Sunday, October 4, 2009

Raising Capital and Staffing Your Company

Very often an entrepreneur will conceptualize a product, chart out a marketing plan and proceed to ‘boot strap’ their business, pretty much a cappella. At first this seems to work well. There are no arguments, low costs, your ideas seen very clear and doable.

The first problem arises when you take this neat little package to an investor. You know what you’re doing. You got the company this far and you will hire some people down the road after things are really going good. So why can’t you raise any investment capital?

The answer is more obvious that you might think. No one wants to invest in a ‘One man show’, because men break. We get sick, have accidents, family problems or can at times just become overloaded. If you are the only one making the company function, then if anything happens to you, the company stops running.

This is why it is key to build out your personnel early. Ask your accountant and the lawyer who drew up your articles of incorporation to be consultants. Seen out like minded people who can add to the development of you dream and let them in. Hire energetic younger employees and make them your protégées.

If you are not a people person, find one and let them help you build your team. Angel Investors and Ventura Capitalists will treat you in a completely different light once they see that you have created a machine that runs irregardless of any one individual.

You may still be a critical part of the equation, but the formula for success will already be written down.


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