• Home
  • News
  • Privacy

Small Business Insider

Business Finance and Insurance

  • Insurance Guides
  • Business Finance
  • Business Advice
  • News
  • Business Insurance
  • Business Bank Accounts
  • Wirex Card
Home Archives for Business Finance

The new approach to business fundraising

Posted on August 7, 2019 Written by Administrator

When you need to raise funds for business growth have you ever considered that you may be  reducing your chances of success by using a model where time is limited arbitrarily? 

Time is needed to raise capital and growth businesses are now realising the benefits of Always-on Fundraising, in which companies leave themselves open for investment 365 days a year. 

An open funding round provides an opportunity to capitalise on any unexpected successes, gives the entrepreneur the best chance of finding their perfect investor(s) and with an investor relations mindset being a constant, follow-on funding. As the days of traditional, time-limited funding round are numbered let’s look at what you need to do to make the ‘always on’ model work for you and your business

Always on Fundraising – What needs to be done?

How does ‘Always on’ work in practical terms?  While the concept is radically different some of the early steps will have a sense of familiarity, but you are looking at them through a different lens.  Here are five key areas of activity:

  1. What is your investment opportunity?

You need to start by defining your investment opportunity which includes deal structure, valuation, share price and your minimum and maximum investment levels.

Even though you’re ‘Always on’, you must have clearly defined investment levels. This benefits all parties. Your minimum investment level protects investors by ensuring that you have a significant cashflow runway to execute on your plans and projections while the maximum level dictates the total number of shares you are willing to sell at that price, protecting the shareholders from dilution.

  1. Get the right tools in place

You need an FCA-regulated environment in order to promote your investment opportunity, accept pledges and draw investment. The new breed of White-label platforms like Envestry for Scale-ups, provide off-the-shelf functionality to allow companies to create a branded fundraising portal that easily links to their current site. With FCA-coverage built-in, companies can focus on the hard work of attracting investment rather than regulatory fine print.

  1. Promote, promote and promote

With your fundraising site up and running, it’s time to promote your investment opportunity. Before you do anything, think about the investor journey by type. For example, personal connections who may be new to investing will need more guidance as they go through the process than experienced investors. To accommodate those new to investing, how-to guides, investment glossaries and frequently asked questions are imperative. Whereas, your communications to experienced investors can focus on the why instead of the what.

  1. Have a first close

Once you hit your minimum investment level, you can do a first close and draw down the pledges, while keeping your round open. This allows you to start fuelling your growth while continuing to attract investment to your maximum level. Up until you reach your maximum you can continue to draw down funds at significant intervals as they come in.

  1. Close a round; open the next

While the name ‘Always on’ might imply one continuous round, the best way of using this approach is via a series of back to back rounds (tranches). As a growing business you will want to change your valuation and share price to reflect the progress you have made. It is worth noting that on rare occasions businesses may also reduce share price, known as a ‘down round’.

So, when is the best time to close one round and open another one? Clearly, once maximum investment level has been reached, the round will have to be closed. Beyond that, anything significant which justifies an increase in valuation, such as a securing a large new contract, reaching a customer milestone or securing regulatory approval on a product, should prompt you to close the round and open a new round at a higher share price.

It makes a lot of sense for businesses to use the Always on Model particularly if they are generally raising funds every six to eighteen months.  In future I expect it to be the norm for all companies from seed through to sale to have a section of their website devoted to ‘investor relations’.  A section which should attract interest from both loyal and new investors.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Scott Haughton is COO of Envestors, a fintech company that connects investors and scale-up companies.  With its fundraising platform Envestry for Scale-ups, companies get a personalised site to promote deals, raise finance and engage with their investors 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. 

Envestry has raised £100m+ for over 200 companies through its own private investor network. 

Founded in 2004, Envestors is regulated by the FCA and has offices in the UK, the Channel Islands, the UAE and strategic partners across China.

Web: https://www.envestors.co.uk/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/envestors-llp/

Twitter: @EnvestorsLondon

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/envestorslondon/posts/

Filed Under: Business Finance, Crowdfunding Tagged With: Crowdfunding, Fundraising

How to get your company through the equity crowdfunding due diligence process

Posted on July 10, 2019 Written by Administrator

Equity crowdfunding presents a fantastic opportunity for early and growth stage companies to gain essential funding, raise awareness amongst the investor community and gain a tribe of loyal supporters.

To unaccustomed eyes, it might look like companies simply post their pitch on an equity crowdfunding platform, such as Seedrs and Crowdcube, and gain investment. However, that’s not the whole story – there are many preceding steps that determine whether a company can even get listed.

When investors browse any reputable platform, they can be confident that the investment opportunities are fairly sound. Investors know that giving their financial backing to any company comes with a risk but they take comfort in the fact that platforms apply their own due diligence process to every prospective campaign.

In other words, the platform looks very carefully at every claim the company makes – and I mean every claim – to make sure it is accurate, can be evidenced, and isn’t in any way misleading. This will include all the content on your pitch page, including your video and team bios. It’s only after this rigorous vetting process that the platform will allow a company to pitch an opportunity to investors.

Frequently unaware of the challenge ahead, many companies fail due diligence and end up significantly delaying their campaign. Rather than deliberately trying to mislead the platform, failure is often due to being unable to evidence claims.

