Let us now turn to the criteria that will motivate financiers to back your project. Beyond any remuneration or benefits in kind that you can offer them, there 3 key factors first and foremost. Let us begin with the relevance of your project to meeting the social need that you have identified. As you saw in chapter 4, show that you are familiar with the territory and your stakeholders, and present your indicators for measuring the social impact. The second criterion is the viability and community-mindedness of your economic model, which you worked on in chapter 5. Be aware that your investors will want to test your projections. Be able to anticipate the risks that your project may be exposed to. Finally, the most important factor is doubtless the personality of the entrepreneur: you, your vision, your leadership, your skills, which you have worked on in chapter 3. They will also measure your ability to put your team together and in particular the quality of your team. By way of an illustration, listen to Nicolas Celier, an Impact Investor, as he explains the criteria for the Investir&+ fund. The criteria for a venture capital fund such as Investir&+ are quite conventional, with one part consisting of the criteria for a classical venture capital fund, with an additional part consisting of criteria and controls that are specifically social. So the main criteria are firstly the team, the entrepreneur, and well, that's the key. It doesn't matter... the quality of the entrepreneur is more important
than the idea. A good entrepreneur with a bad idea will manage to adapt and correct their idea and make their project a success. In their capacity as an entrepreneur, what people are looking for above all is the entrepreneur's vision, a sound vision and in particular their ability to set their vision to music, to execute, to lead a team behind them in order to carry their project through. And then potentially, because it is risky to make a capital investment right at the start, or rather at the start of a company's history, a second criterion is having companies that are sufficiently innovative or with the potential to corner a non-existent market or offer a new service on a market, and thereby have relatively significant human potential so that if things work, it can have a real impact, maximise impact. The social criteria are essential: they are enshrined in the legal documentation and we ask for the right to pull out of the project were it to lose its component of striving for
social impact. Social criteria therefore mean having... that the entrepreneur's inspiration should be primarily social. The social impact should not be the result of an economic activity, but rather, the primary motivation should be social, so that if there is a judgement to be made between social impact and profitability, we always give priority to social impact in all our decisions wherever possible; this is very important. This also gives rise to more comprehensive reporting. An investor startup, a conventional startup will require monthly or quarterly reports on criteria relating to economic activity and profitability or finance. We add a whole social reporting category. What is the social objective that is being sought. What do we expect, how do we measure it, have we gone over, can we improve it or not... a whole category of social reporting that is essential and which does not exist in companies from the real economy, or which barely exists if at
all so far. Finally, it is important to put your mind at rest and take the mystery
out of looking for funding. While it can appear to be a particularly difficult stage for some project leaders, remember that anyone can secure funding with a sound project and firm motivation. Don't lose heart. In fact, it is a particularly worthwhile and necessary stage for reflection, standing back and formulating your project. So take the plunge, view financiers as potential partners, listen to their advice, build up a long-term trusting relationship with them and stick to it. Once you have secured your first funding, subsequent funding will come more easily.