What is an Angel Investor?
From the common questions we
receive through our customers, we often focus on what is an angel investor. In
short, an angel investor is in individual that typically has a significant
amount of wealth that is looking to invest in a local based business that it has
a strong potential for substantial growth over a five-year period. As we will
continue to discuss time and time again, most angel investors are looking to
make a direct investment into your business as it pertains to the anticipated
growth rate for the for the company that you're looking to start or have already
started and are looking to expand.
This discussion with a focus on
the nature of what is an angel investor and how you can obtain a potential
equity investment from this individual or group of individuals. As we discussed
in some of our previous articles, one of the most common factors among angel
investors is that they have already been successful in their business ventures
and are now is seeking to invest in new businesses that are located within 25 to
50 miles of where they live while concurrently looking to make an investment of
$50,000-$250,000 for the interesting investment have found in your business. As
mentioned previously, an angel investor as it pertains to the demographics of
angel investors is that they typically do have a net worth ranging from $1
million-$5 million and are prepared to make that investment of $50,000-$250,000
into your business.
In most circumstances the angel
investor typically also generates an income for themselves between $250,000 year
to $1 million per year by an ongoing basis. As such it is important your member
this as you seek out angel investment capital so that you're able to
appropriately approach an investor that is prepared to make a significant amount
of investment into your business during the time that you are looking expand
your company a five year time horizon. We strongly recommend, that you purchase
our angel investor information toolkit so that you can effectively develop a
business plan that will showcase your business to a potential angel investor or
angel investor investment group so that you can obtain the capital you need in
order to develop further expand your business operations.
This is going to again be one
of the common themes that will discuss as it pertains to angel investment
capital. As we discussed in some of our other articles, and angel investors,
specifically for your business, are very well versed in the industry that you're
operating within and is seeking to make a localized investment as it pertains to
developing your business further. Additionally, this particular individual or
individuals are seeking to provide capital to a business that will produce a
substantial return on their investment. In that some of our future articles, we
are discuss the guidelines as it pertains to raising capital from an individual
angel investor so that you can make sure that as you progress through the
operations as it pertains to raising capital you are in a good space for
ensuring that you are a candidate for angel investment capital.
As we discussed for many people
turn to angel investors, or a group of angel investors, whether seeking capital
in order to launch a new business venture or in order to expand an existing
business concern. This is primarily due the fact, with the current economic
status as it is, many banks and traditional funding sources have stated away
from providing new capital to businesses even if they have a fantastic concept
or are a business that is already in operation and can generate a significant
amount of profits. As such, seeking out angel investor capital may be in your
best interest as it pertains to obtain the financing need to aggressively expand
your business operations over a five-year time n. Some that angel investors are
willing to go as long as seven years or 10 years as it pertains to their
investment in your company. As such, you should keep this in mind as you
continue to seek out angel investors for individual investors to provide you
with the financing you need in order to expand your business operations. In one
of our previous discussions, we also focused on the issues pertaining to
valuation of your company not only as if not only is a startup business but also
as good as it were an existing business that is able to move that is currently
generating a significant net income and simply needs additional capital in order
to expand appropriately. For many businesses, there are banks are willing to
lend to enterprises that are very promising and can produce a significant amount
of positive cash flow that would support any type of debt obligation. As such by
working with an angel investor you may be able to find yourself in a position
where you are able to obtain the capital that you need at a relatively low cost
while currently maintaining a significant amount of control over your business.
Of course, it goes without
saying that any angel investor that is willing to put up a significant amount of
capital for your business is going to want a significant equity percentage in
your business in exchange for the capital that they are providing to you and
your company. Again, one of the things we need to consider immediately if you
have a potential angel investor in mind is that you are able to effectively have
counsel in place that will assist you during the negotiation operations. Unlike
a bank loan, the issues pertaining to negotiations as it relates to raising
angel investor capital are tremendous. This is primarily due, again, the fact
that he each individual angel investor or angel investor group that you work
with has different expectations as to what investment they are seeking when they
decide to make an investment into your business. One of the things that you can
do in order to further your advancement in your business while currently
generating the capital that you need is to have a valuation completed by a
certified public accountant so that can provide you with a future valuation as
well as a current valuation as it relates to the value of your business and what
and angel investor or angel investor group is buying into as it relates to your
organization. This will help you substantially as you progress through your
capital raising operations because as angel investors focus substantially on a
valuation has been completed by a CPA. As they see this, they will be able to
further understand how much equity that you're willing to give up in exchange
for the capital that you're looking to raise funds and angel investor. However,
it should be noted that having a valuation completed on a pre-launch operation
basis for on a basis can be an expensive endeavor. You can anticipate that
business valuation will cost anywhere from $500-$5000 depending on the scope and
scale of your current or anticipated operations. However, by doing so you will
be a much greater position when negotiating with potential angel investors for
the capital that you are seeking to expand your business operations. Although it
is very expensive, we do strongly recommend that you do have a valuation
completed as part of your overall business plan when presenting to an angel
investor or angel investor group. This will ensure that you are getting a fair
value for the work you've put into your business. If you have an existing
business in place, you can ensure that you are not selling too much of your
equity in exchange for the capital you're seeking in order to develop or expand
your business. Furthering this
discussion, again, the things you again need to focus on as a small business
entrepreneur that is running a small or medium-size business is the valuation of
your business on a regular basis. Most angel investors or angel investor groups
sole purpose of investment is not for generating income through the company but
also with the anticipation that will be able to sell the business for
significant earnings multiple once you (and the rest of your Management Team)
have decided to move on to a different project or we simply decide to retire. As
such if you have an appropriate valuation plays he will be in a much better
position as it pertains to requiring the angel investing.
In the future discussions we
are going to focus on issues as it pertains to looking for angel investors,
working with angel investors, and developing a valuation strategy that allows
you to effectively negotiate with individual angel investors or groups of angel
investors. As you will see, angel investor are primarily concerned with the most
value for your business as you sell it to a third-party in due time. In many of
other discussions will also focus on the usage of small business investment
companies (or “SBICs”) as it relates to acquiring capital from SBA licensed
investment firms. This is especially true if you have a highly unique business
idea for a new piece of technology developed in conjunction with your business
operations.
We look forward to produced
providing you with additional information that will assist you in your capital
raising efforts and we certainly hope that you enroll in our new program that
we've developed through TheFinanceResource.com as it pertains to locating angel
investor capital, business loan capital, business lines of credit, and venture
capital so that you can further your business operations. We also hope that you
will to acquire our newly developed guide as it pertains to raising angel
investor capital so that you can further your operations without selling up a
substantial portion of your equity.
Thank you again for tuning in
and we look forward to seeing you in the future as we continue our discussions
as it pertains to raising capital especially from angel investors.