Small Business Venture Capital Strategies

When launching a new small business, often the entrepreneur will consider venture capital as a source of funding. Here are 3 tips to ensure that venture capital funding can be secured when sending out your business plan:

  1. Send your business plan to the right people
  2. Venture capitalists tend to specialize in certain kinds of businesses. Some will specialize by industry, only investing in new energy companies, for instance, while others look for a certain size of company to invest in. It is worth doing the research to determine who the venture capital backers are for your industry, before you start sending out your business plan. Venture capitalists who are not specific to your industry can provide recommendations to make your plan more appealing to other venture capitalists. However, it would naturally be a mistake to send your plan to potential investors who will not even consider it.

  3. Make sure your business has the potential to be profitable enough
  4. Most venture capitalists look for a return of about 5-10 times their initial investment. For example, an investment in a company of $2 million should yield a return of $14-20 million after about five years. To satisfy these requirements, it is generally necessary to have a business which has the potential for a high rate of return on the amount invested. If the rate of return can reasonably be expected to be lower, such as for a clothing retailer, then it is probably better to look for an alternate source of funding, such as an investment or commercial bank.

  5. Remember to include an exit strategy for your investor
  6. Venture capitalists generally do not want to be involved with a new venture for an indefinite period of time. Most will plan to leave the new venture after about five years, so you should offer a clear explanation of how this may be achieved. There can be a variety of reasons for this; some venture capital managers require that the holdings periodically be sold off to acquire other offerings. Nonetheless, by demonstrating that you understand the limited time frame for many venture capitalists, you automatically make your plan more appealing than those which do not.

In summary, by sending your business plan to the right people, by recognizing what rate of return is necessary for venture capitalist involvement, and by including an exit strategy, you can improve your odds of securing venture capital funding for a new and growing business.

Catering Business Information – An Ideal Venture for You

Do you want to earn extra income? Then start a catering business now. Creating a catering business might not be too hard but it is definitely risky. Venturing in this kind of business needs your skills to capture the taste of countless people and discovering the fine art of preparing food. Like any other types of business, of course where you invest your hard earned money, you hope to make the business grow. It is indeed necessary that you got to be prepared and wise from the very beginning of the business venture. You cannot just go through the business venture lacking any preparations and knowledge of being a caterer.

There are some things that need to be considered in opening a catering business so that it will succeed in the long run. Besides hiring a caterer, you must device a business plan to be your guide. It would be better to put into writing the ideas which are playing in your mind the moment you think of opening a catering business. This business plan must include goals classified into short term and long term and also the activities and plans that you want to carry out.

The business plan must also have manpower, investment needed as the marketing initiatives. This will be your reference and guide in making your catering business successful. Whatever plans you have for the business, it would be of help if you include the feasibility and profitability of your plans. The initial cost should be taken into consideration before putting up the catering business. The costs include salaries for the chef and first few employees; cost for the utensils and the industrialized kitchen you will work with. The next thing to focus is the definite regulations and rules of the local health department.

It is important to check the local health department and check the regulations that apply to you. You might need to check out laws governing your business and might need to get permits. This might save you from any problems that may occur later on. It might be of help if you will hire an expert to manage legal matters. Aside from the business plan, marketing strategy is a must for the business. You must know how to capture the taste of the potential customers with no spending lavishly on the ingredients. It is also to think of ways on how to reach the target market. In addition, you have to make a way in keeping a good business relationship with them.

Word of mouth is one of the best ways to market and promote your catering business. Therefore, you have to make it a point to make a goof impression on every customer that comes to your business. Another thing to promote your business is through networking. Never miscalculate the power of having connections. Other people go for charity and volunteer works or organize fund raising events. Clients will come to your business and there is a possibility that they will be your regular customers. Printed coupons and flyers can also be effective in promoting your catering business. In the opening, discount can be given to the first few customers so they can become loyal customers.

In opening a catering business, one must be ready for all the risks since all business ventures come with risks so make sure to be well-prepared when starting your business. Being ready and prepared increase your opportunity of creating a profitable business. Business people know that it’s hard to gain potential customers but it is even harder to keep the loyal customers to continue and stay to support you. However, these risks can turn into something profitable as long as you have expert and friendly caterer and the business plan and marketing strategy are prepared well.

Tips for Starting Your Own Casino As a Business Venture

Casinos have been around for a very long time. Some businesses have buckled with the introduction of the Internet, but casinos seem to have thrived. This is because nothing beats the environment of gambling in a casino environment, even playing in the comfort of your own home.

Therefore, opening a casino is still a profitable business and you will have the opportunity to make a lot of money. If you think that you are interested in opening your own casino, you should read ahead for some ideas and how to go about opening the business.

Plan

Before you approach anyone concerning your idea, you should have a business plan clear in your head. You should be making a portfolio of your plans, especially if you need some investors.

You could even have some ideas about whether you want to buy a property and convert it into a casino, or have a building built from scratch so it will be tailor made for your plans. Both these options are expensive, so you need to have some start-up costs.

If you are not sure what you need to know to make the business plan, then you should do some research and even take a trip to Las Vegas and have a chat with the casino owners. Tell them that you want to build a casino in your area and they might be interested in investing.

If they have any franchise programs, you should give them some considerable thought because then you will be able to use their name and their equipment. There will already be a business image in place, which you can just use. This will be a lot less work, but you will not have any design input.

Investors

When you are in the position to show your plan to the investors, you need to be passionate about the idea and you should have a model, or a 3D drawing of the casino. You have to know what you are talking about because they will see through you if you don’t and then you will have failed before your idea has even got off the ground.

It might be a good idea to have some custom playing cards made with the name of the casino and the logo on them. This will give the investors the impression that you are extremely serious about your plans. They will be very impressed that you were proactive enough to have a pack of cards made.

Permits

Once you have the investors, it is time to apply for the permits. You will need building permits and a gaming license before you have even laid a brick. Do not start building unless you have the permits because they will knock the building down.

Also, do not play any games without a license because you will be liable to prosecution for gambling without a license.

Peripherals

Once everything is in place and construction has begun, it is time to buy all the peripheral items. This includes custom made cards, poker chips, gaming tables and even the interior design.

This is the time when you should be getting excited and thinking about your brand ideas and the image that you want for the casino. If you are that excited, you might even be thinking about building your next casino.

The future is bright for casino owners. People enjoy going to casinos and there will be people who go to casinos every single night because they like the social atmosphere, so start thinking about membership cards and loyalty programs.

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