Here are a few tips to give your company the best chance of getting past the crucial due diligence stage and speeding up what can sometimes be a glacial process:

Team bios – be prepared to evidence your team’s credentials

When investors are deciding whether to back your company, they pay close attention to your team’s credentials. For this reason, team bios are an essential part of any equity crowdfunding pitch.

Claims made in team bios often delay the due diligence process more than any other section of the pitch. It comes back to the fact that you have to evidence every claim you make – including your team’s career history. If any of the bios cite “20 years’ experience in marketing” or “spent two decades working as an accountant”, be expected to be asked for evidence going back 20 years to demonstrate this, including tax returns and payslips.

A better approach can be to pull out actual examples of companies your team members have worked for or concrete, provable achievements they made during their tenure. Again, these will have to be evidenced, and you can’t use LinkedIn or a CV!

So, a green technology company claiming that they used to work for the Environment Agency or the National Grid, for example, may need to show a contract or an email from the employer stating that they worked there, how long for, and what role they played.

Likewise, the CEO of a new challenger brand claiming they founded a company and sold it for £5 million will have to provide the documentation to prove the date they founded it and the sale price.

It’s also key to avoid vague statements or exaggerations, instead opting for clear, verifiable facts.

Former employers tend to take ages to get back and, as the platform will definitely ask you for their reference, it’s really worth chasing them up before you’ve even submitted your pitch page.

Know your market, check your numbers,

Unsurprisingly, investors will want to see some numbers to give them an idea of how your company is performing, a picture of the overall market, and how you can further tap into it.

It might sound impressive that you made 10,000 sales last month, or achieved a 300% sales growth in just one year, but can you demonstrate it? If you’re making claims like this, you’ll have to offer the platform a complete list of your sales and show your working.

As such, it’s important to keep your numbers in order. Even if your company is not yet profitable, you’ll need to prove that there’s interest in your product or service amongst your market. Finding reputable stats which show that X% of consumers complain about a problem you have a solution to can prove very useful.

It’s also worth locating original source industry figures which show how big your market is, including the current and projected future trends. Identifying and naming your competition in any documents you’re presenting to investors, and certainly in any docs you’ll be attaching to your pitch page, is another must.

Claiming that you have a one of a kind product or service when there’s competition out there will suggest that you either haven’t done your research or are trying to pretend that you don’t have any competitors.

Videos are not exempt from fact-checking

A key part of any pitch, your pitch video will allow you to communicate the opportunity you’re offering, the character of your brand and the expertise of your team in just a few minutes. Of course, many claims can be made in a short time, and just like any other document you’ll include in your pitch, your video will have to get past due diligence.

Companies that have made their videos in advance of the due diligence process can often fall into trouble. Any claims they can’t prove must be cut, and if they are many, the video will have to be redone, wasting time and money.

Unless you’re confident that you can evidence every claim, then it’s best to hold fire on making a video before you begin due diligence. This way you can write the script, show it to the platform, and ensure that they have no qualms with what you’ll be communicating to investors.

Obviously, you will need to highlight any claims that will feature as on-screen graphics in your script when you show it to the platform, too.

So, make sure you treat your script like any other text you’ll be submitting to the platform. Analyse it line by line, have the clear evidence to hand, and you should be able to breeze through due diligence.

The due diligence process can be tough, and at times, frustrating. It’s also a crash course in how to get your house in order and hone your knowledge of your business and market in a matter of weeks. Trust me, it’ll act as the perfect training – you’ll be vetted all over again by many inquisitive investors once your campaign is live!

If you follow this advice, be clear and transparent and start as early as possible, I’m sure you’ll have little trouble getting past due diligence. What’s more, if you have all the evidence to hand, the due diligence team at your chosen equity crowdfunding platform will absolutely love you.

Best of luck with this crucial stage!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John Auckland is a crowdfunding specialist and founder of TribeFirst, a global equity crowdfunding communications agency that has helped raise in excess of £17m for over 50 companies on major equity crowdfunding platforms, with a greater than 90% success rate. TribeFirst is the world’s first dedicated marketing communications agency to support equity crowdfunding campaigns and the first in the UK to provide PR and Marketing campaigns on a mainly risk/reward basis.

John is also Virgin StartUp’s crowdfunding trainer and consultant, helping them to run branded workshops, webinars and programmes on crowdfunding. John is passionate about working with start-ups and sees crowdfunding as more than just raising funds; it’s an opportunity to build a loyal tribe of lifelong customers.

Web: http://www.tribefirst.co.uk

Twitter: @Tribe1st

Filed Under: Business Finance

The impact of digital technology on early stage investing

Posted on June 13, 2019 Written by Administrator

Early-stage investing has always been a very human endeavour, after all matching businesses and investors is all about relationships. So, it’s no surprise that the adoption of digital in this space has been slower than it has been in other industries.

But the sector is now waking up to the idea that digital does not mean impersonal. In fact, it can help people to build deeper relationships, faster. Digital goes this by providing new ways to communicate, share information and ultimately makes finding the right opportunity and deciding to invest easier process for investors.

Two ways digital will transform the world of early-stage investing:

  1. Making it considerably easier for investors to discover deals, complete due diligence and manage their portfolios

In early-stage investments, offline activity is still primary. This is set to change with the introduction of white-label investment management platforms like Envestry for Networks. These platforms allow groups to showcase deals to their investors, in an FCA-regulated environment. Investors can review deal information and documents in a secure area, engage with the management team and other investors and make an investment.

