7 tips for overcoming the leap of faith in your business idea

When you start a new business, you'll be asking people to take a leap of faith in you and your idea. This means before they invest in you or try something new, they're going to make the decision to experience something that's never been done before. Here are seven tips for how you can make the leap of faith much easier for your investors and customers.

1.    Communicate clearly

Be able to explain your new business idea succinctly. You want to know your idea in depth enough that you can communicate the high level concept without going into detail.

2.    Connect the dots for people

Understand the crucial points someone must accept to make the leap of faith and say yes to your new business idea. What are the assumptions they must also share to see your idea as successful?

3.    Find a parallel example

Often people are more inclined to accept a new idea when they see a similar concept. For example, think of the journey from the MP3 player to music on your mobile phone. It is much easier for people to understand your product or service as being the next logical step, rather than being something completely new to the market.

4.    Be confident, yet realistic

Back yourself and your idea. Speak from your heart about your idea, but don’t be overconfident about how successful or life changing the idea will be.

5.    Understand your financials

If you're asking an investment partner to take the leap of faith in your idea, then know your financials inside out. You want to give them the confidence your numbers and plans are achievable. You also want to set realistic assumptions for your financials and have a sound understanding of the market you want to enter.

6.    Know your investor audience

When you ask people to invest in your business idea, it's good practice to research those people. Know what they offer beyond the investment funding. Do they offer resources, expertise or connections to your business? And also, know how much control you want to maintain over the business, so you can paint the picture on what their involvement would be.

7.    Own your business experience

If you are someone who ran successful businesses in the past, own this experience. Often, they are also considering your skills and capabilities to make this new business idea a successful reality.