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Are Business Startup Angel Financing Groups Tough to Satisfy? Top 5 Ways you can Get a Green Signal Fast!

In one word – Yes, they are! They are pretty tough to crack. In fact, any investor wanting to invest in a venture that has not yet run its course and has not started making profits will be skeptical about putting their money into your idea. However, the silver lining is that business startup angel financing groups are less skeptical than others, because it is their job to fund new ventures and make heir living out of the same!

Having fixed an appointment with the same, you have to follow these 5 top ways to convince your angel investors to invest with you, in your idea!

Get the Green Signal Tip #1: Summarize How your Business Model Works

Get precise, people! Frankly speaking, in this jet age no one has the time to listen to lengthy stories; and if it is with money and financing, people are already half-disinterested. Therefore to make them interested, you have to show them what your project is capable of doing. Have a business model summary ready in your hand and do your homework before you can even think on capitalizing on the appointment.

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Whether your business model works on developing new products or is a totally new technological breakthrough – you have to summarize all this and more in your project.

Get the Green Signal Tip #2: Hopefully it is not a stolen Idea that you want to capitalize on!

Now, this is really a tricky part. If you have the brains and the aptitude to capitalize on a borrowed idea, you can go ahead; but in case if this is a ‘one-night-I-overheard’ thing, know it that you’ll have really a tough time in convincing your investors. It may also happen that some other people had come with the same idea. Angel investors have good networks and they can find that out. Do whatever, but not bluff!

Get the Green Signal Tip #3: Returns based on simulated research

What your investors are interested in the end is the amount you can make and the turnover, your venture/idea is capable of. Therefore the best thing would be to already have a working prototype at hand and then based on simulated models and projections, you can give a well-made idea about the profits in the idea.

Get the Green Signal Tip #4: Vision and Long-term Goals

Investors and businessmen like people with vision and goals. If you’ve a passion to pursue your dream and your idea, you’ll also have the long term goal in your mind and that is the area you need to capitalize on.

Get the Green Signal Tip #5: Beating the Competition

Today, with so many new ideas floating and new businesses coming in the market, there is a great chance that you have a competition already! Make no mistakes about the fact that your investor WILL ask you about that. Your business idea has to be a bit different from your competitor even if the end product is same.

Research, study and doing your homework will drive home the point and get you the funds!

More Startup Business Financing Articles

Tags: Angel, Business, Fast, Financing, Green, Groups, Satisfy, Signal, Startup, Tough, Ways

Ask tough questions; get substantive answers

As we enter another election cycle, I encourage every voter to listen carefully to the candidates and whenever possible, ask the hard questions.

Island Packet: Letters to the Editor

Tags: Answers, Questions, substantive, Tough

Six Tough Questions to ask Lenders before Committing to a Low Rate Personal Loan – Don’t Make Fatal Mistakes

Are you interested in how to get a low rate personal loan the right way by asking the right questions?

Banks, financial investors, and other lending institutions including those found on the internet are the available opportunities. To avoid confusion as regards who to do business with, it is important you need to ask potential lenders some questions before making any type of commitment.

It is your right as a customer to ask lenders questions and do not do business with any of them that is not ready to answer your questions in detail. Beware of lenders who avoid direct answers to questions in a bid to rush you through the loan application process. These are bad indicators that something is wrong. Quality lenders who have nothing to hide will be ready, willing and happy to answer to your requests.

Many times, a lot of customers are not willing to ask questions out of fear that the lender will look down on them. This should not be so. As a consumer, always prepare yourself with the right information that will help you make better decisions.

Firstly, know the total amount to be offered for low rate personal loan will help you know if the lender will be able to meet your needs or not based on the amount of money you are looking for. Secondly, ask about your personal loan terms so as to know if the payment is going to fit your monthly budget.

Thirdly, ask the lender about the required verifications you will need to provide and how soon the loan will be available once they can have a decision after you have provided all the necessary documentation. Though the documents for verification vary, you should include ID, income, tax returns, and a completed loan application.

