Yesterday I shared excerpts from the book Risk and Return by Yomi Jemibewon. I mentioned how he and his partners decided to raise N3 billion for their business, even though he had intended to raise almost 8 times less. The key takeaway for me, was the audacity to even think they could request for such an amount from investors! One of the things we’ve learned in our course of running Sycamore is to simply ask for exactly what we want. There are times I would just ask a potential lender/investor for 10 times the initial amount I had in mind. I have been shocked by how many times people have said yes to this. Besides, what’s the worst case scenario? They will say no right? Nobody will die from a “No”. In fact, if you take the rejection well, that answer may change in a month or two. You just have to be courteous and patient in the interim.
As with everything, context, timing and wisdom applies. Having said that, you should ask for exactly what you want. Best case, you get a yes. Worst case you get a no, and life continues. Have a great week folks.
