Avoid These Five Mistakes When Submitting Your Business Plan To Raise Investment Funds

Any potential investor wants to see a highly readable and believable business plan with a summary, a management team overview and financials but after submitting your plan many people think funding will just arrive when in reality it can take time. By following the steps below you will be able to avoid some of the most obvious mistakes when raising funds for your project.

One - If you are a company that has brilliant technical knowledge and no real sales expertise do not advertise it. Information on your web-site including the management team biographies will clearly state the management teams background including their technical expertise, their degrees, their patents and such like but amazingly their go to market strategy in the business plan is usually incomplete and sometimes missing. The solution, make sure you have a credible go to market strategy with a credible sales leader. Nobody will invest if you don't.

Two - Make sure your website is stunning. Too many companies think that running a business is all about product and the abilities of the technical team - frankly it isn't. This may be true but today investors will always expect to see more. They want to be convinced and when they will go straight to your web site they are wanting to be wowed! Unfortunately, so many people provide what looks more like a school project. Make sure your website is utterly brilliant and that it doesn't look cheap. Ask a variety of people if it looks modern, if it looks appealing, particularly the photos and ask if it is easy to navigate. Also please ensure that it is relevant - it's not about how wonderful you are it's about how you and your company will solve their challenges.

Three - If you are raising money through a prospectus or private listing make sure that your brochure stacks up. Many people do not place enough time and effort with the visual appeal of a Private Listing Brochure and again you don't want to provide a sub-standard document that will fail at every level. Spend some time and money to ensure that you convey your messaging in a professional, crisp business-like manner and that it is logical and easy to read. Also don't use random un verifiable facts - make sure that you underpin everything that you state will be possible with the latest research etc.

Four - don't use jargon. Anyone who goes to your site or who takes a look at any promotional material designed to answer questions won't stand for jargon which usually means nothing to them. If you must use jargon or acronyms, make sure there is an explanation - people won't ask they will vote with their feet! A well written website and brochure is music to the ears of potential investors

Five - Make sure that on your website and all other materials that you have the same font. Make sure that the supporting marketing material looks great and make sure that the stories you tell are verifiable and relevant. Lastly please don't be controversial People will make their mind up on quality and this includes the look and feel, the overall professional approach. If you can use proper references form proper companies. Don't add something for the sake of adding something as it has to be contextual and relevant!

Follow these tips and life on the road to raising funds will be much easier.

About me: I am a serial entrepreneur and raise investment funds from $1m to $100m through my company Integer Wealth Ltd http://www.integerwealth.co.uk. If you want advice or have a project that needs investment email marc@integerwealth.co.uk

Thank You Marc Bandemer

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Marc_Bandemer/2318678

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9501229

How to Handle the Effects of Inflation During Pre-Retirement and Post Retirement

We often hear from our parents and grandparents that they used to buy movie tickets for Rs. 5. Milk that we used to buy for Rs. 13 few years back has doubled now. Have you ever thought why such change in price happens?

The answer is inflation.

You can't AVOID inflation:

For the price increases to qualify as inflation, the rise in price has to be a sustained one. With time, for every rupee you own, you'd be able to buy a smaller percentage of good or service.

When inflation begins to march north, there tends to be a decline in the purchasing power of money. Let us consider the inflation stands at 5% annually. Theoretically, bottle of water costing Rs.20 today, would cost Rs. 21 in a year.

It is possible to control inflation and it is not possible to stop or avoid inflation.

How can you handle Inflation?

Inflation affects each person differently. As we progress in profitable positions in work, typically the amount we spend also begins to soar. While certain lifestyle changes with time are unavoidable, remember that every spending decision taken today can affect your finances of tomorrow. Read on to understand how we can combat the detrimental effects on inflation.

Handling Inflation During pre-retirement:

Inflation can be best handled with the right investments.

· Avoid excess spending and invest a percentage from your increased salary. Evaluate your budget and earmark specific areas of expense. Try to forecast your expenditure and work towards minimum deviation from your planned income to expense ratio.

· Design a lifestyle that suits your requirement. Decide how much you want to spend on luxuries. As you inch closer to the retirement finish line, ensure that your luxury needs are at the minimum.

· Try and work towards an annual growth in income generation. Explore new opportunities and ventures to augment your income.

Pre-retirement investments and inflation:

Remember that it is not enough if your investment makes sense; it also needs to make cents!

· Don't keep money stagnant in your safe. In fact, with time its value depreciates. What you can buy with Rs. 100 today will cost you Rs. 150 after a 6 or 7 years.

· When you make an investment, ensure that the rate of return is higher than the inflation rate. The difference in inflation rate and investment return rate is your actual return on the sum invested.

· Inflation trends have a profound effect how each portfolio needs to be structured. Allocate your assets based on your risk return expectations. Higher the risk, higher the returns. Embrace equities for long term.

· Proven Diversified Equity Funds: This investment option can churn good returns if you have a good appetite for risk, as the returns range an average 12-15%, which can suffice to beat inflationary trends.

Focus on what return your investment will yield post tax and invest wisely.

Inflation during Post-retirement:

"Inflation is the crabgrass in your savings." -Robert Orben. Failing to anticipate the effects of inflation on retirement finances can be a costly mistake. While it is important to keep investing after retirement too, the tolerance to risk also needs to be phased down.

· Plan for a fund that will sustain in your sunset years

· The inflation rate needs to be factored while deciding on the corpus fund.

· You need regular income after retirement. This regular income need to increase year after year to take care of the inflation.

· Creating a corpus that can provide regular income year after year.

· Creating another corpus, that can help in providing additional regular income that can take care of inflation.

What we need to understand is that the investment strategy after retirement is not to beat the inflation with investments; but to meet the inflation with investments.

Inflation is what every economy suffers from. It creeps on us with time. If not planned, it can sting us very hard. But as economists say, inflation is nothing to dread. Healthy rate of inflation has a positive impact of increasing consumption and keeps the capital in the economy flowing.

An important Mantra:

Invest your money and don't lock it up only with safe investments. The money safe in your 'safe' will not yield returns that can save you from inflation. For becoming a well disciplined investor and achieve your financial goals, you need to focus of creating a financial plan.

The author is Ramalingam K, an MBA (Finance) and Certified Financial Planner. He is the Director and Chief Financial Planner of Holistic Investment Planners http://www.holisticinvestment.in a firm that offers Financial Planning and Wealth Management. He can be reached at ramalingam@holisticinvestment.in

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Ramalingam_K/2430606

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9790353