HOW TO RAISE MONEY FOR STARTING A BUSINESS

Written by Kevin Purfield


HOW TO RAISE MONEY FOR STARTING A BUSINESS

Copyright © Kevin Purfield

The task of raising money for a business is not as difficult as most people seem to think. This is especially true when you have an idea that can make you and your backers rich. Actually, there's more money available for new business ventures than there are good business ideas.

A very important rule ofrepparttar game to learn: Anytime you want to raise money, your first move should be to put together a proper prospectus.

This prospectus should include a resume of your background, your education, training, experience and any other personal qualities that might be counted as an asset to your potential success. It's also a good idea to listrepparttar 116925 various loans you've had inrepparttar 116926 past, what they were for, and your history in paying them off.

You'll have to explain in detail howrepparttar 116927 money you want is going to be used. If it's for an existing business, you'll need a profit and loss record for at leastrepparttar 116928 preceding six months, and a plan showing how this additional money will produce greater profits. If it's a new business, you'll have to show your proposed business plan, your marketing research and projected costs, as well as anticipated income figures, with a summary for each year, over at least a three year period.

It'll be advantageous to you to base your cost estimates high, and your income projections on minimal returns. This will enable you to "ride thru" those extreme "ups and downs" inherent in any beginning business. You should also describe what makes your business unique - how it differs from your competition, andrepparttar 116929 opportunities for expansion or secondary products.

This prospectus will have to state precisely what you're offeringrepparttar 116930 investor in return forrepparttar 116931 use of his money. He'll want to knowrepparttar 116932 percentage of interest you're willing to pay, and whether monthly, quarterly or on an annual basis. Are you offering a certain percentage ofrepparttar 116933 profits? A percentage ofrepparttar 116934 business? A seat on your board of directors?

An investor uses his money to make more money. He wants to make as much as he can, regardless whether it's a short term or long term deal. In order to attract him, interest him, and persuade him to "put up"repparttar 116935 money you need, you'll not only have to offer him an opportunity for big profits, but you'll have to spell it out in detail, and further, back up your claims with proof from your marketing research.

Venture investors are usually quite familiar with "high risk" proposals, yet they all want to minimize that risk as much as possible. Therefore, your prospectus should include a listing of your business and personal assets with documentation - usually copies of your tax returns forrepparttar 116936 past three years or more. Your prospective investor may not know anything about you or your business, but if he wants to know, he can pick up his telephone and know everything there is to know within 24 hours. The point here is, don't ever try to "con" a potential investor. Be honest with him. Lay allrepparttar 116937 facts onrepparttar 116938 table for him. In most cases, if you've got a good idea and you've done your homework properly, an "interested investor" will understand your position and offer more help than you dared to ask.

When you have your prospectus prepared, know how much money you want, exactly how it will be used, and how you intend to repay it, you're ready to start looking for investors.

As simple as it seems, one ofrepparttar 116939 easiest ways of raising money is by advertising in a newspaper or a national publication featuring such ads. Your ad should staterepparttar 116940 amount of money you want - always ask for more money than you need so you have room for negotiating. Your ad should also staterepparttar 116941 type of business involved (to separaterepparttar 116942 curious fromrepparttar 116943 truly interested), andrepparttar 116944 kind of return you're promising onrepparttar 116945 investment.

Take a page fromrepparttar 116946 party plan merchandisers. Set up a party and invite your friends over. Explain your business plan,repparttar 116947 profit potentials, and how much you need. Give them each a copy of your prospectus and ask that they pledge a thousand dollars as a non-participating partner in your business. Check withrepparttar 116948 current tax regulations. You may be allowed up to 25 partners in Sub Chapter 5 enterprises, openingrepparttar 116949 door for anyone to gather a group of friends around himself with something to offer them in return for their assistance in capitalizing his business.

You can also issue and sell up to $300,000 worth of stock in your company with out going throughrepparttar 116950 Federal Trade Commission. You'll needrepparttar 116951 help of an attorney to do this, however, and of course a good tax accountant as well wouldn't hurt.

It's always a good idea to have an attorney and an accountant help you make up your business prospectus. As you explain your plan to them, and ask for their advice, casually ask them if they'd mind letting you know of, or steer your way any potential investors they might happen to meet. Dorepparttar 116952 same with your banker. Give him a copy of your prospectus and ask him if he'd look it over and offer any suggestions for improving it, and of course, let you know of any potential investors. In either case, it's always a good idea to let them know you're willing to pay a "finder's fee" if you can be directed torepparttar 116953 right investor.

Are Cell Phones Reliable?

Written by Sharon Housley


How Reliable are Cell Phones? Cellular phones and pagers are part ofrepparttar "now" generation, instant contact, anywhere at any time. People are looking for convenience, comfort and security. The question is how instantaneous and reliable isrepparttar 116924 contact?

Talking with someone isrepparttar 116925 main use for a cell phone, yet due to poor reception how often do calls not go through, or important calls "dropped" due to flaky coverage? Let us not forget, that in a time of tragedy, lines were congested andrepparttar 116926 resounding "all circuits busy" messages were heard from coast to coast. There is certainly room for improvement if you want to reach out and touch someone.

The alternative to voice communication is traditional text messaging, enjoyed byrepparttar 116927 young as SMS, a 'hip' communication method, andrepparttar 116928 older asrepparttar 116929 tried and true paging, a trustworthy means of communication. A carrier receives pages or text messages via a traditional dial up modem or Internet connection to their terminal, and then broadcastsrepparttar 116930 messages over their network torepparttar 116931 appropriate wireless device. How instant is sending a text message? The answer might surprise you...it depends.

Traditional means of sending text messages is surprisingly reliable and fast. However, many cellular carriers, wishing to merge technologies while keeping costs down, have opted to utilize email technology to send text messages. Why not, an email is nothing more than a text message, usingrepparttar 116932 Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). Onrepparttar 116933 surface this sounds like a great idea, nearly everyone has email access, andrepparttar 116934 use ofrepparttar 116935 Internet streamlinesrepparttar 116936 sending of messages.

What is often overlooked, isrepparttar 116937 fact that email was not designed to be time sensitive. There can be significant delays and an instantaneous receipt can be lost when sending email to a pager or cell phone. Text messages sent viarepparttar 116938 email protocol SMTP could take a more scenic delivery route. While in many cases, receiving messages in a timely fashion is not critical; some industries require and benefit fromrepparttar 116939 receipt of urgent messages. It is therefore important to realize and make a distinction betweenrepparttar 116940 protocols that are designed for instantaneous communication and those that are not.

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