“Yaar, it is so good. Why is it not available in the shops here?”
“Ma’am, soon we will make it available at a shop near you.”
Above was a micro excerpt from the conversation between a customer of Kerala Banana Chips and the customer care executive (you are right, that is me).
While ending the call, I just lost the count of how many calls ended with this answer. Though it was fulfilling with the sales surge month over month, one thought was always coming back to my head while I crash on the bed at night — "There is nothing dreadful than a founder who is not monetising the fullest potential of the gold mine with him/her.”
My reason to turn to fundraise was purely demand-based. The market is super big, and demand is even bigger. While double-digit growth every month is complacent, are we achieving its full potential growth?
I entered into fundraising to capture the truly deserving potential for our offerings — Kerala Banana Chips. While every entrepreneur has their version of reason to go for funding, to an extent, we all have one common factor — achieving its fullest growth potential faster and leaner.
But apart from product development and business growth, one of the most crucial for a startup is fundraising, and it is obvious we don't know where to start.
Out of passion, we create the product, validated it by selling, and motivated by the results, we sell more. Beyond this growth, customers, and new products, the fundraising field is new to us, and hence we are sceptical. And, when we are sceptical, we delay the decision, and we potentially might even lose the opportunity.
So I am writing this for those who are entering into that new fundraising field, those who are looking for their first cheque, and I want to tell you that an early-stage VC is more than just the first cheque. In any way, I could add a little value to your startup on what to expect from early-stage VCs, I would consider this mission accomplished.
Read more at: How Kochi-based startup Kerala Banana Chips started its fundraising journey with 100X.VC
