ForumsStarting a Business

If you have not done that yet, the best starting point for you is to get what you want to do down on paper. Developing your business plan helps you to make your dream a reality; but only if you work at it to do the things necessary to reach your goal. A good business plan is something that funding sources and/or prospective investors are going to want to see so that should be your priority at this point.

Once you have your plan done, if it is solid and the business a viable opportunity and if you have good credit you may be able to get bank funding if you have the right collateral that they'll probably want. You also may be able to find a local "Angel" investor who would provide some funding for you. You can search online for "angel investors" and you will find a number of resources and web sites that will help you find angel investors. Though most Angels that you find that way may be more interested in high growth businesses and larger transactions. Your best bet may be to check locally for smaller "angel" type investors that want to put smaller amounts of money into a business of your type.

In general, Business Plans consist of the following:

• Executive Summary
• Market Opportunity
• Vision, Mission, & Objectives
• Management
• Business Strategy
• Competition
• Risk
• Financial Plan/Capital Requirements
• Summary
• Financial Projections (pro formas)

As Luckiest (here on the SBOC site) says, SCORE is a good organization to help entrepreneurs with planning and launching their business. You may want to discuss that with Luckiest, as he is a SCORE counselor.

Once you have your plan done, if it is solid and the business a viable opportunity and if you have good credit you may be able to get bank funding if you have the right collateral that they'll probably want. You also may be able to find a local "Angel" investor who would provide some funding for you. You can search online for "angel investors" and you will find a number of resources and web sites that will help you find angel investors. Most Angels that you find that way may be more interested in high growth businesses and larger transactions. If your venture is not that type, then your best bet may be to check locally for smaller "angel" type investors that want to put smaller amounts of money into a business of your type.

As for additional education on starting and running a business. There is a lot of good information and "business start-up" help to be found on this site from some of the professionals that participate in the community. Do a search for that and read more to get additional feedback that will help you.

Good luck and best wishes to you,

Dennis Lowery
Adducent, Inc.

There are various ways to raise start-up capital. I recommend that you seek out a community member here that goes by the nickname "phanio" who has excellent advice for what you need to secure funds and sources for those funds.

Typically, you will need a business plan. Not all investors may require a complete formal plan. Some may only request to see your Executive Summary and Financials, however I recommend that you still complete a plan. Even if investors don't require all the details, you will have a better grasp of what is possible for your business idea as well as set appropriate goals and strategies.

If you don't have a plan and aren't familiar with the format, I have a free page on my site to help you out. Here is the link:

http://thesologuide.com/planning/

Hope this helps.

Doug Dolan

The Solopreneur's Guide

http://thesologuide.com/