A good friend of mine works at the brilliant Sertant Capital, a company which specializes in offering funding for business in order to obtain new equipment. He often speaks to me about these businesses who are doing well or some who are struggling, and it is clear from what he says just how important this funding is for so many young and established businesses. There are so many ways in which businesses can get funds to grow or to get themselves off the ground but there is also some key things to keep an eye out for when doing so.
If you are thinking about a fundraising campaign then these are some things to bear in mind.
Desperation
One of the most dangerous emotions which you will feel here is desperation, that desire to secure funding so that you can get your amazing business up and running. The reason why this is a dangerous emotion to have is because desperation can lead to us making poor choices or perhaps even taking on money which you probably know you shouldn’t. Always make sure that when you do a deal on funding, that you are level headed, if you do feel desperate then take some advice from someone in a neutral position.
Knowledge
It is amazing the amount of people who think that they can secure funding without much effort, this couldn’t be further from the truth. It is precisely for this reason that so many fail to secure the funding that they are looking for, and this is exactly why you have to be full of knowledge in order to get what you are after. Any lender, be it back or private individual, will want to know why you need the money, how you are going to spend the money and when they will get their money back. In order to answer these questions you need to know all of your numbers in a heartbeat. If you really want the funding, make sure that you are armed to the teeth with information about your business and its plans.
Advice
Even if you believe that you have a good financial and business brain it is still absolutely essential that you take advice from an independent source, every single step of the way. You should have an accurate valuation for your business, your projection should be well based and researched, you should know exactly how much your ceiling is for interest and repayment charges and you should also know how much of your company you should give up if you are going to go down that route. Finally you should always take advice on any borrowing which you plan to do, this way you can strip the emotion out of the decision and instead base it on facts and figures.
These are three easy to remember tips which will significantly increase your chance of both getting funding, and getting great deal.
