Raising Capital: Tips and Strategies for Entrepreneurs and Business Owners

Understanding how to generate finance can frequently be the difference between success and failure for business owners, whether they are entrepreneurs, start-ups, or established companies. Community banks held approximately 1.4 million small company loans with an outstanding balance of over $94 billion as of the end of 2018. Community banks, meanwhile, have been on the decline despite being a crucial source of funding for small businesses. Fortunately, there are many options for financing your company. This article will discuss the importance of raising capital, types of capital, tips for raising capital for your business, and strategies for raising capital.

Capital raising tips and strategies

A capital raising strategy essentially serves as a road map for how your business will seek out and acquire the funding required to support its expansion. The process of raising capital can be time-consuming and difficult. The process can be divided into manageable steps by developing a capital raising strategy, which includes:

• Clarifying objectives
• Assessments of financial readiness and preparation
• Creating the appropriate materials
• Getting ready to pitch
• Consultation with investors

Each of these processes may have many additional sub-points, therefore planning is important in business as it promotes focus. Planning in detail increases your chances of success and makes difficult tasks, like obtaining money, more bearable.

What is capital raising?

Capital raising is the process by which a firm obtains funds from outside sources to fulfill strategic goals such as investing in its business development or investing in other assets such as M&A, joint ventures, and strategic partnerships.

How does capital raising work for startups?

The majority of startups rely on a range of fundraising strategies to get off the ground and, if the company model permits it, grow exponentially. These strategies include grants, microloans, angel investors, and venture capital (VC) funding.

Different types of capital in startups/companies

Raising capital is one of the most difficult obstacles that entrepreneurs encounter when creating a startup. Understanding the various types of finance available for startups is crucial for any aspiring entrepreneur because the money needed to launch a business can come from a variety of sources.

• Debt capital – Debt capital can be acquired through loans from many different lenders, including banks, credit unions, private lenders, and even family members. In most cases, loans come with a fixed interest rate and have a deadline for repayment. It’s vital to remember that debt money bears a higher risk than equity capital because repayment is required whether the business succeeds or fails.
• Equity capital – Equity capital is also known as venture capital, and it is often connected with investors who are ready to take on a riskier, unproven initiative in exchange for ownership in the new business. Essentially private equity investors, venture capital firms focus on start-ups and early-stage businesses. They contribute money in exchange for a stake in the business, and they might also give suggestions and direction on how to launch the enterprise.
• Mezzanine Capital – Mezzanine capital is a hybrid method of fund-raising that falls somewhere between equity and debt financing structures. Companies typically choose this strategy when they urgently need financing. Companies adopt mezzanine financing for specific projects such as acquisition, business development, recapitalization, leveraged buyouts, and growth requirements. Therefore, It is more frequently preferred by established businesses than new ventures or young businesses.
• Convertible Capital – Convertible capital is a financial instrument that can shift from its original form into another. The most popular convertible instruments are preferred shares that can be converted into common stock and convertible bonds.
• Grants and Subsidies – Grants are quantities of money that, in most cases, do not need to be paid back and are only intended for specific uses. Contrarily, subsidies relate to the direct payments, tax incentives, and other unique assistance that governments give enterprises to help balance operational costs over an extended period.

Tips for raising capital for your business

Raising capital is not always formulaic because investors differ, methods change, and your particular set of circumstances may dictate how you lock in funds. The tips for raising capital are as follows:

• Know your business – Before raising capital an entrepreneur should have a clear mission and understanding about the business.
• Develop a solid business plan – A solid business plan helps you at every step of setting up your company. Your business plan will serve as a guide for how to set up, manage, and expand your new company. It helps you consider your company’s essential components.
• Understand your target market – A target market is a group of possible clients to whom you intend to sell goods or services. It is possible to separate each group into more compact units. The typical segmentation criteria are age, location, income, and lifestyle.
• Identify your competitive advantage – The combination of marketing components that distinguishes your company from the competition is its competitive advantage. It’s about the distinctive advantage that clients receive while doing business with you.
• Identify the right investors – Finding potential investors who might be interested in your project can seem to be the end of the road, but you owe it to yourself to keep the conversation continuing until you are satisfied that you will get along well. When choosing investors, consider their industry knowledge, functional proficiency, and network before making a decision.
• Communicate effectively – Exchanges of information, expertise, opinions, and data that result in a message that is clear and purposeful are known as effective communication. Both the sender and the receiver are satisfied when we communicate successfully.

Pitching your business

A business pitch is a presentation of a business concept to a group of potential investors. Investors who can support your project financially constitute a potential audience. It enables you to express your vision more clearly. You can express your ideas and corporate vision with clarity. It gives you the chance to highlight the distinctive value your company offers and what distinguishes it from rivals.

• Presentation skills – Presentation skills are the knowledge, talents, and traits required to design and deliver an engaging presentation that conveys concepts and information. They cover your speech’s content, organization, and any slides, videos, or visuals you use to support your contentions.
• Responding to feedback – The key to a good feedback loop is responding to constructive criticism. Accepting praise with enthusiasm encourages the other person to continue their positive conduct and validates their act of offering it,

Strategies for Raising Capital

Startup funding can be obtained through grants, business partners, angel investors, accelerators, venture capital, bootstrapping, and the conversion of social capital into financial capital.

• Bootstrapping – Bootstrapping refers to starting and maintaining a business only with operating income or personal funds. This method of funding gives the business owner more control, but it may also put an additional burden on their finances. Owners can bootstrap their businesses by reducing expenses, financing them directly, scaling back operations, or finding other innovative short-term financing options. The phrase can also apply to a technique for constructing the yield curve for certain bonds.
• Equity financing – The practice of obtaining money through the selling of shares is known as equity financing. A company that sells shares effectively transfers control of the business in exchange for money.
• Debt financing – Debt financing is simply the process of obtaining capital by borrowing funds from a lender or a bank, which will then be repaid at a later date. Following a loan, interest on the borrowed funds is repaid to creditors. Lenders often expect monthly payments on both short- and long-term time horizons.

Legal Considerations of raising capital

Security is typically sold to outside investors when you obtain capital from them (as opposed to borrowing money from a bank). As a result, you are subject to both federal and state securities laws.

• Securities laws and regulations – The securities laws comprehensively prohibit any fraudulent activity in connection with the offer, purchase, or sale of securities. These clauses serve as the foundation for a variety of sanctions, including those against fraudulent insider trading.
• Intellectual property protection – Patents, copyright, and trademarks are only a few examples of intellectual property protection under the law that allow people to profit financially or gain notoriety from their inventions.
• Employment and labor laws – The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 mandates a federal minimum wage, which is now $7.25 but is higher in 29 states and Washington, D.C. It also forbids working weeks longer than 40 hours by paying overtime. Both paid holidays and paid family leave are not mandated by federal or state law.
• Tax implications – Accredited investors are exempt from paying federal or state income taxes on any investments they make in your business. However, you will be responsible for paying federal and state income taxes on any investments you take from non-accredited investors.

Get a valuation from Eqvista!

The process of calculating an asset’s present value is called valuation. Numerous situations call for valuations, including investment evaluations and acquisition deals. At Eqvista, we assist startups with a variety of tasks like equity management, compensation, valuations, and financing. Find out how we can assist your growth by connecting with us. Sign up with Eqvista to know more about our services.