The suggestion here is not that digital will replace offline activities; presentation events and face-to-face meetings will always play a crucial role in any investment decision. Digital will complement these activities in a way that makes the entire end-to-end experience much better for investors.

  1. Connecting the disparate world of early-stage investing

The landscape we have today is the same landscape we had fifty years ago. We’ve got investment networks, clubs, incubators and accelerators, all of whom actively help investors to find opportunities and scale-ups to secure funding – but they are all closed and separate. Our vision for the future is one in which all these groups connect to one another, without sacrificing control or independence. We’ve built a software platform to do just that. Using an aggregated approach, we can bring the world of early-stage investing together in a way that benefits all of those involved.

For scale ups, it means working with one party and gaining wide exposure rather than promoting a deal through a number of disparate networks. For investors, it means having access to a near unlimited number of deals, all filtered according to interest and managed in a single location – regardless of network of origin. For investment facilitators, it means a greatly improved experience for their investors and decreased operational overheads.

But why is now the time? I’ve delved into the market and industry trends to show why I think 2019 is the year that early-stage investing truly adopts digital.

Results – instantly

Instant gratification spans all areas of our lives: instantaneous validation on Twitter, one-hour Amazon delivery, and 24-hour news. So why should the investment experience be any different? If I can find out about anything in the world from wherever I happen to be, why should I – as an investor – wait for a pitch session to find out about investment opportunities?

The ROBO Effect

Borrowing a term from the retail industry, ROBO (Research Online, Buy Offline) reflects a broad behavioural change. People no longer head to a shopping centre to browse for an item, they go online and find what they want and then go down to the store to get it. In many cases, they opt not to go to the store, satisfied with the information they have found online, and make an immediate purchase. This behaviour isn’t particular to consumers: a study, by Forrester Research, found that 68% of business to business buyers researched online independently and a further 62% say they go as far as developing a selection criteria and vendor list based on digital content.

So, why is it different with investing? When people prefer to get information instantaneously and independently, why do we ask them to wait for a pitch event? Using digital, information on potential investment opportunities and any relevant details can be ready for investors to read at their leisure. Further to that, information can be interactive. Potential investors can ask management teams questions – using online channels – and get answers in real time.

Seeking a diverse portfolio

Digitisation has fuelled the unprecedented growth of start-ups in the UK.  This has produced a vast – and occasionally overwhelming – array of opportunities, resulting in a trend showing networks are becoming more niche and sector specific. While regional investment networks have long been part of the landscape, they are joined by networks specialising in – for example – Greentech, MedTech or women-owned businesses.  This is not a bad thing, but it has caused further fragmentation.

Experienced investors know, that if they are to get the best chance of a return on their investments, a diverse portfolio is a must. However, such specificity throws diversity out the window, leaving investors only one option – joining multiple networks and doing a lot of leg work to build and manage their portfolios.

Digital to the rescue. With an aggregated platform, regional and niche networks can connect to one another and share deals at the click of a button. This allows networks to protect their greatest asset – their investors – while offering them a broader array of investment opportunities without doing all of the vetting and admin.

Uncertainly factor

By mid-2018, the impact of a looming Brexit was already starting to be felt across the industry.  With predictions of economic troubles in the UK in the short term, many investors tightened their purse strings, becoming increasingly selective over which investments to make. Yet, at the same time, reports show that foreign investment is at an all-time high: in 2017, a whopping £6bn was invested over the course of the year, with 396 of these deals involving at least one investor from abroad.

This is another opportunity that could be capitalised by digital. With a digital platform, deals can flow across borders – giving investors the ability to further diversify their portfolios, while giving businesses a better opportunity to find investment.

It’s time to follow the leaders in the field and adopt digital in early stage investing.  The sector will reap the benefits.

Key players, like The SetSquared Partnership and Britbots, are already well on their way to adopting digital. Digital disruption has begun so as entrepreneurs and investors you can take advantage of the many benefits.

About the Author

Oliver is CEO and Co-founder of Envestors. Oliver sits on the Board of the UK Crowdfunding Association (UKCFA) and sat on the Board of the UK Business Angels Association (UKBAA) from 2006 to 2014. He is also a Member of Court at Imperial College (London). After completing a degree in Finance, Oliver decided not to become an accountant but instead raised equity and bank debt to start Woolleys Healthfoods. The business comprised three retail catering outlets in central London, three organic sausage shops and a factory in the south-east of England, which wholesaled to 200 establishments including Harrods. In 1997 he sold the business to Northern Foods and moved into early-stage investing.

Web: https://www.envestors.co.uk/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/envestors-llp/

Twitter: @EnvestorsLondon

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/envestorslondon/posts/

Filed Under: Pensions and Investments

Business finance options

Posted on May 31, 2019 Written by Administrator

Business finance is the money any business needs in order to run its operations.

Not only is finance required the moment you start up a company, but also throughout various stages of its development and growth – ensuring that there is enough money to pay your staff and for the supplies materials and equipment needed to produce the goods and services you sell.

