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 [...]

Company Partners provide access to both Business Partners and Investors so what is the difference and when would you have one but not the other? Certainly an Investor is a business partner of sorts and can bring many of the benefits of a business partner. A Business Partner could in some circumstances end up investing [...]

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 [...]

 Whether you’re writing a business plan, or simply want to make sure that your business has customers, you are going to need a sales plan and a marketing plan. Yes need. Not optional, not nice to have – need. First let’s get over the instinctive dread of the word plan. It doesn’t have to mean [...]

Happy New Year all. Time for reflection and to reinvigorate ourselves. Hope 2014 is a great year for you. Thought I’d share a little known resource that may be of interest to people. We’ve put in one place good information for both entrepreneurs and Investors including some great tips from active Investors, worth a look…TheBusinessAngel.org [...]

I often get calls from members who are looking for a Business Partner or Investor but are concerned about how much they can reveal of their business idea. It is a conundrum; because on one hand you need to tell something of your business idea in order to attract a partner or funding, but too [...]