How a Startup Accelerator can Help Your Business

If your startup needs funding and you’re not sure where to turn, you may feel overwhelmed. After all, there are a myriad of ways to get cash for your startup, and none seem particularly easy. However, one of the best ways to advance your startup and find funding is through an accelerator in your area.

At an accelerator, founders learn what it takes to convince potential investors that their business idea and plan are solid. Wondering exactly how an accelerator could help your startup become successful? Read on.

Making connections

For entrepreneurs who live outside Silicon Valley, it’s tremendously valuable to be able to connect with like-minded entrepreneurs and investors in your area. If you haven’t had a chance to get involved in your local startup scene, this will be an excellent opportunity to do it.

Most entrepreneurs find that simply being exposed to insightful mentors makes the experience worth it, although there are many more benefits to participating in an accelerator. You might come away with new friends, potential partnerships, and possible investors, all of which will benefit your startup.

Expanding your perspective

Sometimes simply connecting and communicating with others about our ideas can help give us insight. If you’ve been focused on offering a menu of services or products and haven’t budged from the original idea, there’s a good chance you’re putting your startup in a box. Accelerators can encourage you to think bigger about your startup by breaking free from imagined limitations.

An accelerator can teach you more about your product or service and help you answer important questions about your company, like:

  • Who is my target audience?

  • Does my product matter to my audience enough for them to pay for it?

  • Is the price right for my audience?

  • Are we headed in the right direction, or is there another way to do this?

Feedback from experienced founders, investors, and mentors will prove especially valuable to you here. Don’t arrive set in stone on any idea--adaptability is one way to ensure you’ll never truly fail. If your current plan and process were perfect, you wouldn’t need an accelerator’s help, so remember to be coachable and receptive to advice from mentors and other entrepreneurs.

Related: The TechStars Story - How an Accelerator Conquered the World by Giving

Practice makes perfect

Being in an accelerator gives you a unique opportunity to practice your pitch in front of real or ‘mock’ investors. One startup, Credential Cabinet, spoke about the benefits of this practice:

“Because we were in an accelerator, we also got to pitch in front of “mock” investors before the pitch event. These were investors who could provide unbiased feedback. There is no “correct” way to pitch. There are many articles about what to say and what not to say, but basically it boils down to telling a captivating story, demonstrating that you have a great team and product, and that you’re serious about building a great company. You should know the material on your slides, as well as the supporting facts.”

Credential Cabinet improved their pitch and credited their accelerator for it in 4 ways. They were able to:

  • Practice pitching to get it right

  • Receive unbiased advice from investors

  • Better understand every step of the pitch process

  • Learn about what didn’t seem to work

Checking out the competition

Participating in an accelerator will give you a unique opportunity to check out the competition close-up. Whether you’re participating in-person or remotely, you’ll be able to watch and evaluate other startups’ pitches and listen to the ways they answer investor’s tough questions.

This translates directly into value for many companies, like student loan-focused startup LendEDU, founded by Matt Lenhard and Nate Matherson (the founders of Shop Tutors). They received the funding they needed from the Iowa Startup Accelerator and Built By Iowa after completing a 90 day accelerator program. They noted how much their fellow participant's pitches helped them tailor their own: 

"Seeing where the weak spots were in our own pitch and other startups' pitches was so helpful to us. It really made us take the time to put together the best pitch for LendEDU, and that's what made our success possible."

Even if the products and services are vastly different from your own, you’ll take away some important lessons and learn from others’ mistakes. Conversely, other startups will be able to learn from your pitches. It creates a really educational environment that can spell success for smart entrepreneurs who are willing to listen.

Participating in an accelerator could be a worthwhile option for your startup because events like this provide extensive coaching, training, and mentoring that ensure you’ll have plenty of practice pitching your startup to investors (perhaps while being shot with a Nerf gun to up the pressure). What could that do for your startup?

Read next: 5 Things to Consider Before Joining an Accelerator

Has your startup participated in an accelerator? What were the results? Please share with us in the comments!