In this video, Evan Carmichael advises entrepreneurs on how to secure funding for a small retail concept, such as a mall kiosk selling a product like Tommy Copper. He emphasizes that the key to convincing investors is to reduce perceived risk by presenting clear comparables—data on existing similar kiosks, their revenues, costs, and location characteristics. He outlines a straightforward analytical approach: identify comparable kiosks, compare their financial performance and mall foot‑traffic, and use those numbers to demonstrate viability. Carmichael then discusses likely funding sources, noting that this type of venture is best suited for non‑strategic angel investors (e.g., doctors, dentists, lawyers) who are looking for a hands‑off, loan‑like investment with 10‑15% interest, rather than venture capital. He also mentions the optional benefit of a strategic angel who can provide operational expertise for multi‑location growth. The video concludes with standard YouTube calls to like, comment, and subscribe.
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Show comparables. If you're trying to raise money off an idea that other people have done before, you're trying to buy into a current system, show comparables so it makes the decision easier for an investor to say yes. One of the hardest things for the investors to say yes to is risk, right? If you are the first person to try to do something, there's a lot of risk attached to it, and so there might be a lot of opportunity, but then there's a lot of risk. And so if it's hard for them to say yes. But if you can show them that this has been done before and the kind of numbers that it generates, then it's easier for them to say yes because they have a clear understanding of the opportunity and they know what the risk level is. So reduce their risk by showing comparables. I got a question from one of my YouTube viewers— love you guys— Jawcracker. And Jawcracker is trying to raise money. He wants to start a kiosk in a mall around the Tommy Copper product. I've never heard of Tommy Copper, but that's cool. So to get this thing going, you want to raise this money, you want to create this business plan. Show me some comparables. Show me who else has done a Tommy Copper kiosk, how much money they're making, how much their costs are, and how their location is relevant to mine. That's what an investor is going to look at. It's going to be a pretty simple calculation. Okay, that other kiosk, how much is it making? How much are they spending? And how does the mall that they're in compare to the mall that you want to go to? If those numbers work out, it's easy to say yes. If they don't work out, then it's going to be a lot harder to raise the money. This might even be something that the banks would look at, depending on how your relationship is with your bank manager. If I was financing this, depends on the investor you're going after. This is not a venture capital type of investment. This is more an angel investor, but not even a strategic angel investor. It's just somebody to give you money, and this could be in the form of a loan. If you want something to be in like the 10 to 15% interest rate, they give you the money and you create your location and go from there. Uh, if you can get a strategic angel investor to come in and put some experience to help you grow this thing to multiple locations, that's a bonus. But I think you're looking at just a guy with money. You're looking at like a dentist, a doctor, a lawyer who wants a hands-off investment where they can get a premium return on a loan that they're giving you. That's probably your best bet. And for them to say yes, show them comparables of people who've done it before. Believe. For those of you watching, like the video, give it a thumbs up below. Let me know what you think, leave a comment. You have a question, put it in the comment section below. And if you like this video, you wanna see more, you can subscribe to the channel. And see what else I'm up to. Thank you so much, and I'll see you soon.