Fourthly, try and know the rate to be paid on the loan. If the personal loan lender is offering a rate that is lower than the competition, he will push the rate at you. However, you need to ask exactly how much the loan is going to cost you. Try as much as possible to get an itemization of all fees of the loan from the lender so that you can compare the information with that of other lenders.

Also, ask if there is provision for prepayment or not as this can make it possible to pay the loan off early so as to save on interest to be paid over the life of the loan. If prepayment penalties are part of the low rate personal loan offer, then it is not advisable to work with a lender that requires prepayment penalties as part of the loan offer, if you plan to pay off the loan before it matures.

In conclusion, inquire from the lender about how he will be using and securing your personal information. Though most lenders will use encryption and a firewall for their computer storage of your personal information, ask about it anyway. Make sure you are guaranteed that your name and personal information will not be sold to other solicitors so as to avoid unwarranted telemarketing calls and e-mails.

Though asking questions from potential lenders before making a commitment to a personal loan takes time and effort, it is worth it in the long run.  It is important that consumers arm themselves with the best possible information as this is the only way to make important decisions on financial issues in order to avoid learning the hard way.

Tags: Before, Committing, Don't, Fatal, Lenders, Loan, Mistakes, Personal, Questions, Rate, Tough

Grant Shapps: ‘No Second Night Out’ shows tough action to tackle rough sleeping

Housing Minister Grant Shapps has today announced the Government’s ambition to put an end to rough sleeping by pledging to work with councils and the voluntary sector to ensure that nobody spends a second night sleeping rough on Britain’s streets. (continues…)
Department for Communities and Local Government: Housing news articles

Tags: Action, Grant, Night, Out', Rough, Second, Shapps, Shows, sleeping, Tackle, Tough

Franchoice Offers Franchise Financing Tips for a Tough Economy

EDEN PRAIRIE, MN – (November 11, 2008) Despite what you hear on the news about money being tight there are still plenty of ways to finance a franchise purchase, said Jeff Elgin, CEO of FranChoice, Inc., a national consultant company that helps individuals find their ideal fit in a franchise business. “Financing will always be a crucial part of the process of becoming a franchisee and what you can afford – or borrow – will determine which businesses you focus your research on,” said Elgin. “The more you know about the various sources for finance help, the better decision you will make when it comes time to buy your business.”

The current economic situation has impacted the franchise financing process in a number of ways. “One change we are seeing,” said Elgin, “is that it can take longer to process your financing. For that reason, we recommend to our franchisee candidates that they being the process even before they start looking at individual business to buy.” Another change is that lenders, once they approve you for a loan, want you to move on it more quickly. “Lenders are not going to leave credit commitments out there for weeks or longer. If you don’t take the money, they will lend it to someone else,” said Elgin.

Elgin suggests these tips for navigating the turbulent financial waters of the current economy:

Home equity financing, which was once a popular source of franchise lending, is more difficult to obtain these days. With home values falling, your lending institution may not be willing to loan you the money you need. It’s still worth checking, particularly if you have a good relationship with your bank. Also, check out The Small Business Association (SBA) which guarantees loans for qualified individuals. One of their terms is that you must have some of your own money to invest.

You may also consider investing some of your retirement savings. An IRA or 401K account can often be used without incurring penalties. If you consider this as an investment in yourself, one you have control over, and compare it to what your retirement account is currently earning, this may be a good option.

If you are an honorably discharged military veteran, there are programs that may help you financially. VetFran is a program started by the International Franchise Association as a way to give back to those who have served in the military. More than 300 franchise companies participate and will offer substantial discounts on fees and expenses to those who served our country. Also, there’s a government-established program called the Patriot Express Pilot Loan Initiative, whose purpose is to guarantee up to 85 percent of a loan made by a lending institution to a veteran or someone currently in the military and close to retirement. (Check the SBA website for eligibility requirements.)

