RAISING CAPITAL FOR YOUR START-UP VENTURE (6)

By Ayo Emakhiomhe

VENTURE CAPITAL FUNDS

This is equity funding for start ups and small businesses provided by specialist institutions either as equity, loans or a combination of both as the need arises.

A venture capitalist is always on the lookout for great start up ideas that will attract high turnovers and income both in the short term and in the long term.

Therefore you will have to ensure this is considered extensively in your business plan and factual information is provided.

The objective of the venture capitalist is good returns and high yield of his investment both in the short term and long term and a good level of ownership rights/control.

A venture capitalist will always thoroughly access your business plan and may need to have it realigned to suit his vision/investment purpose so be ready for this.

You can access more than one venture capital institution at a go, but always be weary of the fact that they can come together and take over your business.

Some Companies that are known in Nigeria for providing such funding or agents of companies that provide such funds are

-         Fate foundation

-         Incapint limited

-         Coinbox limited

-         Banks and discount houses through the government SMEIS project

-         Government incubator estates like that run by Lagos state government at Matori in Lagos.

-         Bank of Industry (BOI)

-         Many other sources

Websites to visit for more such details are

1.     www.nigeria.SMEToolkit.org

2.     www.fatefoundation.com

3.     www.Businessfinance.com

4.     www.incapint.com

5.     www.nigeriawebsuccess.com

6.     www.coinboxbusinessservices.com

7.     www.startupsnigeria.com

8.     And many more

To employ any of the methods outline above, you must have already done your research/feasibility study and prepared a business plan. If you have not, please prepare that first before deciding which method or combination of methods will best suit your business plan and needs. If you do not have a business plan, you are like a blind man that wants to run a marathon with lots of dangerous obstacle courses and your competitors are fully sighted while you have not the slightest idea of the track.

Also, always Endeavour to start small; Even if you have all the capital to hit the high market with your product or service. Always start with just a small test first. Do a Test run of your venture before slowly releasing funds to grow it to size. By doing this you will see any small problems that otherwise would have been hidden by large outlays and your mistakes and losses will be small. Also, backing out if necessary will be at minimal loss/damage.

BOOK TO READ

Because a dream and enterprise cannot grow more than the owner/leader, we will always encourage you read a book, listen to a CD or watch a DVD on an entrepreneurial topic to open your mind and expand your horizons.

We in our own way will always suggest at least one in our posts starting with this post.

The one we are recommending today is 

THE YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR’S GUIDE TO STARTING AND RUNNING A BUSINESS

By Steve Mariotti. Published by Three Rivers press, New York (2000).

It is available at very good bookstands around.

The author can be reached at coinboxlimited@gmail.com or 2348023526682

Business advice for entrepreneurs

Here is a business advice for all and to be entrepreneurs. Let’s get started…


Entrepreneurship could generally be said to be about making the best use of an opportunity when it arises.

But true entrepreneurs create such opportunities in the first place then, optimally deploy such opportunities to the best of their advantage.

Be you a business owner, a self employed person, an investor, an employee or a job seeker, you are all entrepreneurs.

We venture into entrepreneurship for reasons ranging from a need to make money to a passion to fulfill a cause.

Some people go around with the mindset that there is a master plan for their life of which they are acting out like auto-bots.

These set of people form a majority of the human race and thus when they eventually get to that ‘uhuru’ (place of victory); they cannot state specifically what path they had threaded to get there. They consider it an accidental deviation that has turned out for good.

But what you should understand is that your future is in your hands, opportunities come but you do not need to wait for them, you can go ahead and create them yourself.

Careful planning and deliberate, focused implementation produces outstandingly excellent results.

My business advice for you is to be able to define what you are doing, why you are doing it and how you got to where you are, and how you are going to get to where you are going to.

An enterprise is always representative of its owner(s) and management team; it exhibits those innate personalities of the owner and/or management that sometimes even the owner/management does not know exist.

When starting a business venture, it is always best to be deliberate, to achieve this, one needs careful planning and self searching.

You need to be able to define who you are what your strengths are and weaknesses and what opportunities exist in your environment in relation to this, what need can you fill or create?

This blog was birthed to offer you business advice to resolve these issues.

We would start from self assessment to environmental analysis, business analysis, and business plan to issues like branding, culture, social responsibility, expansion, growth and recruitment.