Most startup companies fail. In concise terms, business plan should tell you why Management Team believes that they will beat these odds? If answer to this question requires detailed knowledge of a specific industry, someone not involved with company, but with years of experience in industry, should be asked to evaluate Management Team's rationale.

A past employer of mine taught that if you find one lie, there are ten. If your review of business plan uncovers one serious misstatement of a material fact, you shouldn't invest. There are other lies in business plan and even if one found is corrected, others will destroy company's chance at business success.

Limiting Risk

Assuming that business plan withstands your Due Diligence review, you should ask yourself how will you limit your risk in this venture? The lack of a safety net is one of major reasons that angels are becoming extinct. There is no reason to lose all of your money in a venture that proves unworkable.

Anyone who regularly evaluates business plans for angels and other investors can offer you their safety net strategy. I have mine. Other investment consultants use other strategies. If you intend to use a consultant to evaluate business plans, you should ask them about their safety net formula at an initial consultation with them. If their formula will work for you, hire consultant and let them worry about truth of business plan. By way, a good business consultant should have an arsenal of strategies that will enhance your success and limit your losses.

Insurance

Consultants charge for their work. This fact can be your first line of defense against hordes of swindlers and flakes seeking business investment. I advise my clients to make this simple deal with entrepreneur seeking funding. "If my advisor gives your business plan a clean bill of health, I'll pay for review. If there is a material misstatement of fact in your business plan, you'll pay for review. So, please remit your business plan with a check to me that covers my business plan review costs." If entrepreneur declines to risk paying for a review, ninety nine times out of one hundred, they know their business plan is fiction.

To contact author, email Beowulfinvestments@Earthlink.net

Another simple precaution for preventing identity theft is to be careful with your personal papers. Never carry all of them with you as it is not safe. If you don't need your Social Security card, birth certificate, passport, etc., leave them home in a secured place and carry them with you only when you need them for some reason. Also, you should be careful with your mail as it often contains personal information. Either put a lock on your mailbox or have your mail delivered to a post office box.

Nowadays, purchases made over internet are very common and some thieves have turned their attention to this domain. The way to protect your personal information when shopping online is to never release them unless you are using a secure browser. If you don't have a secured browser or website you're visiting is not secured, place your order by phone or email. Also, for websites that require a password or a personal identification number (PIN) don't use common names or dates as anyone can guess them, but create your own password or PIN made of numbers and letters.

These precautions do not really guaranty that you'll not be an identity theft victim but they will surely minimize chances that you'll become one. Being careful with your personal information should not be a hustle but a routine. This way you can be sure you'll not spend months or years and lots of money to restore your credit record and your name after thieves have messed it up. Precaution is name of game.

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