MinorityFran offers incentives such as fee reductions to assist members interested in increasing the number of minorities in franchising. Check out the IFA website for more information at www.franchise.org.

Another financing option is to work with a company that specializes in facilitating franchise financing, such as Guidant  and FranFund . They can help you decide between a number of options or combine them into one loan package.

Keep in mind that your credit score is likely to be scrutinized even more carefully in the current economic environment. You’ll probably need a credit score above 700 so if that’s not the case, try to improve your score before trying to finance your business.

No matter which type of loan you use to finance your business, you’ll be required to pay a part of the costs in cash. This can come from savings or perhaps severance pay from a corporate job.

The best advice for planning for your franchise financing, according to Elgin, is to be very organized and prepared before you begin the process. Lenders will want to see your loan proposal including how and what the loan will be used for and why it is needed. You will need to provide information about yourself and information about your company’s products and the market you will serve. The more research you have done, the better prepared you will be to find financing for your new franchise opportunity.

About FranChoice

FranChoice is a national network of consultants dedicated to helping consumers find their ideal match in a franchise business. Since 2000, FranChoice consultants have helped over 40,000 people identify and investigate the perfect franchise for them through their free service. For more information, go to www.franchoice.com.

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Tags: Economy, Financing, Franchise, Franchoice, Offers, Tips, Tough

Obama On Ground Zero Mosque: Rights For Muslims, Tough Luck For Americans

Celebrating at a dinner in the White House on Friday August 13, Obama followed the meeting with a statement that Muslims had a right to build a mosque even in Lower Manhattan. Polls taken across the nation indicate that very few Americans are in agreement with his assertions.

On the evening of July 27, 2010, Helen Friedman, took to a podium in a New York community board meeting and declared that building the Mosque at Ground Zero was the equivalent of America receiving a Trojan Horse from the Muslims. Such sentiment reflects the feelings of most 9/11 families of victims lost to the deliberate destruction of the Trade Towers done by Muslim radicals.

Following that event Canadian author Farzana Hassan appeared on the O’Reilly Factor, Friday, August 13, and said that the mosque was indeed a Trojan Horse because there would be no way of knowing just what kind of things would be allowed to take place inside the environs of the proposed Mosque.

If the insult to 9/11 families was not severe enough following Mr. Obama’s statements it was learned that the Imam spearheading the move to build the mosque, Feisal Abdul Rauf, was being sent on his third trip to the United Arab Emirates to raise money and speak for the project. That being bad enough, now it is known, that the State Department is footing the bill for the Imam’s jaunt to the Middle East with U.S. Taxpayers money.

Where are the crowds of “separation of church and state” folks on this matter? Can the U.S. question the 501-C status of even one single Christian Church if they are going to fund efforts to raise money for a Muslim Mosque? Is this a hypocrisy that almost everyone is overlooking? More than that, is it legal or constitutional for the government to use taxpayer funds to promote any religion?

How many of the “separation of church and state” crowd would be coming out of the woodwork to assail the government if they learned the State Department was sending the Rev Franklin Graham to Europe or Evangelist Jesse Duplantis to Russia to raise money for their projects?

Since his initial remarks were made the President has been backtracking and using everything short of doublespeak to clarify his statement. The damage has already been done since it looks like an overall endorsement for the building of the mosque. No one has yet seriously questioned the President or the State Department on the legality of using tax dollars to pay for a religious leader’s trip to the Arab world.

In what can only be described as a day of insult in hypocrisy’s finest hour in America, on the same night Obama made his remarks about the proposed mosque, EA has announced the release of its latest video game in which players can assume the role of Taliban fighters seeking out and destroying American Troops. Whether its families of 9/11 victims or America’s finest on the battlefield that are being dishonored, it is a day for shame across the land.

Days after 9/11 former President Bush announced that the people who caused the destruction of the Trade Towers would “shortly hear from us.” Just how far the tide can turn is now reflected in President Obama’s recent remarks that seem to be saying that it is time for us to hear from them, yet once again.

