On the money trail: finding investors or funding for your product or service.

• Author: Kennard, David
• Position: PLANNING GUIDE

Capital is essential to any small business, and finding enough of it to keep the lights on and your workers paid for the first three to five years can be a challenge--but it's not impossible. By the time you have decided to start a business, you probably already have determined that you have something a customer wants.

DEMAND

Anyone interested in investing in your company will look critically at what kind of demand there is for what you have to sell. Rarely can demand be created. Instead the most successful businesses provide a solution--product or service--that fills an already existing demand.

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Demonstrating how you are filling a demand or solving a problem should always be the first step to determining what kind of investor support you will have. Part of this, or course, is the ability to produce a common sense plan that shows any investor how you will solve the problem.

SATISFACTION

After you have determined that there is sufficient demand, you must provide exceptional customer satisfaction. The survival of any new business is dependent on customer satisfaction.

Does it work? Is it flawless? Is it tested? You have one shot to make that good first impression, not just to potential customers, but to any investor you may be trying to woo. EXPERTS

A good way to accomplish this kind of satisfaction is to surround yourself with experts in your industry. They have the institutional knowledge, business connections and insight vital to your success.

Also, investors like to see people involved with your project--board members, etc.--who know what they are talking about.

STRATEGIC FUNDING

In any economy, but especially when traditional sources of funding are hard to come by, it becomes vital to seek "strategic investors." These are the money bags who either have a vested interest in...