3) Manufacturing

* Outdate methods and processes. Your manufacturing and service methods and processes provide a quick indication of your ability to compete in markets you serve and shift gears if business doesn't go as planned. Even if you're a start-up, business investors will want to know methods and processes you plan to use to manufacture your product or provide services you plan to offer.

* Rejects. If you are already in production, investors expect you to know your reject rates, problems causing them, and quality controls you have in place. How you handle rejects is an important issue to business investors. Remember, rejects are not limited to only production rejects. They also include missed service calls, late deliveries, and other process failures.

* Just in time (JIT). Inventory is often first place business owners and entrepreneurs get into trouble. Too much of it and you can quickly run out of cash; too little and you'll quickly start missing deliveries and losing customers. How well you manage inventory and understand it is a key strength business investors are looking for in management team.

* Sales per employee. The measure of overall productivity is a good, simple benchmark investors can use to measure your historical or projected performance against other companies in your industry. Questions like: What is it that you plan to do differently than your competitors to allow you to use number of employees you use or plan to use? Why do you think you can earn more or less per employee than average for your industry?

4) Marketing

* Market share. Be ready to compare your expected market share or changes in it to your competitors. Remember to only measure relevant markets you serve. Also, avoid justifying your market share by taking small percentages of extremely large markets. "Our projections only assume we get 1% of this billion dollar market" is one of most meaningless statements a business owner or entrepreneur can say.

* Trade shows. Investors will be interested in activity and interest your company's booth generates at trade shows compared to your competition. Some may even want to attend and observe next trade show you attend. Be sure to take pictures, videos and conduct customer surveys to demonstrate and support interest and activity surrounding your booth.

* New products. What is percentage of new products or services that generate future sales? How often will new products or services need to be introduced to maintain your market position? What is your success rate with new products and services?

Business investors are constantly trying to sniff out symptoms of trouble. It's important that you never mislead or deceive them. Most investors have extensive business experience and regularly see or have seen many different businesses and industries. The questions they ask often stem from their real world experiences. That's why it is important not to get defensive by their questioning.

Smart business owners and entrepreneurs take time to tap into knowledge and questioning business investors have to offer to improve their business and prepare for other investor meetings.

So, how does it work? Most businesses start off making losses, and small businesses and home-based businesses are not exempt from this. The total revenue or income is usually low. It is often below thresholds where business has to register for GST or VAT, so that business owner may be tempted to not register for GST or VAT, thereby saving on administration (in filing returns) or accounting costs.

If business owner contacts their local taxation authority, they will be correctly advised of income thresholds for registration and decision will be left to them to make. It would not be appropriate for a taxation officer to advise business owner on how to manage their taxation affairs, and there is a case of Privy Council (UK) that confirms Inland Revenue cannot tell a business owner how to run their business. It is certainly not obligatory on taxation authority to advise a business owner on a course of action that would contravene their charter of “protecting revenue” of State.

This is why a business owner should seek advice of a suitably qualified accountant who is experienced in taxation and business advice. A proactive accountant is more likely to provide this advice than a compliance accountant. The compliance accountant’s role is more likely to involve complying with tax laws, rather than optimising tax situations. The compliance accountant’s mind is so attuned to complying with tax laws that they often do not see opportunities for optimising a client’s tax position. Once business owner has been convinced that it is in their interests to register for GST or VAT, next question is for what filing period to opt? The more regular a filing period, sooner GST or VAT refunds will improve business cash flow. So they may decide to opt for monthly or two-monthly GST or VAT returns. There will be an administration or accounting cost that needs to be weighed against benefit of a quicker cash flow.

The income tax refund is an annual event that cannot be changed, except for where business owner is leaving country before end of tax year and applies to have a tax return processed sooner. There will be extra forms to complete and information to provide, and it usually means that business is closing down. Even that income tax return should be lodged as early as possible after tax year ends, rather than being left to be filed with other taxpaying business owners, so income tax refund is received soon rather than later.