The sadness and pain caused to America by the events of 9/11 are not something that will be soothed or quickly forgotten but the idea of a Muslim mosque at the site of the attack is a low blow and the timing of it could not be worse. To wit;

“Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity; Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress.” (Ob 1: 13,14)

Tags: Americans, Ground, Luck, Mosque, Muslims, Obama, Rights, Tough, Zero

West meets tough opposition to farm subsidies

Washington and Brussels were last night trying to drive a wedge between a group of more than 20 developing countries which are holding out for deep cuts in the west’s lavish farm subsidies.

Despite the personal intervention of the US president, George Bush, the developing countries held firm yesterday and delayed the start of talks on agriculture, which are seen as crucial to a trade liberalisation deal in Cancun.

The EU, meanwhile, warned former colonies in Africa and in the Caribbean that their joining the so-called Group of 21 could well endanger their privileged access to Europe’s single market. Washington told Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guatemala that if they left the G21 they would get a “sweetheart deal” giving them increased access to America’s $10 trillion economy.

“At every ministerial meeting we see the US and the EU playing divide and rule while claiming to act in the interests of developing countries”, said Duncan Green, of the Catholic aid agency Cafod. “Nobody believes them any more.”

Ahead of this week’s meeting of ministers from the World Trade Organisation’s 146 member states, President Bush contacted the leaders of four key developing countries, India, Pakistan, Brazil and South Africa, in an attempt to prevent their opposition of a deal on agriculture agreed by Washington and Brussels.

Brazil has led the opposition to the modest concessions offered by the EU and the US, and has become the target of Washington and Brussels, seen as the main obstacle to the west’s agenda.

Celso Amorim, Brazil’s foreign minister, stormed out of a late-night meeting with Washington’s main trade negotiator, Robert Zoellick, after the Americans demanded Brazil withdrew the G21′s alternative proposal on agriculture. Mr Amorim told ministers yesterday that the G21 represented 63% of the world’s farmers: “Our proposed framework incorporates significant negotiating positions [and] has been carefully designed, technically as well as politically. It cannot be ignored. Already we see a new dynamic which hopefully can lead to real negotiations.”

The hardline stance of Brazil and its allies forced the EU and the US to plan separate meetings with the G21 yesterday before the agriculture negotiations. “It’s very difficult to put the hammer on countries like China, India and Brazil,” said one senior trade source. “They are powerful separately, let alone together.”

The deputy US trade representative, Peter Allgeier, warned that all member states would have to compromise for a successful deal. He said he was perplexed by the G21 which includes both large, food exporting countries, such as Brazil and Argentina, interested in finding new markets for their produce, and countries such as India, which traditionally favour protection for their small farmers. “It is not immediately obvious that they are a coherent group.”

Washington’s attempts to appease anger in the developing world through concessions on cotton also ran into difficulties. West African countries are holding out for real cuts in the $4bn (£2.6bn) the US spends yearly subsidising its cotton growers who flood world markets with their surplus produce, depressing the prices for reportedly more efficient producers in Benin, Chad, Burkino Faso, and Mali.

Sources in Cancun said that the US position was made more difficult because it had to get any deal on cotton through Congress, where the chairperson of the influential senate agriculture committee came from Mississippi, the biggest cotton producing state.

Fatiou Akplogan, Benin’s trade minister, said: “If nothing is done urgently this could lead to the total loss of revenue for our producers, an increase in poverty and destruction of our economic system.”

Yesterday, the director-general of the WTO, Supachai Panitchpakdi, took charge of the negotiations.

Tags: Farm, meets, opposition, Subsidies, Tough, West

We’re Screwed: Why My Generation Has A Tough Road Ahead

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As a college student approaching the ripe old age of twenty, I am at last beginning to see that there is a future ahead of me. A career, a family, and a lifestyle will soon begin to take shape around the personality I’ve built for myself since the late 80s. Based on the past experiences of my parents, you’d think this future would be no less than a bright one. I would be employed immediately after graduation, marry sometime before thirty, have a kid or two, and retire around sixty. Ah yes, the American dream.

It’s a dream that is much less likely to become reality than ever before. Like many of my peers, I am increasingly becoming despondent when I imagine the future ahead of me. My generation will come out of college with more debt than ever before. We will have an increasingly difficult time finding employment with said bachelor’s degree, thus finding ourselves having to return to college and snowballing our already enormous debts. We may or may not have children, depending on how successful we will be in ascertaining employment and stability in our lives. When we reach retirement age, if we haven’t been saving money periodically over these turbulent years while struggling to pay off college loans, we will not have social security to fall back on because at this rate there will be no social security left.

It’s a sad but true fact that I and my fellow twenty-somethings are growing ever-more pessimistic about our futures and our world. We see a world filled with expensive conflict that leads to nothing but death, destruction, and poverty. We see a country deeply divided and even when it is in concurrence its peoples’ opinions are vehemently ignored by its leadership. We see states struggling to educate the generation that will come after us with the limited resources they are allotted. Most of all, though, we see our once-bright futures slowly clouding over as the conflicts caused by our parents’ generation are piled atop our shoulders.

The silver lining here lies within the generation that gave birth to us. Yes, that’s right Baby Boomers, I’m talking to you. It’s time our elders stepped up to the plate to ensure the future they shape for their children and grandchildren can be as bright as the futures they had to look forward to when they were young. We can only hope that perhaps they will listen to our pleas. It’s time you remember the causes you cried out for when you were young: civil rights, women’s liberation, peace, love, and equality. Those who stood among the ranks of Vietnam protesters seem to have forgotten that they, too, were in our shoes once. Now they are no longer the poor, picketing college kids. They are the ones with the power and it’s about time they used it to benefit their progeny.

As for we youngin’s, we’ll keep on prodding you until you do something. Sure, we have a different way of doing it than you did (i.e. blogging, YouTube, etc.) but we’re still here and we still have hope that perhaps we’ll have a bright future ahead of us after all.

Tags: Ahead, Generation, Road, Screwed, Tough, Were

A Tough Message to Corporate America

WorldCom, the largest corporate failure in America’s history, should cap its directors’ pay at $15m, give shareholders more power and bolster its board after the $11bn accounting fraud that drove the telecommunications company to its knees, a United States court investigator recommended yesterday.

As he published his 150-page report, Richard Breeden, appointed by a New York court, made it clear his recommendations for WorldCom should be adopted by the rest of corporate America, which was damaged by a wave of scandals after the collapse of the dotcom boom.

His 78 recommendations are aimed at bolstering corporate governance at the new-look WorldCom, now known as MCI, to prevent a re-run of the “odious practices” that allowed the company to amass $41bn (£26bn) of debt in the US’s largest accounting fraud.

Mr Breeden, a former chairman of US regulator the securities and exchange commission, painted a damning picture of the company under its previous chief executive and founder, Bernie Ebbers, who was allowed a “nearly imperial reign” over the company.

Mr Ebbers, who left with a golden goodbye of an estimated $50m, was allowed to run a “giant compensation slush fund” to hand out to favoured executives and convinced the board to “lend” him $400m personally. He was also allowed use of the corporate jet for $1 a month.

Mr Breeden said such levels of pay “went beyond any rational calculation of value added by senior executives”.

To ensure they are not repeated, he recommends that executives should be allowed to earn more than $15m a year only with the prior approval of shareholders.

Mr Breeden made it clear that WorldCom was not alone among telecoms companies during the dotcom boom in handing out large pay cheques.

“Certainly, the largesse for Ebbers was part of a broader pattern across the industry and the large US corporations generally of stratospheric compensation levels,” Mr Breeden said.

He cast doubt on the effectiveness of the practice in boardrooms of giving options and shares to directors, recommending more payment in cash and bonuses rather than shares or options.

But the report does not advocate more intervention from government in the form of new laws.

