4 things to consider when financing your business

Irrespective of the type of financing you need and are able to obtain for your business, the process of obtaining it is somewhat similar. There are several questions that must be answered during the course of raising money for your business. The ability to answer these questions is critical to your success in obtaining financing as well as the overall success of the business. Remember, in raising capital you have to sell the ability of your business to potential investors in much the same way as you sell your product to your customers.

1) How much cash do I need?

To answer this question you will have to do some serious cash flow planning, which will require estimates of future sales, the related costs, and how quickly you must pay your suppliers. You will also have to build into your planning some assumptions about when you will generate enough cash to pay the money back. However, if you raise cash through equity you probably don’t need to pay it back but your investors will want to know how the value of the business will grow and how they will benefit through dividends or selling their shares.

2) What will you do with the money?

One of the most important questions you will have to answer for a potential investor is how the money will be spent. Will you use it for equipment or to hire additional employees or perhaps for research and development for a new improved product? Again, part of the answer on how you spend the money is how it will benefit the company.

3) What experience do you have in running your business?

One of the primary reasons for business failure is lack of experience of management. You will need to convince your investors that you have the knowledge, experience and ability to manage your business, and their money, at the level at which you expect to operate.

4) What is the climate for your type of business and your geographic location?

Few investors will want to put money into your business if you haven’t done sufficient ’homework’ to determine that you have a reasonable chance of success. If your business is based on existing economic or legal conditions that are subject to change in the near future, your risk is substantially increased. Even if your business has great potential, if the local economy is sluggish to the point that it can’t support your venture, you need to be aware of this before moving ahead.

Once you have developed concrete answers to these and other pertinent questions, you can begin looking for financing. One of the first steps is to determine whether to raise funds through debt or share capital. There are positive and negative aspects to each type. The cost to your company of each type of funding is different, as is the way in which they are treated for tax purposes. The interest on borrowed money is deductible by a business for tax purposes, which reduces the effective cost to your company Dividends which you might pay on the same investment in shares would typically not be tax deductible by your company. In selling shares there usually is no firm commitment by your company to pay the money back but your shareholder will want, and generally will have, a legal right to have a voice in the management of your company. When you have made the decision as to the type of financing you think is appropriate to fit your desires and needs, it is probably a good idea to consult with your accountant as to alternative types of debt or equity financing available.

This post was brought to you by Mathew Aitken at Companies Made Simple

Keep up to date. Subscribe to our RSS