so immersed in your world, that it can be difficult to take a step back and think slowly about your communications strategy.

Then there’s the added level of complexity that comes with balancing the investor message with a complementary narrative for your customers and talent. Whether it’s creating the conditions to drive sales or having an employer value proposition that makes you magnetic to talent, the same principles apply.

🔗

Threading a needle through each of these takes skill, but when you pull it off the proposition becomes irresistible.🔗