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Are you sure that what they are actually offering -- and what you think they are offering -- are the same? This sounds like one of the literally thousands of entities that promise to do things like "accelerate your timeline for receiving business funding, and arrange a dedicated session to present your request to potential investors." Basically, for a fee, they "evaluate" your proposal and offer some generic advice, then make an appointment with an investor or loan officer -- which is all they really promised.

What happens (99 percent of the time) is you pay a fee, and they set-up a 20-minute meeting for you to pitch to a private investor (probably just a buddy of theirs who never invested in anything). You'll get turned down for funding, but having seen/heard your plan, they'll have a good idea of how much money you have to put into your new business (and you should read that as "they'll have a good idea of how much money they can get out of you"). So they'll tell you that you and your business have fantastic potential, but you just need this one service or these two improvements to make your proposal "more attractive" to lenders and investors -- which, of course, they can provide for an additional fee.

It's not a "scam" per se because they are very clear about what they are doing, and it's all spelled out in writing -- but they are counting on the business owner (who needs funding) to hear and read what he wants to hear and read.

Thank you so much!! That all makes sense. I am not a business person, but I raised money in much the same way for an NGO so I was just thinking "our donors never asked for money" He was like "oh we have to read your proposal etc" and I'm like "youre the ones with the money!!" So those explanations were helpful in making me think of what he actually said and the possibilities of getting scammed. Thanks!

The request for an upfront payment are not all scams. Some groups do ask for a mirginal amount to cut out the riff-raft. Thus, they are not flooded with proposals that have no chance to ever get funded.

But, as shown above, there are a lot of scammers. I like the advice of knowing (actually knowing and get it in writing ) - what you will be receiving for your payment. You have to do your homework.

Also, like you have done here - ask around for others that have used them and what their experiences were - don't ask the company for referenances - do a search on your own - like you are doing here.

Best of Luck!

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