Additional finance may also be required – often at short notice – to meet new business opportunities which might suddenly emerge and call for you to launch marketing campaigns to support a new venture, re-stock and re-equip, perhaps set up a new office in another town, or make sure your day to day cashflow is suitably balanced.

Where it comes from

So, where does that much-needed business finance come from?

In the very early days of company formation and start-up, sufficient finance might be found from your own personal resources or those of family and friends.

As the business grows and the demands for finance become more pressing, however, personal sources are likely to be exhausted and you must look elsewhere. That search may take you in one of two directions:

Equity finance

  • if there is still some apparent risk in the longer-term success of your business, you might want to consider equity investment – investment made in return for a share in the ownership and decision-making of your business;
  • sources of equity finance range from private investors, business angels and venture capital – but all involve your sharing ownership in your business and, with it perhaps, some loss of independence in the way that it is run;

Debt finance

  • for that reason, many businesses prefer debt finance – borrowing the necessary funds and repaying the loan over an agreed period of time;
  • if an especially large sum needs to be borrowed – by way of a mortgage, for the purchase of new or additional premises, for example – the loan may need to be secured against company assets and the repayment term spread over several tens of years;
  • secured debt finance over a substantial term, of course, attracts a considerable amount in interest – and if the rate is variable, it may become more difficult to manage and budget for the regular repayment instalments;
  • in many instances, rather less needs to be borrowed – in the range of, say, £15,000 to £100,000 – and repayments may be scheduled over the relatively short-term of between three and 12 months, so attracting a far less amount of interest;
  • business finance on these terms is typically unsecured – so none of your company’s assets are at risk – and the rate of interest is usually fixed throughout the borrowing term;
  • a fixed rate of interest ensures that the monthly repayments are equal and entirely predictable, allowing you to make the necessary budgetary arrangements for your expenditure with ease;
  • thanks to the online systems developed by some such lenders, short-term, fixed-rate, unsecured loans may be arranged in a matter of days, with a decision in principle given by some lenders in a matter of minutes and, subject to the approval of your formal application, the requested funds transferred directly to your company bank account within just 48 hours or so.

Business finance options, therefore, are many and varied, in the form of both equity and debt finance. Depending on the amount you want to borrow and the timescale within which you want to repay it, short-term business finance in the form of a business loan may prove the way forward.

Filed Under: Business Finance

How to understand your business numbers and learn to love them

Posted on May 31, 2019 Written by Administrator

Numbers are the language of business so if you tend to shy away from them it’s time to face your fear and learn to love your accounts.  Here are some tips for understanding your business numbers and using them for your decision making.

1. Are You Making Money?

You can check if your business is profitable by looking at the profit and loss account. scroll down to the bottom figure which will show a profit (positive figure) or a loss (negative figure).

Then look at the top figure (the sales) and quickly glance through the list of expenses.

Take the bottom figure (let’s assume its £15,000 profit) and divide it by the top figure (assume £100,000 sales). This will give you 0.15 which means for every £1 of income, you are generating 15p in net profit.

How does the £15,000 profit compare with what you had in mind? And does the 15% net profit margin deliver the right return for you?  

2. What state is the business in?

Does the business have a positive balance sheet value? You find out by looking at the balance sheet statement which shows what your business has and what it owes. Scroll down and make a note of the last number. It’s normally called capital and reserves. Is that figure positive or negative? A positive figure means your business has some value.

A negative figure is a red flag. Start by taking action to improve profits!

When looking at your balance sheet ask simple questions like; is this how much I owe my creditors? is this how much my customers owe me? If the amount your customers owe you is higher, get the debtors list, review and start making calls.

3. Where is the cash?

Say your profit figure shows £15,000 but your bank balance is only £3,000. Where did the £12,000 go? Another financial statement, the cashflow statement reconciles your cash to your profit. But if you don’t get this here’s what to check:

Have your customers paid you late?

Have you drawn more money or dividends out?

Have you paid your suppliers early?

Have you purchased some equipment?

If you answer yes to any of these, that may be where the £12,000 is sitting.

4. What do the trends reveal?

Compare the current year or the current month’s figures to the previous year or month to make sure you are progressing towards your milestones and to spot any anomalies.

Nearly every business decision you make turns into a number. If your phone costs have gone down by 30%, compared to last year, ask yourself why. What’s the story behind this number? Is this because of the cost cutting decision you made a year ago? Or the change in tariff decision? Trends are your friends.

5. What’s your gross margin?

Gross profit margin is an important number to calculate. The next time you get your accounts, take the direct costs of sales or direct expenses (variable costs) from the revenue. Then divide that number by the revenue. That is your gross profit margin.

If your revenue is £100,000 and your materials or direct labour or direct expenses are £70,000: the difference of £30,000 divided by £100,000 revenue gives you a margin of 30%. So, for every £1 of sale, you’re making 30p in gross profit. This tells you how profitable you are at the gross margin level and whether your business model works.

Here are two red flags. If you’re making £30,000 in gross profit but your fixed costs are £35,000, something needs to change. If your margin is far below the industry average, you need to understand why and take corrective action.

6. What Is Your Breakeven Point?

The reason you need an idea of your breakeven number is so that you know how much income to make to cover all your costs.

How do you get this number from your accounts? You will need your total fixed costs. These are the costs that do not change regardless of the amount of sales you make e.g. rent, admin team costs, rates. In your profit and loss account, it should be most items listed under admin expenses (do watch out for any variable costs that find their way under admin costs).

