If your business has been operating for some time, potential investors will be interested in your past activities so that they know exactly what sort of business they will be investing in. It’s a good idea to clear old debts or liabilities before you seek investment.
Investors will also want to know about your business’ intellectual property, especially if anyone outside the business has a potential claim to it. This may be the case if you’ve developed new products or services in collaboration with anyone outside the business.
Raising capital can be time-consuming and you should plan to only do this a few times during your business’ development. You should also make sure that you are ready for investment, by considering:
- why you need funding – ideally for a specific reason such as expansion, or to develop a new product or market
- how much funding you will need – always be careful not to underestimate how much you will need
- when you need the funding by – eg it might work best for you if you receive the amount in instalments instead of all at once
- how you are going to pay any money back – it is very important that your business is able to meet any repayments on time, including any interest charged
- what the right source of finance is for you