Rocío Alejandra Castellanos Arias, Advisor to the General Directorate, The Agency for Reincorporation and Standardization (ARN)

Something entrepreneurs should keep in mind when they have their first meetings with investors is to provide them with a comprehensive and complete context of what is the need served by the organization? What is the population? If possible, characterize this population, where it is and how the investment of resources can help to create a positive impact on social transformations.

It is important that they also take into account that we can align our organization's values with the goals of the investors to create an empathetic environment of trust and to feel that we are creating a common purpose. And [show] we are not only interested in economic resources, but rather how social transformations can stay in the medium and long-term for our communities.

María Alejandra Castro Morales, Founder & Director, Siembra Cultura

Social entrepreneurs should take into account the following four things before meeting with investors:

• The first is to prepare, know and understand, and be very clear about what they want and what they are looking for. Prepare in the sense of researching the investors; what they are interested in, what their expectations are, and what their approaches are.

• The second thing is to be very clear about your metrics and numbers. It is very important for an investor to know how the success and growth of the venture will be measured. Therefore, they must have clear indicators of social impact, environmental indicators, and financial indicators.

• The [third] is to be very transparent with information to build trust. In other words, social entrepreneurs must know and understand that they can share both the good and the bad about the venture, in order for the investor to have confidence, which is very important.

• The fourth is to have a mindset of building long-term relationships. I would not only seek investment, but also be open to the fact that those investors might not invest at that moment,  but they can be a potential partner. Go with the approach of, "I'm going to build a long-term relationship." 

Key takeaways 

• Give investors a clear and complete understanding of your mission

• Be transparent about your metrics for success

• Focus on long-term relationship building with investors