Friday, December 28, 2007

Need Capital? Get to the Point!

I recently got into an exchange in an on-line forum for entrepreneurs over the best way to approach funding sources for capital. The question at hand - should the entrepreneur provide a detailed, 40 page business plan or a short, 3-5 page executive summary when asking for money?

The entrepreneur was told by his advisor from SCORE to use the executive summary to which I agreed. I'm a big proponent that small businesses prepare a request for money that doesn't exceed a few pages.

This recent article in Business Week entitled Attracting Venture Capital in 2008 provides entrepreneurs with similar advice from the founder of Rembrandt Venture Partners, Richard Ling.

The bottom line - focus on a good executive summary when seeking money (business loans or equity). But keep a detailed business plan in your hip pocket in the event you make it past the initial pre-screen.

Need help finding the right lender or telling your story the right way? Read "Matchmaking for Business Loans" and give me a call!

Tags : business loan , debt , equity , venture capital , SCORE , Business Week , entrepreneur

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