You then need the gross profit margin. You divide the total fixed costs by the gross profit margin and this tells you the amount of sales you need to make at any given period to cover all your costs.

7. How Much Is Your Business Worth?

You now know how to get and make sense of your profit figure. You also know what to look out for when you review your balance sheet and the meaning of the balance sheet value. And how to look out for the cash drain in your business. Did you know that these give you a starting point in measuring the value of your business?

Healthy profits, good cashflow and positive balance sheet values are all good signs of a valuable business. Of course, there are many other factors to consider when valuing your business and other key drivers of business value. However knowing how to read your accounts and what the numbers mean certainly puts you in a pole position. It also helps you make the right decision with regards to building the value of your business.

In conclusion

I hope the information above will help you make sense of your numbers. There are other key numbers to review so it is important to have regular sessions with your accountant and ask plenty of questions.  That way not only will you understand your numbers you’ll learn to love them as they help you with your business decision-making.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jonathan Amponsah CTA FCCA is an award winning chartered accountant and tax adviser who advises entrepreneurs on business improvement and tax optimisation. Jonathan is the founder and CEO of The Tax Guys.

www.thetaxguys.co.uk

Filed Under: Accounting, Business Finance

Future of Fundraising – four trends putting entrepreneurs in control

Posted on May 31, 2019 Written by Administrator

Digital crowdfunding sites have transformed fundraising in the 21st century and have turned customers, family and friends into investors though this started much earlier – the true genius is the multitasking Mozart.  In 1793 and lacking the cash to perform three new concertos in Vienna, he made an appeal for funds and was rewarded by a ‘crowd’ of 176, each of whom received a copy of the concerto manuscripts as their prize.

However, the one problem – that has existed over the centuries – is that no matter who invests in you or how you come by your shareholders, you’ve always needed a middleman.  By default, these facilitators have controlled the fundraise, from the introductions and presentations to the length of the campaigns.  Until now. 

2019 technology offers a solution: digital is allowing start-up and scaleups to take back the reins of their rounds, with the ability to fundraise through a fully personalised platform – within an FCA regulated space. This can include an investor relations portal and the freedom to fundraise – if required or desired – all day, every day.  This means that for the first time, business owners are in charge and that changes everything. Here are four key trends that are shaping the future of fundraising.

1 ‘The death of fixed funding rounds

Traditional fundraising rounds usually last between 30 – 60 days.  However, this approach will soon be consigned to history, as the new breed of owned funding platforms enable scaleups to stay open to capital throughout their entire growth cycle, from seed to exit. 

All savvy entrepreneurs know that time is key in getting funding: finding the right investor – and vice versa, for the right investor to find the perfect deal – can be a lengthy process and opportunities can easily be missed if you’re facing a strict deadline.  Another bonus is that it allows a company to take advantage of any unexpected successes – a significant hiring, a valuable contract, an unexpected piece of publicity… anything that creates a ‘buzz’ is attractive to new investors.

A perfect example is provided by Zap&Go: BBC Click aired a feature about their superfast charging technology giving them some excellent publicity.  Through their funding platform, Envestry for Scaleups, they were able to capitalise on this by extending their funding round by six months.  They subsequently raised £500,000.

2 Investor relations – essential expertise

Investors hate being treated like an ATM.  The stories of being wined and dined during the intense windows of raising finance, only to be dropped once the money is in, are myriad.  However, if the fundraising mindset is always on, the investor relations (IR) mindset is always on, meaning that your investors are kept warm and ready to invest in your future rounds.  In order to maintain this, CMOs will need to be experts in investor relations; digital tools can help with this. By simply having a dedicated system to post regular updates to your shareholders – whether the news is good, bad or atrocious – creates an inclusive sense of community that goes far beyond just driving sales and making money.  

In particular, crowdfunded investors may well have given you their money (which can be as low as a pledge of £10) because they strongly identify with your brand and vision – these people are your biggest cheerleaders (think the Brewdog ‘Equity for Punks’ success); if you look after them, they’ll talk about it and this can will benefit everybody.  Likewise, when you’re struggling – if you actually tell them about it, they’ll be the first to offer to help.

3 increasing the international pool of investors

According to statistics released by Beauhurst, in 2017 UK scaleups received £6bn in overseas funding, with 396 deals featuring at least one foreign investor.  Trends indicate that this figure will continue to rise, with the biggest increase coming from Indian investors, up 321% from 2016. 

Gone are the days of exhausting presentations abroad and pitch video conferencing as the sole means to attract foreign investment: geography-agnostic digital platforms make it easy for entrepreneurs to fundraise beyond their own borders.  Not only do they provide a bigger pool of potential backers, they also safeguard against any political or fiscal uncertainty in the UK.  Quite simply, diverse investors from a wide range of economies, spreads – and therefore reduces – the risks.

4 Making the secondary market mainstream

Even in 2019, the investment landscape is still lacking in secondary market opportunities for early stage companies.  The primary market – companies selling directly to investors – means that an investor must have sufficient capital to lock their money in a company’s shares for however long it takes for the business to exit – an average of at least six years – before they see any returns. 

