Hi there! I don’t know much about making an outdoor ticketed event but I do know quite a bit about hosting events! I have hosted events for my and other startups. My advice to you is to double check what exactly you need because investors and sponsors are two completely different things.

Investors

Investors are perfect if all you're looking for is some more money. They will probably ask for some percentage of the profits or something similar to that. They can help open more doors via their connections but they aren’t forced to do so. Plus some of them might have experience in this type of event and they could be willing to help you out. However, like before it is up to them if they want to. So if all you are really looking for is more money, then investors are the right choice for you.

Sponsors

Sponsors tend to be more active in helping set up the whole event. Plus, different sponsors bring different things to the table. Not only can they supply food and drinks for the actual event (you probably get a percentage of their sales) but many are probably experienced in the event you will be running. Meaning that they can bring their experiences and open other doors for you. Another upside is that some sponsors might also bring in money plus food or drinks.

In the end, the choice is yours. If you are only looking for money, I would suggest going for investors. If you are looking for more, perhaps have someone supply food or drinks, then a sponsor is your choice!

There are a couple of options. These options are visiting meetups, startup events, using your network and finding them online. I will give you a quick list of sites that you can use to find your business partner.

Founder2be - Founder2be is a website that allows both startups and individuals to find one another. Hence, it allows their users to find co-founders. Users can specify the country and position they are looking for. Then, they can scroll through individuals that match that criteria.

Founders Nation - Very similar to Founder2be, this site allows users to look for people that are interested in joining startups. Each person has a profile that states their skills, what they are looking for/what they want to do, their stage, contact details, location and much more.

Work in Startups - A job board listing for startups and startup jobs. There is a whole section for startups looking for co-founders. The main focus of the site is for people looking to join businesses. Hence, it would be a good idea to advertise the position on this site.

Angel List - Similar to Work In Startups, Angel list allows their users to list their company and then advertise hiring positions. Furthermore, Angel List can be useful if you are ever interested in looking for investors. The main focus of this site is to get people that have the same passion for startups together.
Like I said earlier, don’t forget to visit meetups and startup events as well. The face to face contact can be extremely useful for finding your business partner!

I hope this helps!

Finding a co-founding team members is crucial to reach the success. Hopefully, there are many places and networks which allow you to find the perfect co-founder.

1 - Meetups and Events

Concerning the good places, there are many events and meetups organised you can attend. These two websites will help you to find the events which you:
https://www.tech.london/events and
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/d/united-kingdom--london/startup-conference/

Usually, these events are a gold mine of co-founders.

I also recommend you to go on the platform Meetup. You can sign up for a newsletter which will warn you of upcoming events.

2 - Networks

There is no secret: LinkedIn and social media such as Facebook are the best ways to find the perfect co-founder. These tools are very convenient. You can find out information about the potential co-founder such as his C.V and interests.

Hope this helps! If you have any more questions or are looking for legal assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact me on Linkilaw directly.

What type of financial data are you going to be holding on your site?
- I ask this because here in the UK, to hold certain financial data (either individuals or businesses) you have to be first cleared by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This is usually a long time-consuming application. This is why the two professionals you should go see straight away is a lawyer (preferably a financial lawyer) and a cyber security specialist.

1. Financial Lawyer - A lawyer is the first person you will want to talk to. Explain your whole business and how everything would work. That way, the lawyer can give you the best possible advice to help your business. You might have to put things on hold until you become licensed and a lawyer can help you with the whole process.

2. Cyber security specialist - Since you are holding important private information, you will need to make sure that information is as secured as it can be. It is likely that you might be targeted because of the information you hold. A cyber security specialist could help you protect it.

I hope this helps you! Feel free to schedule a call with me or visit our website (linkilaw.com) for a free startup legal consultation.

These are some great questions.

As an entrepreneur, growing and scaling my business has been both a challenging and rewarding task. I'll answer both your questions separately:

1. How should you decide which business idea to pursue?

Your decision should take into account both personal factors and should have regard to your environment, your market and your resources.

From a personal perspective, choose an industry which (1) you are passionate about and (2) you have knowledge/experience in. This will considerably reduce your risk of failure. As a startup founder, you will find your job to be extremely challenging and the only way to succeed is through resilience. If you are not passionate, you will easily give up. Having the knowledge and expertise of your industry will not only give you more gravitas but also save you lots of time in research and understanding the wants and needs of your customer.

From a larger perspective - ensure your business solves a problem that is large enough to build a profitable business out of.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of questions to help you get there:

1. What is your intended customer base? It is harder to target a broad and general audience - try to establish a niche customer base which needs your products and/or services.
2. What problem does your service/product solve? Identifying a problem and providing a solution is the heart of every innovative idea.
3. How can you add value to the product and customer experience? Your customers need to gain benefit from purchasing your goods/services.
4. What are the most unusual characteristics of your business which will give you competitive advantage on the market? Establishing yourself in the market means you need some advantage over your competitors to attract their customers or new ones.
5. Have you researched your competition? In what ways do you feel you can do better than the competition? You need to know who are you facing to understand your market share, and how can you provide better solutions.
6. Do you have access to all the resources you need to launch the business? This includes funding, manpower, premises, equipment etc.
7. What is the size of the market? Do your research!
8. What would it take to create a minimum viable product and test it on the market? You don’t need a finished product to launch, start small and test your ideas.
9. What will it take to make profit? You need to have at least some estimated financial projections as to what you need to spend and what you need to earn in order to break even and then make a profit.
10. Is the problem you are trying to solve on the top priority list of the potential customers? Important consideration to see whether your products will sell.
11. What is your business model? How do you plan on charging your customers, how do your competitors do it, can you create additional revenue streams?
12. Is there a potential for growth? Think in the long term, can you scale the business further?
13. What are the possible roadblocks you are likely to face? You should attempt to find a solution for each problem you can think of.
14. Have you chosen a business name? Make sure that your name is descriptive of the branding and targets your customers. Ask people their input - choosing a name is an important matter as it will affect the rest of your branding.
15. Have you looked for your business name online? Ensure that no other business can be confused with yours. Ensure that the domain name and all social media accounts for your business name are available.

I hope this answers your first question.

2. How do I decide which direction to invest my energy in and how can I develop my idea further?

This will come to you much more clearly once you have found the answers to your first question. Ensure that you are spending your time in a way that produces results. Your first goal is to bring your MVP, to test it amongst customers, to learn from feedback and then to improve your product. Repeat this formula until you reach product market fit.

I hope this helps - please don't hesitate to get on a call with me if you'd like to drill this down further.