The Sarbane-Oxley laws to boost company boards, introduced in the wake of corporate scandals such as WorldCom, Enron and Tyco, have been harshly criticised on both sides of the Atlantic for being overly zealous.

“This report calls for more democracy for shareholders so that they can more effectively protect themselves,” Mr Breeden said. While he notes “shareholder activism” is a not a panacea for corporate governance problems, he believes investors should be given more opportunity to make their views known to the board.

As well as being given a vote on directors’ pay, shareholders should be allowed to veto new directors and be given an electronic “town hall” form of communication with the board.

He also suggested sweeping changes to the way in which the board itself is structured to end the “cronyism” of the past. No director should serve for more than 10 years and a new one should join every year.

In addition, the chairman and chief executive role – traditionally combined at US companies – should be separated. This is already regarded as best corporate governance in the UK. The chairman should be non-executive and serve for no more than six years.

Michael Capellas, the new MCI chairman, said: “The company has already implemented many of the proposed corporate reforms, but we know we have to do even more to regain public trust”.

The company is bound by the recommendations unless it applies to the court.

Despite WorldCom’s problems, MCI is expected to emerge from chapter 11 bankruptcy protection later this year.

Restoring trust: main proposals

Boardroom

The role of chairman and chief executive should be separate; the chairman should be non-executive

Directors should not serve for more than 10 years

An independent audit committee of not less than three members should be created

A governance committee of three members should be set up to oversee nominations to the board

Shareholders

An electronic “town hall” should be established to enable shareholders to communicate with the board

They should be given a vote on directors’ pay

Pay

Pay should be limited to $15m without shareholders’ prior approval

It should be in cash, rather than shares or options; not less than 50% but ideally 60-75% of total compensation should be in cash

Payoffs should be limited to $10m for the chief executive and no more than $5m for any other employee

There should be no personal use of corporate aircraft

Accounting

A target should be set of paying 25% of net income in dividends to shareholders

Tags: America, Corporate, Message, Tough

Zimbabwe Reporter Held Under Tough New Press Law

Zimbabwean journalist Basildon Peta, correspondent for the Independent in London, was arrested and charged yesterday under the government’s draconian new Public Order and Security Act, according to press reports.

Mr Peta, secretary-general of the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists, was being held at Harare central police station. He was arrested as three members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) were beaten to death by President Robert Mugabe’s followers and four other MDC members were missing after being abducted, according to the party.

Mr Peta was charged with failing to notify police about a demonstration last Wednesday in which 60 journalists for the local and foreign media protested against the impending passage of a repressive press law.

Three journalists were arrested by police in front of the parliament building but were released and charges against them were dropped.

If found guilty of organising the demonstration, Mr Peta could be jailed for two years, according to the new security act.

“This is the first arrest of a journalist working for the international media and we are very concerned for Mr Peta’s safety,” said the Foreign Correspondents’ Association of Zimbabwe. Other civic organisations also expressed concern for Mr Peta’s safety.

It is the first high profile arrest using the new security act, which also outlaws public criticism of the president, the police and the army.

Mr Peta turned himself in to the police yesterday in the company of his lawyer, Tawanda Hondora, chairman of the Zimbabwean Lawyers for Human Rights. Police had ransacked Mr Peta’s home on Sunday.

Mr Peta’s arrest comes after an increase in state-sponsored violence against the opposition, according to the MDC.

The opposition party charges that three of its members died over the weekend due to violence by Mr Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party. Two MDC officials were beaten to death in towns in Matabeleland North province, and a third died in hospital in Harare after being beaten on January 28, it said. Four other MDC members were missing after being abducted.

The arrest of Mr Peta and the reported deaths and abductions come at the same time as the EU declined to impose sanctions against Mr Mugabe.

The EU said yesterday it had no immediate plans to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe because Mr Mugabe was doing nothing to block the deployment of EU observers during next month’s presidential election.

Tags: Held, Press, Reporter, Tough, Under, Zimbabwe