The secondary market, however, enables a shareholder to sell directly to another private party and although a few companies have started to offer this, it’s a concept that is still very much in its infancy.  However, it’s naturally very attractive to investors and digital provides the necessary tools to make it mainstream: a controlled, secure portal of reporting, agreements and accounting will allow stakeholders to communicate with each other, in turn leading to opportunities to buy and sell their shares.  We predict that this will soon become the norm.

2019 welcomes a new fundraising world where the key is control.  We believe that digital will end the dominance of the broker and hand the reins, and the control to the entrepreneur. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Scott Haughton is COO of Envestors, a fintech company that connects investors and scale-up companies.  With its fundraising platform Envestry for Scale-ups, companies get a personalised site to promote deals, raise finance and engage with their investors 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. 

Envestry has raised £100m+ for over 200 companies through its own private investor network. 

Founded in 2004, Envestors is regulated by the FCA and has offices in the UK, the Channel Islands, the UAE and strategic partners across China.

Web: https://www.envestors.co.uk/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/envestors-llp/

Twitter: @EnvestorsLondon

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/envestorslondon/posts/

Filed Under: Business Finance

4 cost-effective ways to make your crowdfunding campaign stand out

Posted on May 29, 2019 Written by Administrator

In recent years, equity crowdfunding has grown to become a leading form of alternative finance. Small businesses often use equity crowdfunding to bypass banks and other traditional funding sources, connecting instead with a crowd of engaged investors.

Yet, this popularity has led equity crowdfunding platforms, like Crowdcube and Seedrs, to become saturated ‒ there are now hundreds of active campaigns at any one time. And, as each campaign had to pass the platforms’ own strict due diligence process before they can get listed, you know they will have compelling propositions.

Such a large selection of strong campaigns makes it difficult to cut through the noise. So, how can small businesses compete and win over investors?

Videos should tell a story clearly, not look expensive or overly creative

Pitch videos are essential as they quickly communicate the key aspects of your pitch, get across the look and feel of your brand, and provide that important human connection.

Getting your pitch video right, however, is a much more complex task.

Knowing how important your pitch video is, it is tempting to spend a lot of money on it. Investors, however, might see the expensive animation or glossy production as a frivolous use of money for a startup.

The good news is that you can make a pitch video look great without remortgaging your house.. In fact, often the best videos are the ones that turn on the creativity rather than turn up the production value.

A good example is a company like Gunna Drinks, which is taking on the big soft drinks manufacturers primarily using its brand. Therefore, they needed to communicate the brand, first and foremost, then their key investor messages.

Combining an engaging script with some charismatic presenting and some incredible editing, Gunna produced a pitch video that was on brand, sold the investment more than the product, and gave real insight into the founding team and their personalities.

<iframe src=”https://player.vimeo.com/video/277420162″ width=”640″ height=”360″ frameborder=”0″ allow=”autoplay; fullscreen” allowfullscreen></iframe>

Action:

Consider your brand and core selling proposition. Are you big and bold or subtle and sophisticated? Are you selling a product or service? What are the key benefits or differentiators of your business?

Then consider what investors want/need to know. Is it the size of your market? A gap you’ve identified? Perhaps you have some high-profile investors?

Finally, work with a production company to pin down how you are communicating what. With this clear in your mind, it should be possible to find low-cost ways to create an eye-catching video.

Offer unique rewards that don’t cost the earth

Early crowdfunding platforms relied on contributors donating in order to receive a reward ‒ often a product the company wanted to produce, but also experiences and other unique opportunities.

While these campaigns are reserved for the likes of Kickstarter and Indiegogo, equity crowdfunding campaigns can still utilise the same principle: offer people something unique and they will contribute.

We recommend offering rewards at specific levels of contribution and making the contribution amount an odd number. For example, offering an invite to an exclusive event for those contributing £750 or more.

Entrepreneurs often feel compelled to put these perks at nice round numbers, like £500, but investors will usually contribute a round number anyway and the point of perks is to encourage slightly higher investment amounts.

One of the best things about rewards is they don’t have to cost a fortune. In fact, quite the opposite: if you spent lots of money on rewards you may put investors off with your frivolous spending.

As an example of a low-cost yet effective perk, one of our clients, NextUp Comedy, offered investors membership subscriptions to their platform as a reward, helping the company raise 123% of their target amount.

If someone invested just £100, they would save £42 on their first year’s subscription. Great savings for engaged investors but next to free for the company to offer. It’s a win-win!

And since the product is unique, there is no competition.

Action:

Consider what makes your small business unique.

Do you have an original product or service? Perhaps you are connected with some influential or famous people?

Identify your options and consider which are feasible and realistic, which investors might want, and which will cost you the least.

Ideal perks provide investors with additional value or an experience that money can’t buy.

Host an interactive investors webinar (not an event)

Investors often appreciate the opportunity to ask questions. Just take a look at the Q&A or forum section of any crowdfunding platform.

Unfortunately, written questions and answers can often be misinterpreted or can miss the point. Clarifying can then get complicated and confusing. A much better way to answer questions and address concerns is in person. The best way is to answer everyone’s questions at the same time, helping to avoid duplication and allowing investors to learn from one another.

Hosting an investor event is often one of the first ideas that come to entrepreneurs. It makes sense ‒ gather your potential investors in one place, let them meet the founders, and address any questions or concerns in a live setting.

But hold your horses.

