Venturing out on your own can be a daunting task. Your nine to five brings with it a certain security net, however, the only way to achieve your dream is to take the leap and become your own boss! In order to make sure that you are successful in this endeavour, though, it is important [...]

Investors have a lot of choice and you are in competition with all other investment opportunities, the final decision on which gets investment will be those with the best combination of good sustainable profit and lowest risk. That may not be the highest profit, or the least risk, but an acceptable (to that Investor) mixture [...]

Do you need funding? Start-up businesses often think that they need to find an investor. We only have to read in the papers about the latest internet billionaire to know that big funding means big success. Yet most businesses can get going, or even grow without external investment. It depends on the amount required to [...]

One of the key bits of information that Business Angels or Investors into a venture will want to see is how the funds are going to be used. I’ve seen every possible use given, from the perfectly sensible – “product development”, to the unlikely to succeed – “no one will lend to me any more [...]

Firstly let me say what I mean by scalable. That each new customer produces additional revenue for very little addition cost. Think of software for example, once the costs of developing and producing the first copy are met, each additional sale of the software has minimal costs.  Whereas a service orientated business such as consulting [...]

Due-diligence needs thinking about for Investors when they are about to embark on an investment. However it’s just as applicable for those who are seeking investment to check out a potential Investor. In both cases you should verify that the person, business and facts as stated are correct. That’s not being mistrustful it’s just being [...]

You don’t know when you might bump into or be talking to a useful contact, business partner or even potential Investor. This first conversation is your best chance to impress and could determine whether you get a second more detailed conversation or meeting. So grab the chance to explain your business, or idea, in a [...]

Being investment ready is key to getting funding. Yet when talking to entrepreneurs they often have not taken the time to think it through. You are up against a lot of competition for business investment. Some may be better prepared than you to give the potential Investor confidence that his investment will be well spent [...]

Many of the people that I’ve talked to recently are individuals, they have a need for funding to start-up or to get greater growth, so they are talking to me about finding investment. After asking about what they have done to prove the concept and reduce the risk to an Investor, the next thing that [...]

In talking to entrepreneurs the subject of business plans often comes up. While some have excellent plans, others haven’t and feel that business plans are a complete waste of time and just there to line the pockets of consultants. I think the issue is that the phrase “business plan” has become over used and lost [...]