Start-up businesses are probably the most difficult to get financed due to the lack of operating history and financial stability.

Therefore it would be in your best interest to try to finance the business yourself (loans from family/friends etc..) for as long as possible or until you have established some type of financial record. Step one is to determine your start-up requirements and to identifying all the expenses that your business will incur during start-up. Most of these expenditures will be one-off costs, such as a deposit for rent or the purchasing of machinery.

Other costs will be recurring such as monthly utilities, buying stock, wages etc.

Once you have estimated your “realistic” start-up costs, you can then get a clear picture of whether or not you have the ability to support/sustain the business on your own through the initial start-up period.

Start by asking your family and friends if they are interested in the project and if they are you can then ask them if they would like to invest.

You don’t want to cause any bad feeling or place any financial burden on anyone that is close to you, so be sure to explain the risks involved(to your family and friends) from the start.

Another option is to take a look at what assets you own that could be used as collateral (land, house etc..) to finance the business through a bank/building society.

Almost all lenders and investors will require a business plan/proposal, make sure to have good one available.

Mostly, finance from banks is not available to start-ups unless it is fully collateralize by deposits/assets from the director(s) of the new business. Even with all of this, the bank will still be reluctant to lend unless it has complete confidence in the director(s)and/or the management team.

If you have been turned down by a bank or building society, you will need to approach Angel Investors or Venture capitalists. If your start-up shows it is capable of tapping into a large and growing market, you might be able to win over these Angel Investors/Venture Capitalists.

This will not be the easiest way of raising capital and these investors will scrutinize every aspect of your business plan/proposal.

The best way to find Investors is to place a proposal on www.wantaninvestor.com ,but also networking is a really good way to generate interest.Ask your connections on LinkedIn to recommend your business/proposal to connections who they think may wish to get involved and/or invest.

Personal recommendations are a great way to generate interest in your proposal.

Give www.wantaninvestor.com a go,you have nothing to lose and perhaps a lot to gain!!

Want to understand the risks contemporary entrepreneurs are grappling with to grab their target markets attention and cement their place in their respective industries? Yes? This then is the article that will take you through the perils and rewards of entrepreneurship in the modern business world.

Previous successful business models were marked by entrepreneurs who had to be sturdiest of individuals.

Their success largely depended on themselves, or relied heavily on their family,friends and networks for help with capital, free advice and other types of labor .

Today’s entrepreneur not only has to be the usual hard worker aiming to move stocks on for higher profits, they also have to do the following three things exceptionally well; find and sustain multiple revenue streams, move with the fast-paced innovative environment and also be tech savvy.

What are the risks involved with these?

Well The risk of failure is huge, especially with the unpredictable business conditions which are a challenge to us all at the moment.

Most businesses lack the financial muscle to withstand the ramifications of a bad decision or a sudden change in the market.

For these entrepreneurs, one wrong decision can be a game changer,meaning ultimately it is game over.

However, tenacity is the loudest and brightest trait of these entrepreneurs. This trait jumps to the fore in their efforts to source capital and push their businesses on no matter what; they throw caution to the wind and venture in to the cold and risky world of borrowing.

More often than not they will  have to deal with the rejection of their proposals and with being declined for the loans they crave.

It is the ability to deal with these setbacks, keep going and never give in, that sets them apart.

Even great companies like Apple needed Angel Investors as a start- up, this of course is the dream example, but they are a true example of were belief in your company/idea can take you.

Fast paced markets are constantly changing and sadly, the trendsetters are usually the large companies who have all the financial ability to advertise and take full advantage of new opportunities.

A small entrepreneur may see an opportunity but lack the capital or resourses to scale up production or take advantage of the this opportunity.

The dynamic of operating in a fast- paced,unforgiving environment pushes entrepreneurs to take a lot of calculated risks.

With a never say die, everything to gain attitude they must never hesitate to grab every opportunity that comes their way.

Market fluctuations are a challenge for them and with loans to repay; the pressure to meet business targets only ever increases.

The unpredictability of markets present a difficult situation for entrepreneurs as they look to evolve with the times and compete favorably with the big boys.

The bottom line is you have to be tenacious and have the hide of a rhino whilst also retaining the ability to move with the times to be a success.

No is never an option! ,but if(and hopefully when) you have achieved your goals and all the hard work,sacrifice and toiling comes together the rewards will be epic!!

