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* Lending institutions (banks) * Venture capital firms * New private investors * Other professional service providers within your core management team
If you developed a list of potential investment partners prior to start-up, renew your contact with these individuals. By telephone or letter, convey success your product or service has experienced, as well as your purpose for post start-up funding. With a solid track record in hand, you may be surprised to find how many potential second-round investment partners you have.
In addition, you’ll be in a stronger position during negotiation process, meaning you won’t have to give up as much control to achieve your desired result.
Tips For Maximizing Post Start-Up Funding
* Don’t commingle funds. Avoid falling into trap of using new funds to level books. If you obtained additional funding for expansion, do not deviate from plan. Address any cash flow problems or existing debt service independently from your company’s expansion needs.
* Learn from past mistakes. Undoubtedly, your company’s start-up phase was a learning experience unlike any other. Recall lessons learned from handling your initial start-up capital. Now that you’ve established a strong working relationship, call in your management team to gather additional opinions on best way to disburse funds on each project.
* Look for new opportunities along way. As you implement your expansion plan, be on lookout for ways to streamline and maximize results of your efforts. Don’t be afraid to upgrade your plan; remember that your business plan should be a “living” document, able to flex as status of your market and general economy change.
Jim D. Ray is a seasoned entrepreneur and president of Web Presence, a national web design firm exclusively serving the small business market sector. To learn more, or for a free quote for your own web site, visit the Web Presence web site at: http://www.web-presence.net.