We all need to invest time and money into our own personal and professional development to achieve our ultimate life and career goals.. In this blog i’m going to share with you how you can get people to invest in you if you don’t have the financial resources to invest yourself. These top tips emerged out of a workshop that I did with Fielding Financial about raising investment for property.

The need to source investment can apply to all types of situations - it could be that you are looking for investment to buy a house, take a course, it could be that you are wanting your company and manager to invest in your professional development, you might be wanting to launch a business or invest in properties. As part of this journey you need to convince yourself and the potential investors about why it’s a good career choice.

My success at changing my career to work with Salesforce and developing as a leader and entrepreneur is because people have invested in me along the way. Initially I used credit cards and bank loans to pay for training and mentoring courses, and to launch my businesses i secured an investment loan from a bank and from my family. I then reinvested profit from my business into growing the business and investing in the career development of my staff. I continue to invest in myself personally and i will continue to source future investors to help me continue to grow my career ambitions with Prowess Properties.

In my younger years i always felt ashamed about asking for money as I felt like i should be able to make enough money to afford it myself until i started attending many business events and I realised that the most successful people have sourced or had investment to help them achieve success. Hardly anyone I had met had achieved success off their own back without some form of investment from a third party and I realised that's where I had been going wrong. What was also an important realisation is that if people invest in you, it gives you the confidence and accountability to go the extra mile to make yourself a success.

So how do we get your mindset into a place where asking for investment feels comfortable for you..

The first step is to get clear on your WHY - People buy into you, so share with them about why you want this investment... what difference is it going to make to your life to make you happier and more fulfilled. Have a casual conversation with the potential investor initially - you want them to be inspired by your energy, vision and story about why you want to pursue this path as they will see why you are passionate and determined to make it work. Will it give you more flexibility and time to spend with the kids, will it help you look after elderly relatives or family members who are sick. Will it help you take the next step in your career. IIn summary what is your motivation for investing in yourself and what difference will it make.

The second step is understand the HOW - you need believe in yourself that you can achieve the end goal and the path you want to take to get there - to be armed with the confidence, knowledge and insight that you feel you could be successful in achieving this career. To achieve this do your market research and put together a presentation deck or a few pages with your plan.- for example if you planning to secure invest in properties speak to as many ‘informed’ people as possible, educate yourself on right strategy, do your due diligence, market appraisal, understand what you are looking for to know what is a good deal. Investors will  want to know about the training courses you have done like the one at Fielding Financial. Ultimately you want to feel confident in the support infrastructure you have chosen for yourself and feel able to sell your ‘PLAN’ confidently before asking for investment. An investor will ask why you think you can be successful in pursuing this training or career so you need to be able to give 4/5 solid points to justify this for your own benefit and theirs. For example - tell them about your career achievements to date, what transferrable and relevant experience you have to transition to a new career, tell about the benefits of the course you plan to take and the benefits it will give you to land the job e.g. work experience, references, certification etc.

The third step is to plan out the WHEN - how long will it take to achieve your vision - what are the milestones, who and what will keep you accountable to this. Investors will assess the level of risk and they will benefit from seeing if there is some level of accountability and plan to achieve this This plan may be over 2-10 years if it is about investing in a future career and the milestones you want to achieve to climb up the career ladder.

The final step is to get clear on WHAT you want - how much investment do you need, how long do you need it, when and how will you repay it, and will you offer interest on the loan if this is something they need. If you use a credit card you might be-able to get 0% interest for 12-18 months and you just need to convince yourself that this is a good career choice.. If you are borrowing money from someone you want to present the above information and you might offer them interest over and above what they get in the bank e.g. 6%-10%
Talk about how you will keep them informed about your progress so they feel assured that they will get the money back. You want to build a trusting relationship and introduce regular communication. If you say you are going to do something, keep to your word.. The investors will be your biggest cheerleader and you can celebrate together. If one investor can’t provide all of the investment ask for recommendations to others. Don’t overlook or give it up as there are people out there that will believe in you, but you need to put in the leg work to make it happen.

In summary here are 3 Top Tips for getting people to invest in your career..

• Share the why - why are you motivated and passionate about doing this
• Get confident in the how you are going to achieve through good market research
• Get clear on the when with clear goals and milestones with a good accountability plan