Events are expensive to put on and require a lot of organisation. As such, you assume a lot of risk hosting an event. What if most people can’t make the date? Does a London event exclude Northern and Scottish investors? How many resources are you diverting away from other business and marketing activities to organise the event?

Even if your business allows you to organise and host a spectacular event at low cost, investors may still see it as a frivolous expense and withdraw their investment.

One company recently held a big party to celebrate hitting its crowdfunding target. As the business was involved in the events industry, the team leveraged all their personal contacts to ensure that the event cost them next to nothing. However, they did such a good job of making the event look like a lavish affair, one investor ended up cancelling their investment.

We’ve found that a well-planned webinar can achieve the same result of informing potential investors and allowing them to meet the founders. The best time to run a webinar is around the middle of your campaign. Potential investors will have had time to read your proposition and investigate the market, and you should have received over 50% of your funding target by that point.

Simply set up an Eventbrite page with a summary of the webinar content along with the date and time, then share the page with your social media followers, LinkedIn connections, personal connections, as an update on your campaign page, and anywhere else you can think of.

Action:

Plan your event at the very start of your campaign for around the middle of your campaign and publicise it using an Eventbrite (or similar) page relatively early on.

Then take note of the questions investors ask during the first half of your campaign and build the webinar to address these concerns.

Finally, make sure there is plenty of time for questions at the end of the webinar. Never make things up ‒ if you don’t know, say you’ll check and provide a more detailed answer.

Bonus tip: Record the webinar and send it out as a campaign update.

Make every pound work twice as hard with a dedicated PR campaign

Contracting a professional PR agency is likely to be one of the more expensive options on this list, but the difference it makes can be astounding. An experienced crowd-funding PR agency comes with a list of journalist contacts as well as some established relationships. Additionally, every pound spent on PR works twice as hard ‒ raising brand awareness and gaining you investors in one go ‒ getting twice as much bang for your buck.

The benefits of good PR coverage is threefold:

  1. It spreads awareness of your business,
  2. It positions you as an expert in your field,
  3. It can help educate potential investors about your market.

Startups, early-stage and small businesses aren’t usually well-known and any ‘expertise’ is often spread across the whole team. PR coverage flips the script, positioning the founder as a thought-leader with unique insight and your company as one worth investigating.

The ‘trick’ to good PR coverage, counterintuitively perhaps, is not to make it promotional. If you mention your company is the main body of the article, it should be as an example only and the article should also contain other businesses as examples.

The reason is, journalists don’t care about your small business or that you are crowdfunding.

Most publications want to educate and inform their readership by offering expert advice and insight. Offer them some expert content for free and they’re fairly likely to publish your article. As long as you include a bio and summary of your business, you’ll end up with a nice little byline next to your article title and promotion of your business in the footer.

Perhaps this may not feel like enough to draw in investors, but trust me, it works.

Actions:

Consider what advice or expertise you could offer that’s related to your business. What might others want to know? What might they need to know in order to want to invest? Do you have a unique story you can offer?

Then pin down 2-3 articles to go out during your crowdfunding campaign. Do some research, discover some statistics to back up your claims (and reference them), and find other businesses that exemplify your claims. Write articles around 1,000 words in length around these titles, remembering to include: an author bio, a company description, social media links, and a link to your crowdfunding campaign URL. Then hire a professional PR agency to distribute them throughout your campaign.

If, during your crowdfunding campaign, you committed to all of the activities listed above, you could spend as little as £2,000 to publicise your campaign.

In our extensive experience running equity crowdfunding campaigns, that £2,000 will result in an extra 20% or so of campaign funding. Even for campaigns at the smaller end of the scale (<£150,000) that could work out to as much as £30,000 in additional investment.

A small investment in your campaign could, therefore, result in a big increase in the investment you gain!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John Auckland is a crowdfunding specialist and founder of TribeFirst, a global equity crowdfunding communications agency that has helped raise in excess of £17m for over 50 companies on major equity crowdfunding platforms, with a greater than 90% success rate. TribeFirst is the world’s first dedicated marketing communications agency to support equity crowdfunding campaigns and the first in the UK to provide PR and Marketing campaigns on a mainly risk/reward basis. John is also Virgin StartUp’s crowdfunding trainer and consultant, helping them to run branded workshops, webinars and programmes on crowdfunding. John is passionate about working with start-ups and sees crowdfunding as more than just raising funds; it’s an opportunity to build a loyal tribe of lifelong customers.

See: http://www.tribefirst.co.uk

Twitter: @Tribe1st

Filed Under: Business Finance

Tools to help you run your business finances more smoothly

Posted on May 27, 2019 Written by Administrator

Under the day to day pressure of running your business it can be easy to put financial issues to one side.  Luckily there a now many free or very cost-effective apps that can help you automate tasks, keep track of your budgets and expenses, improve your invoicing, help you get paid and make life easier.  Here are some examples:

Stripe: Payment options

Offering your customers multiple payment options is one way to avoid delays in getting paid. The more payment options you offer, the fewer excuses your clients have for failing to pay on n.

Stripe is your one-stop-shop for everything you need to get paid. Used by millions of businesses, Stripe is secure and easy for your customers to use and allows you to accept online and in-person payments from anyone in any country.

Your outlay: Stripe charges a standard 1.4% transaction charge plus a 20p per transaction fee for European cards and 2.9% plus a 20p fee for non-European cards. There is no setup fee and you only pay for what you use.

