Andy
Honorary Member
Great news on everything Gary, from the new finish, to the new site, to the new logo. All great stuff.Also I have given many sleepless nights to this, but I feel the only way we will be able to march ahead at full steam is to go out and try and find a large chunk of Capitol money.
I plan on trying some of the local "hometown" banks before I resolve to going to some of the bigger institutions.
If anyone has any suggestions as to how to approach this, what they may be looking for , what I need to provide to them to help facilitate this , PLEASE help.
All of us have pretty much poured everything we have into this already so what we need now is a good infusion of operating money.
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I've highlighted the above section of your post because, just like the legal stuff, it's critical to your progress. Things are super tough in the loans market right now, but there's still money to be had. The problem is that the conditions attached can be burdensome compared to a few years ago. Of course, you'll need to nail the amount you need extrapolated from your cash flow forecast. That forecast needs to be both realistically conservative yet positive. Do not ask for a range of amounts. That shows indecision. Be sure to justify the sales volumes by relating them to specific investements, customer estimates, and activities. Include all monies invested to date & by whom. This is important to show shared belief & risk.
High street banks are a good place to start. It's important that you have a direct contact with the investement manager. Do not accept any deal that requires invoice factoring. It's expensive & deeply unpopular with commercial customers. Many banks believe it adds security to their investement, so it's popular, beware! Also, once you've got their interest (under no circumstances before), check out their protocols concerning withdrawl of funding. You don't want to be left in cashflow hell just because some corporate decision puts you in the wrong catagory according to their latest memo! Conditions leading to funding withdrawl should be defined under default sections, & remain exclusively within that framework.
Venture capitol is another way to go, but there's no such thing as a free lunch. Return expectations are often high. Management fees are also high, & tie up a lot of your management resource. They're generally intefereing bastards with little understanding of the business sector. Read, only go this route if all else fails.
Hope these bits help Gary. Good luck man, I'm rooting for ya!