Raising Capital the Strategic Way!!!!

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As important as it may be to raise capital, the reality is that closing investment deals in today's marketplace is tough. You're in competition with thousands of other entrepreneurs who are pitching their business plans to the same potential investors. To win investors over, you need a plan of attack that separates your investment opportunity from all the others. At Tack Point Group, we believe that selling your investment opportunity is like selling anything else: you need a strategy. Any skilled salesperson will tell you that to successfully sell a product, you have to introduce it in an attractive way to get prospects hooked, add just enough detail to keep them interested, and wow them at the end to close the sale. It is the same way with winning capital. If you view your business as something to sell, investors will treat it as something to buy. To prepare yourself for raising capital, you should create documents that support each stage of the process. We recommend that you prepare an investment summary, business plan and investor presentation. You should also prepare a list of investors that you plan to target. Will you be targeting venture capitalists, angel investors or commercial lenders? Your compelling story should be tailored to your specified investor audience. Let us illustrate how to raise capital strategically. First, you should submit a short and concise investment summary to a large group of investors. The purpose of this document is to get investors excited about your opportunity. After a week or two, follow up with the investors to see if they are interested in receiving a complete business plan. Over time you narrow down your list of interested investors. Finally, you deliver in-person presentations to only a select few of the potential investors who review your plan. As you can infer, this strategy will not only increase your chances of raising capital, but it will also decrease the amount of time you spend, as well as the amount of resources you expend doing it. This allows you to find the optimal balance between raising capital and running your business. One word of advice, the duration of raising capital could last a few weeks, or it could last several months. It depends on many factors, such as investors' availability and interest, your schedule and the availability of lawyers and other professional service advisors. Make sure that you leave yourself enough time to raise the capital you need to sustain or grow your business. Byline Tack Point Group is an entrepreneurial services firm that provides guidance and direction to entrepreneurs and emerging companies. Our market research, strategic planning, business plan creation, and investment preparation services assist in the development and implementation of successful businesses. For more information visit Tack Point Group at www.tackpointgroup.com.