It is extremely hard to find an angel investor willing to back your business idea with their own money.  The reason is that investors prefer to invest at a later stage of business development, when you have already done all the legwork to demonstrate that your idea is a viable business concept that has gained traction in the marketplace.  But how can you even reach this point if you have no adequate financial resources available to develop your concept?

In this article, I will share with you some tips for success in securing initial start-up investment from my personal experience. I had an idea for a tech start-up last year and have managed to find an angel investor who, after careful consideration, decided to invest in my concept and make it happen. The process of developing my idea into a launchable product is currently going ahead. Watch this space!

So if you have a business idea in which you need investment, here are my key tips:

1. Make sure you are passionate and enthusiastic about your business idea and that you believe it will be successful. If you have doubts about its potential success, then it is probably better to wait longer and refine the concept. Of course, success is not guaranteed, but if you believe in something strongly enough, you have a better chance of persuading potential investors to start working with you.

2. Have a one pager business plan prepared so that you can talk it over in detail at an interview and pitch stages of the process. You don’t necessarily have to have all the numbers worked out at this stage but you need to understand your target market, the reasons why you think your business will be successful, challenges you may face and of course the current competition.

3. Do detailed searches for potential angel investors and understand their background – you can do this through Google, LinkedIn and other online sources. There is no point in approaching investors whose areas of expertise are completely different from the industry you would like to operate in. I also recommend you check which investments they have made to date, in which sectors and whether any of them have seen success. Also it is worth understanding whether the prospective investor takes an active or passive approach. I have personally found that an active investor is a big advantage to start-up success as they get involved in the day to day planning and strategizing and can be a great asset on the path to success.

In the next post, I will be sharing some tips on how to approach investors in order to secure an initial interview. If you have a start-up idea and need coaching on pitching, refining the idea and business plan, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Today we are interviewing Akash Paun, Fellow of the Institute for Government – a political think tank in London. He has been interviewed extensively in the UK and international media about issues relating to government the upcoming UK election. His latest interview for BBC can be viewed here.

1.      You have made a lot of successful appearances on international TV, such as BBC, Singapore TV and others. What did you find most challenging during your preparatory work for these interviews?

The key thing about doing broadcast interviews on TV is the short period of time you have to deliver your messages, which means you can run out of time before you get across your main conclusions. In preparation, it is important to practise communicating complex messages in a concise way for a non-specialised audience. You should also keep extra details, examples and explanations in your head in case you have longer than expected but always try and deliver your key message first of all.

2.      How do you recommend to calm the nerves before an important TV or radio interview?

I don’t have any special techniques to calm my nerves before interviews but what I would usually do is practise, ideally with a colleague, write down some bullet point notes of the top points I want to make, and make sure I know roughly what the journalist wants to ask me about to be sure I’m preparing for the right questions. Aside from that, you have to trust yourself that you know enough about the subject to answer the questions in a credible and effective way. If you are not enough of an expert on the topic, then you should consider turning down those particular media requests, which I have done on a number of occasions.

3.      What is the most important key to appearing confident and knowledgeable during a media appearance?

To appear knowledgeable, I would say that ultimately there is no alternative to actually having a deep understanding of the subject. Of course you can try to fake expertise by using some common buzzwords or jargon, but viewers can often see through those who are faking it. Confidence is a different thing though. Here what I try to do is just to forget about the audience watching at home and try to treat the interview as a conversation with the journalist or presenter. Try to be friendly and engaging and to show a genuine interest in the subject matter.

4.      What is the most exciting part of appearing on TV or radio for you personally?

In my job, a lot of the time even if I’m proud of my work or a report or article I have written, it often feels like fairly few people actually hear anything about it, beyond specialists and others particularly interested in my field and of course my family. Being on TV is a chance to speak to a wider audience. The work I do is about trying to improve the effectiveness and public understanding of government, but sometimes there is a danger of speaking about these issues in quite a complicated or jargon-based way. So I do like the challenge of trying to rethink why the subject is important to the wider world and how to communicate this to a general public audience.

Akash can be reached on Twitter @AkashPaun

On 29th January I was invited to be an expert on the Guardian Careers panel on the topic of dealing with difficult colleagues in the workplace. You can find the whole discussion here but in the article below I have tried to pull together some of the most interesting questions and my answers to them. Hope you find it useful.

Q: How do you deal with difficult people in meetings?

A: First of all, we need to understand what is meant under ‘difficult’ people in meetings – do they interrupt, don’t contribute or are simply moody and unresponsive?

There are different techniques for various categories above. For instance, if somebody interrupts constantly, a wise thing to do might be to have a quick chat with them during the break (if you are in the position of a meeting leader) or say ‘ we will address all your concerns at the end or on a one-to-one basis’. If somebody doesnt usually contribute, then the best thing may be to preempt it by asking them to prepare something specific for the meeting.

If somebody is plainly being rude, then talking to them in a break or before the meeting itself may be a good idea.

Q: I have called an informal meeting with a manager about a manager who I feel is bullying me. What is the best way of preparing for it?

A: First of all, you need to understand the internal politics of the company very well to succeed in this kind of meeting, for instance, are these two friends? Do they like each other? Would be also helpful to know who out of the two is more senior as it would affect your approach and the angle you should take.

Generally, jot down the facts one by one to provide the evidence and how you responded to each case. It is quite a serious claim you are making so you need to be 100% sure you want to progress it as it would probably affect your situation within the company.

Have you tried speaking directly to the ‘offending’ manager? Always the best way forward in the first instance.

Good luck!

Q: I am invisible (deliberately) to my 2 supervisors contrary to how they treat the rest of my team. Have you any advice?

A: I would suggest arranging an informal meeting with them to discuss how you feel as it sounds like it may have been going on for some time already. Prepare well in advance of the meeting and be very respectful and polite when you attend. There may be some issues they have with something concerning you as well which affects their attitude – this informal coffee chat should be able to flash the issue out.

Q: I have been in my organisation for about 13 months. I work as a manager but unfortunately I have not had the responsibilities of a manager. Instead my manager makes me book meetings, print off documents for her infant, I do all her secretary tasks (ps due to cost saving the organisation did not replace the secretary when she left).

I have informed my supervisor about this but the “menial jobs” haven’t stopped. What can I do in this situation? I had a review recently and my manager is happy about my performance but I am not happy with the secretarial bits on the side.

A: Did your supervisor promise the menial tasks will end during your meeting? Or was the outcome of the meeting inconclusive?

I would send the follow up email from the meeting outlining the things you have discussed and agreed on.

You could also ask for more responsibility as she is happy with your performance and frame it along the angle of further intellectual and on the job development related directly to the job at hand.

A few days ago, I was invited to take part in the expert panel for the Guardian Careers on New Year career resolutions. You can access the full discussion here. In this article I will provide the most relevant questions and my answers to them. Hope you will find it helpful.

Q: Do you have any tips or techniques that people can try to refocus their job hunting?

A: I would suggest to refocus from applying strictly online to carefully considered and selective networking by identifying and contacting key people at target companies. Aim to gather up to 10 contacts (but the more the better) for your companies and get contacting them for informational interviews. Proven and results-oriented approach.

Q: I have a strong interest in management, but have had a problem trying to find anywhere which offers junior/entry level management positions. I have applied to multiple graduate general management schemes, but have always been knocked out during psychometric numerical testing which is admittedly something I have always struggled on. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

A: It sounds that you are successful in converting job applications into interviews, which is a great thing. What you need to work on is numerical tests and it is much easier than converting into interviews. It requires careful planning and dedicating at least an hour each day for practice tests (there are a lot of good free ones online and some high quality paid for ones). Numerical tests tend to test basic maths skills and speed of thinking – the former you have got already I am sure and the latter is developed by everyday practice.

Q: I’m struggling to decide on either a new direction or stick with what I know …

A: Well, changing careers is always a challenging task which requires a lot of consideration and weighing up. Initially you could write out a list of all the positives associated with your current career and what you like most about it, then what you don’t particularly like and the key reasons you will consider changing. Then compare and weigh up – but would recommend to do it over a period of time to make sure you don’t make a mistake and everything is carefully thought through. You can also involve close friends and family and ask for their advice.

Q: I have a good degree in Sociology with a customer service/admin background. However, I cannot seem to find an industry to break into or a career path I’m passionate about – Help!

A: Perhaps with your background you could consider a job in market research as a starting point and then progress to client management within the same or different organisation? There are a number of more junior market research openings at big companies such as WPP, which if performed well, can lead to client-facing positions and then once you have gained experience, you could join a consulting project oriented firm.