Have a look at www.wantaninvestor.com for more Investment tips and inspiring blogs.

If you include the following in your website, there is every chance you will win over the people that really matter; the clients, not the search engines.

All Great websites are aware of this and have one thing in common“the value proposition”, this is at least one thing that will keep your clients coming back and refer others to your site.

What have you got that the competition do not? Do you offer free consultation? do you offer free shipping? or are you the oldest independent vendor in your locality?

When drafting the final content for your website, the major mistake people make is spending too much time thinking of how to get the search engines working for them.

Instead you should be focusing on what will make users return and re-share your content.

In other words, instead of targeting Search Engines, target customers and their human needs and wants; that is something largely lacking in many websites.

To give your website an edge and give it a chance to get ahead of the rest, use a minimalist design. This in my opinion is another yardstick used to measure a great website.

It means using only what is important in the user interface. A great example of this is the Google Search homepage. It has nothing on it but the search box.

In as much as the company has infinite products and ads it could sell, it went for what is really important, the search. Such a design is good for users with slow connections and it will endear your site to all kind of clients.

With an ever reducing attention-span from internet users, you must think about the role of the graphical content on your pages.

A smart way to integrate these and still have pages that load quickly is to use streamlined animations implemented using dynamic techniques like CSS3 and HTML5 unlike the common GIF images and videos which demand a lot of memory.

When it comes to your website being found on the internet, always use the relevant keywords. These are the words/phrases the searchers will type into a search engine when looking for you e.g. your business name, its location and the service you provide.

The domain name has recently become the equivalent of your telephone number, so it should be short, sharp and clever so that it is easy to remember.

There also needs to be a good balance between what to look at and what to read. People have less patience to read nowadays. It would be very wrong for instance if you have more text than pictures on a food store website given the visual appeal that the pictures would provide.

Interactivity is paramount for generating traffic to any website. Here is how to use it to maximize the potential of traffic to your website.

Instead of having a website relying on comments and reviews for its blog items, link your website to your Facebook page which accepts user generated content and have the feed stream in real time on the side of  your website.

Apart from creating a community atmosphere for your business, it enables customers to share experiences and content and will give them a reason to come back to the website for more.

For more interesting articles or information on how to attract investors visit www.wantaninvestor.com

A recent operation by cyber crime intelligence authorities nabbed 125 culprits and revealed that over $100 million is lost to online scams annually.

Fraudsters have made the internet their home since it has become the world’s largest resource pool.

35% of employers in the U.S. alone use social media to build their brands and promote their products.
According to Inc. 500; (a consortium of the top corporations in the world) another 25% are using the medium to research and hire new employees.

Social media users have been turned into customers in the business realm, unveiling a host of new opportunities for businesses.
The impact has been a shift in power from the boardrooms to the consumers.
Social networking has leveraged user contributions through hits, likes and reviews to improve the  ”users” online buying experience.
LinkedIn is now the world’s largest business oriented social media site with a following of over 200 million users.
It is an essential tool for any budding entrepreneur entrepreneur who would find themselves struggling to do business if they do not have an account there (on LinkedIn ).This account will improve their visibility among employers ,customers and also Investors.

How does your business harness these mega rich platforms like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn in a way which will deliver to your business an active pool of ‘consumers’ who are constantly looking for information?

Setting up a business page is free of charge and so is basic advertising. With a few clicks your business will go ‘live’ all over the world.

Twitter helps a business build a community of followers that share your businesses interests.
A business can easily remain relevant by tweeting strictly appropriate content.
This helps businesses define the trending topic and maintain a line of thought.

Professional networking has far reaching benefits to a business thanks to LinkedIn; the oldest of the four social sites and the one most professionals use.

Your business can use it to build lasting professional relationships by connecting with top(like minded) professionals in a given field and even help find the best candidates to hire.

Having a full and impressive LinkedIn profile, that includes education, previous positions and all your achievements coupled with some recommendations is as essential(if not more so) as that resume you spent all them hours on.

According to a research by Inc. 500, 91% of companies that used social media networking in business said it was completely worth while.

This was measured in an actual increase in online sales, improved product awareness and less investment in customer support.

Social networking is now largely responsible for search engine rankings.

These networks are essential in helping your business appear on the first page of Google when your business sector is searched online.

The more your business is referenced in conversations, blog articles and reviews, the more it will rise up the Google rankings.

This is the best way to integrate social media into the overall marketing strategy of your business.

For more interesting blogs visit www.wantaninvestor.com

If you have an investment idea that you think will make Angel investors and Venture capitalists sit up and take notice, go with it.

That belief in yourself will earn you the financial support and maybe even the respect of potential investors or partners.
Fear of failure should not worry you ,especially small failures which provide vital lessons going forward.

Fear should be overcome to stop it from incapacitating your ideas, which have taken a lot of time to think of and to nurture.

It(your idea)may even have the potential to become a game changer in the industry.(what ever that industry may be)

Entrepreneurs seeking funding find themselves in a very precarious position where they have to be alive to risk and deal with it accordingly.

However, it is those who refuse to be driven by there fears, stick to their visions and religiously believe in themselves that raise the bar of success and ultimately stand out from the crowd.

What is fear of failure? It is defined by doubts about one’s own ability to succeed.

Here are a few tips to help you take control of it before it consumes you.

As a principle entrepreneurs should be averse to the risks(in starting a new venture) which largely make them pessimistic of success and instead focus on risk management.

To effectively fight fear, remember that most successful Venture Capitalists(almost them all) failed at some point, but they picked themselves up and used the experience they gained in this failure to push themselves onward.

In fact interacting with them reveals to you that they consider failing as an intrinsic and necessary experience.

In as much as extrinsic conditions of doing business cannot be controlled, the intrinsic ones which entail confidence in one’s own abilities can be worked on.

This means that a business plan should exude immense confidence in the proposed business idea; so much so that it sells itself completely to whom ever is reading it.

As matter of fact, you are most likely not going to win over the first few VCs who read your proposal.

They may see the potential (in your proposal)but may not want to venture into industries they are not familiar and comfortable with.

You may get a “not this time” for this reason or that reason, but picking yourself up and casting your net wider will surely land you your required capital.

In such cases(where you have failed to raise capital) you may need to do several revisions to reflect on the market dynamics which will prove both your tenacity and urge to succeed to these would be investors.

Truly what separates great and successful entrepreneurs from ordinary ones is their resilience and willingness to rise and start all over again.

For an entrepreneur going through this, the sooner they accept that failure is just the fertilizer to success; the faster they drop that anxiety.

If you believe in yourself and what you are doing soon the world will be reading your story of refusing to be dragged down by failure and on how you went on to make it big!!!!!

For more useful articles and tips on how to raise capital please visit www.wantaninvestor.com

Get noticed, do not be ignored!!!? Make investors take notice of your ‘opportunity of a life time’

What can you do to prove to them that your new business is destined for greatness and that they will be missing out on the ‘opportunity of a life time’ if they ignore you ?
Firstly you will need a comprehensive and well thought out business proposal containing a unique or innovative product/service , realistic financial projections and a route to market.(among other things)

Unlike in cases where you may be looking to get funds from other sources(ie a bank or building society) a business proposal is an essential tool in attracting an angel or private investors.

A good business plan is a document that will include your objectives, strategies and well taught out plans to tackle any problems you will encounter.

Let us explore what sets apart a great business proposal from an ordinary one.

Firstly remember to make it very sensible, easy to read and most importantly easy to understand, even at a glance.

Why? Because Angel investors don’t want to and more importantly wont spend any time on a proposal that they are struggling to recognize your ideas in. Emphasize the important stuff  (strategy, operation and rate of returns).

What we mean by this is create a short but sharp outline of the selling points of your business with caution not to leave out anything necessary that at the same time sells the investor ‘an opportunity of a life time.’

A good proposal inter-weaves all of these aspects so seamlessly that any investor who reads it will be able to visualize the business in full and profitable operation.

Here is an example, at strategic level you may forecast a ramp up in sales on the sixth month of operation.

At operational level, you must provide evidence and answers in the form of a marketing plan to explain what will cause this increases in sales.

Weather its innovation , sudden market demand for one reason or another or something else entirely , a projection of how much is expected in return should also be included  in the proposal.

The number 1 thing to avoid being if your business proposal is to stand out is a ‘Jack of All Trades’.

In a town for instance you will find several restaurants and all will have their differences (e.g. ambiance, food type and value for money).

These restaurants cannot have everything the others have(due to space restrictions, licence laws,financial restrictions etc ,etc) so it is there job as business people to make sure they excel in at least 1 or 2 areas so as to attract more customers and maybe even eventually squash their competitors.

