Business Owners: Build A Corporate Structure That Investors Love! Ok, you’ve decided to go after investment capital but you’re not sure where to start. Here are the basics that you should pay close attention to before putting your company in front of investors.

First and foremost you need to perform an industry analysis that answers the questions pertaining to where you are in the industry and who are your competitors. It doesn’t matter what product or service you offer. You could be selling underwater sock fitting kits and there is a competitor and industry leader somewhere in the world. Don’t be so naive in thinking that there is no competition or that you are at the pinnacle of your industry. Show your audience that you’ve done your research and that you’ve identified the players in your market.

Next get your executive team together and it better be the who’s who in your industry. If you can’t attract the upper echelon of your industry genre then you need to do some serious PR on behalf of your individual executive team to show the public what they are made of. Brand them as the up and coming powerhouse executives in the industry. Publish their articles and knowledge on industry blogs and article submission sites. When a funding source initiates general due diligence you need to shine like a lighthouse in the fog. Each and every executive team member needs to have an image that screams power, success and investor security.

The next thing you need to do is take a serious look at your board of directors. Who is on your board, what is their compensation and is there someone that is a better fit for formulating strategies and alliances than those who are currently populating your director staff.

One of the main reasons that investors turn down companies for funding is because they lack the backup of industry players in connection to strategic alliances. You need to identify and contractually reach out to companies that will enhance your overall business strategy. Your minimum goal should be 10 solid, aged companies that have already branded their names in the marketplace and are willing to add you to their mix of advertising and ongoing strategy and they will expect the same from you. Show investors that it’s not just you treading water in the industrial whirlpool and that you’ve built a life preserver of alliances.

Now you are ready to write a business plan and private placement memorandum that takes all the essential elements above and puts them in two well authored and to the point documents that will make an interesting and informative read for investors who have a track record of investment in your particular industry. If you’ve written your own business plan, toss it. If investors are going to take you seriously you need a professionally written business plan that touches on all the triggers that investors are currently looking for.

Next, it’s best to use the Regulation D, Private Placement Memorandum as the vehicle for staying within SEC guidelines for raising capital and you should use a Direct Public Offering as the process for raising the actual capital. Reaching out to friends, family, industrial counterparts and alliances should be the first place you go for funding. If you are lucky the consultant you hire to assist you with the above processes will have a solid database of investors to assist you in your initial, first round raise via DPO.

Last but not least you should consider, even though it’s not a mandatory requirement for a PPM or DPO, getting an independent audit done on your company to demonstrate an objective analysis of your financial reality so that investors can find their comfort level quicker without a prolonged comments stage.

There you have it. These are the basics to what it takes to achieve equity investment in this current market. Get out there and raise some money!

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Entrepreneurs are being turned onto Regulation D in droves. Regulation D Rule 504, 505 and 506 allow companies a more lenient fund raising process than those who choose to go public by other means. In the past year I’ve seen more PPM consultants pop up on the internet than ever before and I have to admit I’m concerned. As a veteran in this field I’ve seen it all, now we have a legion of self proclaimed Reg. D gurus who buy templates, add some text and tell their clients that they are delivering a customized offering memorandum; here’s where things go bad and a difficult situation gets even worse. You have this worthless document, now what?

You need to gain the confidence and capital of accredited investors without soliciting as dictated in Regulation D Rule 502c. Now you have a worthless document that you can’t solicit investment capital for (which your guru consultant never told you but took your cash anyway) so how are you suppose to raise funds for your company? First, you’ll find that you’ll eventually need to make your way to an actual PPM author, not a broker so that you can get a PPM that protects you from lawsuits and gives the investor a real breakdown of the upside and downside of your business.

Next you’ll need to find a “Investor Finder”, yes this is an actual term for an individual or corporate entity that is completely submerged in the accredited investor realm and is able to match your opportunity with friends that he/she has in their database of real, accredited investors. This is the second half of the PPM equation.

Don’t kid yourself and don’t allow yourself to be lied to; you’re going to need a seasoned professional to help introduce you to investors that have the capital to help you get to where you need to be. Friends, family and employees will commit to investing in your company until your PPM is completed and it’s time to make good on their commitment; all of a sudden little Johnny needs braces and Sally is in the hospital with pneumonia, this happens all the time. Now what? With a real Private Placement Memorandum and a solid Investor Finder you’re problems are basically over. Investigate where the author and I.F. stand in the Internet public domain and after you find a company that meets your needs, get moving and start raising capital.

The internet tells all when it comes to reputations, you’ll be able to tell the difference between a seasoned veteran and a startup consultant after on Google Search and a phone call. A PPM can make raising capital quick and easy if you have the right firm in your corner.

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Why throw gobs of cash at a publicist with outrageous fees to get you a tiny insignificant article in a newspaper or magazine rag when you can literally become an industry niche sensation overnight using a carefully constructed video and a handful of long tail industry specific keywords?

Traditional publicists have become that’72 bowling ally loitering, disco dancing reject while a new breed of publicists have stepped in and transformed the industry from paper, to cyberspace in only a few short years. Why traditional publicists have been adjusting that pathetic comb over hairstyle, young and aggressive publicists have been creating publicity techniques that deliver results in 24 to 48 hours as opposed to 6 to 8 weeks and as far as results, there is no comparison.

Web marketing and publicity marketing tactics such as creative video submission, if done properly can transform the direction of a failing company to “THE” industry powerhouse almost instantly by loading the video with solid, well thought out descriptions and targeted long tail keyword tags. A publicist who understand the concept of pure video publicity can tailor a campaign that can outperform any traditional publicity technique ever devised by the good ole’ boy networks who overcharge and under deliver for their clients.

Video publicity can stretch past the tiny geographic proximity of a city, across state lines and into international territory. Publicists that specialize in video marketing and other online methods used in strategic combination with one another, will have the client dominating every aspect of their industry niche.

Targeted video advertising by the Web 2.0 type publicists translates into instant client results that build stronger client relations and can transform the future of any company in any industry. Publicity marketing will always offer a turn-key solution to massive amounts of traffic, branding, marketing exposure and all the bells and whistles of a dozen traditional publicity firms.

FREE Download of the Ground Breaking eBook Taking A Company Public, to find out how to take our company public, structure a company, globalize your concept and much more. Click here to get Free Pre IPO Investor Alerts