As a freelancer or business owner it good to know you have free or at a very low-cost tools to help manage your finances easily.

Monese: Banking

Monese provides freelancers and small businesses with a UK-based bank account that can be set up quickly. It is completely mobile, so you can manage all your banking needs using the smart mobile app, especially designed to provide flexibility and easy transfers.

If you pay for your Monese account, you can use your card anywhere in the world with no fees. You can also manage your account in 10 different languages.

Your outlay: If you’re a freelancer, you can use Monese’s free account which gives access to all the features, but will charge for withdrawals from cash machines and for payments abroad. You will pay £5 to get your card delivered. There are two paid accounts costing £4.95 and £14.95. With these you’ll get a free card and will be able to access some or all those features for free. There’s also a business account which costs £9.95 a month where you get a two-in-one Monese Business and Monese Plus personal account. This means you can separate your business and personal spend with free dedicated debit cards and both can be managed from one place.

Expensify: Managing expenses

It is very easy to collect receipts and then let them pile up! However, this disorganised approach makes tracking billable expenses such an effort you might not bother or let a few costs slip through the net.

Expensify is great for people who keep adding to their pile of receipts. It offers receipt scanning, next-day reimbursement, GPS mileage tracking, and tax tracking. You can allocate costs to specific jobs, set up unlimited categories, and import your credit or debit cards so everything sits under one account. It consolidates all your expenses making them much easier to manage.

It even comes with a virtual assistant just for you: Concierge. Driven by AI, Concierge reminds you to submit receipts, review reports, and automates things for you.

Your outlay: Individual plans are £3.99 a month. Group plans start from £4 per user/month.

Solna: Smart Invoicing

Sending out your invoices sounds a simple task but it can often feel like a time-consuming admin burden.

If you want to get paid on time, smart invoicing is the best approach.  Solna is packed with smart features to protect freelancers and small businesses and makes invoicing quick and easy. 

With Solna, users can create, customise and send invoices in seconds. It also sends automatic payment reminders to those annoying late payers and lets you track every invoice until it’s in your account. Invoices also come with read receipts, so no more chasing random accounting people either, and it’ll help you get paid faster.

You can also get a better view of who you’re doing business with and make the best decisions when setting payment terms using Solna’s credit check facility. It’s an invoicing tool with brains.

Your outlay: You can sign up to Solna’s free version that provides access to invoice templates and customers’ credit scores for a limited number of customers. The paid packages give you invoice tracking, recurring invoices, advanced reporting in addition to more customers and templates.

Emma: Saving and Budgeting

To be good with your money, Emma is a handy little tool that lets you effortlessly manage your cash flow and control your budgeting.

Emma acts as your personal finance adviser by keeping track of all your spending, subscriptions, and even alerting you on any overdrafts. Emma can also help you keep track of debt repayments and it even prompts you to save money by suggesting what you can afford to save at the end of each month. Yes, it’ll spot if you’ve been buying too many flat whites!

Your outlay: Emma is free to use but users also have the option to upgrade to Emma Pro for premium features including custom categories, unlimited budgeting, and data exports

It is worth spending a little time looking into the tools that are available to you either for free or at a fairly low cost.  When your business, and personal finances, are running more smoothly you’ll be glad you did.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Inna Kaushan is co-founder of Solna, a smart invoicing platform powered by credit score data. Solna speeds up the invoicing and payment process for freelancers and small businesses. Through leveraged credit data that is overlaid on the platform’s invoicing and reporting functionality, users get a clear picture of their customer’s financial health and their overall exposure to risk. The system’s automated credit control functionality automatically chases overdue invoices – freeing up time and ensuring faster payment.

Web: https://solna.io/

Twitter: @solna_io 

Facebook:@Solna.io

LinkedIn: Solna

Filed Under: Business Finance

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • …
  • 9
  • Next Page »

Recent Posts

Boosting Business by Training Paralegal Employees

Boosting Business by Training Paralegal Employees

Whether it is drafting employment contracts or ensuring that debts are chased and collected, it is very likely that someone on your team will be performing tasks with a legal element to them. This requires an element of expertise. Of course, staff can be trained to systematically do the job, but would it not be […]

Whatever Your Décor, Make Your Hotel Greener

Whatever Your Décor, Make Your Hotel Greener

If you are running a hotel, there is no excuse for not being aware of the increasing importance customers put on green credentials. Almost a decade ago a TripAdvisor survey warned that two-thirds of travellers take environmental issues into account when choosing hotels, transportation and meals. [1] Since then, pleas for the planet from the […]

Picking The Right Architect Is Essential For Your Small-Scale Property Development Project

Picking The Right Architect Is Essential For Your Small-Scale Property Development Project

The most important thing you will need to do to successfully complete a small-scale property development project is putting together the right team for that project. Just because one person was good for a previous project doesn’t mean they will be good for every project. This is something that applies particularly to architects.  I once […]

Categories

Speedie Consultants Ltd
10 College Gardens
Westgate-on-Sea
Kent
CT8 8EY

Registration number: 4797388.
Telephone: 01843 831088
Email: enquiries@speedieconsulting.co.uk
Website: www.speedieconsulting.co.uk

© 2022 Small Business Insider

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT