TOP TIPS FOR RAISING BUSINESS FINANCE

If you are looking to raise money for investment, growth or acquisition you need to present a comprehensive and feasible business plan to provide comfort to the bank or venture capitalist that the proposition is well thought out and has a future.

Davies Mayers Barnett has a wealth of experience in producing business plans and financial forecasts in a format that financiers appreciate. We also have a significant network of bankers and venture capitalists who we can introduce you to.

Below are some top tips for raising finance, but as this is not an exhaustive list we would recommend that you arrange a no-obligation meeting with us to find out how we could help you further.

Pre-empt their questions
When writing your business plan pre-empt the questions the lender or investor may have:

• How will you achieve the sales targets?
• Can the debt be serviced adequately?
• What is the exit strategy for an investor?
• What are the business risks and how will you mitigate these risks?

Understand your market
Provide details of the market place in which you operate, your customer base, current and potential market share. What makes you different to your competitors? What is your Unique Selling Point (USP)?

Include sufficient information
Make sure that you provide enough information to enable the lender/investor to understand your business, prospects and opportunities. Include things such as:

• Company history
• Up to date financial information
• Management team information
• Product and services information
• Market intelligence, competition
• Detail on how you secure new business, growth strategies
• Financial forecasts
• Reason for the requirement of funds and how they will be spent/invested

The document should be well constructed, highly visual (include graphs and pictures) and have a well presented Executive Summary that will stand-alone from the detail. Quite often it is the Executive Summary that will promote your case. If this does not catch the reader's attention, quite often the rest of the document will go unread.

Is the proposal credible?
Does the financial proposal add up? The forecasts will be scrutinised by the lender/ investor and will underpin the investment decision. We can add value in this part of the process, playing Devil's Advocate when reviewing the numbers, questioning assumptions and testing the integrity of the financial model. Quite often our clients ask us to produce the forecasts based upon their assumptions.

Davies Mayers Barnett has helped its clients raise millions of pounds. If you would like assistance, an independent assessment of your proposal or simply an introduction to a suitable funder, contact Mark Minchella at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it " for a no-obligation consultation.