The point here is to have a strategy which fulfills a specific need to a particular target market(s) and also to have a team in place who are able to implement this strategy.

Angel investors are always busy but the good ones will always have an eye for unique and passionate ideas that make good business sense and have an exceptional chance of succeeding. If you believe in it they will too !!

Be conscious of the fact that the Angel Investor reading your proposal will ultimately be your partner.

It essential to make them feel as if they are already half-ways(at least) there.

Full disclosure is therefore vital.

Any grey areas especially on potential earnings must be explained thoroughly.

You have got to show them realistic financial projections and explain to them how and why you ‘know’ these projections are realistic.

Use real current statistics ,ROI reports ,sales conversion rates and everything else it takes to reinforce to them (investors) that this really is ‘the opportunity of a life time’.

Now that you have read this blog and know exactly what to do and how to do it, creating this exceptional business plan should not be too difficult , should it?

For more interesting blogs and tips for your businesses visit www.wantaninvestor.com

To better understand the ins and outs of this mismatch, our interest in venture capital trends will take us to the ‘hot’ sectors that have been actively involved in the movement of Venture Capital in the recent past. It is also correct to say that these are the industries that have caught the eye of Venture Capitalists and they include energy, cloud computing, technological innovations like social media and on-demand devices like tablets and their applications; commonly referred to as apps. Even though Venture Capital funding in a general sense is declining, there are substantial increases in global funding especially towards technology ventures.

There is no question that investment in technologies that facilitate the switch to resource efficient and economical management of resources, is becoming a major consideration for Venture Capital investments. The fact that Venture capital continues to play an active role in spurring innovation and creating jobs as entrepreneurs discover and create new opportunities, makes it an integral part of the economy and this will only continue to grow. To proof of this is that more corporate investors are looking at Venture Capital firms as a new opportunity for investment. We all agree that innovation is the key to establishing a competitive advantage and corporate firms are going all out to be sustainable. The greatest challenges facing the VC industry going forward are the modest to slow returns and limited liquidity. There is a clear bifurcation which is good for the industry as only good deals are advanced and in turn better returns can be realized.

In conclusion, funds will continue to be available for firms which have registered respectable returns and make good decisions with their businesses. What we should expect in the long-run is a vibrant industry characterized by new innovation, technology and loads of new entrepreneurs. There will be less funding from these“larger” Venture Capital firms as more and more private Investors get involved. Dynamic firms willing to invest in different sectors across different regions are likely to gain the most in terms of returns as they will be spreading their risk. What is in it for entrepreneurs?  Since Venture Capital firms are stable investors in the equity economy, there will always be unending support for outstanding business ideas from them, but there is also an opportunity for smaller companies on a more local level getting the funding they need from this new batch of private investors. This will lead to job creation, new innovations and the eventual recovery of the economy.

Marketing experts will tell you that great marketing can sell practically everything. Talent and experience are a pivotal part to the success of a business and the venture capitalist will demand both. They will know that a great business idea has the best chance to be realized by a talented and experienced team. As research shows, they would rather fund an average idea being executed by a talented and tested team than a good idea being managed by a wobbly and inexperienced team. The relevance of all this is that when an entrepreneur is creating a proposal, they should emphasize on how they plan to harness the full potential of the business and not just the theoretical figures.

Here are the facts; a business founded on a need/niche and has an appeal across all borders and demographics need not worry about the challenges of economic uncertainties. Such businesses master the art of tenacity and resilience by capitalizing on the situation and even create jobs during these dark times. Statistics and trends favor the emergence of new business ventures. One such statistic reveals that over 65% of all jobs today did not exist as early as the last decade. This implies that new business ventures continue to lead the way in productivity, profitability and job creation. Facebook for instance has created massive opportunities for developers (both internal and plug-in/ app developers), Social Media Marketing Companies and Advertising Companies to name but a few.

This arrangement can be beneficial to everyone as venture capitalists empower budding entrepreneurs to create/manufacture/invent new and brilliant products/services in return for a stake in the company’s equity. Since many banks do not like the idea of funding start ups, especially those without some form of collateral, entrepreneurs looking to set up the next large ”blue chip company” should look in this direction and make these venture capitalists sit up and take note. The future of your company starts with you as you play your part in attracting interest/investment and then focus on turning the entrepreneurship world on its head.