Every one of us has a million dollar idea in us; unfortunately for most of our ideas will never see realization for a number of reasons. The most common one is lack of funds. Although the most common, it is one of the easiest ones to overcome. I have come up with some ideas that will help you get the funding you need.
Before you go to the bank looking for someone to bankroll your idea you are going to need a business plan. This is the most difficult part of getting financing, because it requires a lot of leg work. You will need to demonstrate a need for your product or service, where you will be offering it, how it can benefit your target group and how much you will be charging for your product or services. Providing this information and statistics that back up the information you provide will only strengthen your purpose to provide this product or service.
Whenever you are looking to borrow money the question that most lenders will want answered is “what’s in it for me?” So along with the business plan you will want to put together a Proposal for Finance. Spell out their bottom line for them, you may not be able to give exact figures, but you can share how long you expect to hold the loan and how you intend to repay. This is where you will need to be an open book. List any and all assets that you own that can be offered as collateral. This usually frightens most people, but remember just because it is listed doesn’t meat that it has to be pledged as collateral.
Now after you have gone through the trouble to get all this information there is nothing worse than going to the bank and them telling you no. Well I’m going to tell you now that if you have done everything above and you feel that the world needs to see your idea then take that confidence to your loan officer. Create a proposal that shows you are confident by using wording such as “this is what I am offering you” and present the returns that they can expect to see, instead of using words such as “I am looking to secure finance for…” You will be surprised at how differently the loan officer will look at you. We must remember that banks are in the business making loans. If they don’t lend they don’t earn. Once we realize that it becomes easier to ask for money.
Finally never take no for an answer. If the first bank you go to says no go to the next one. If they all say no, ask a private lender. Believe somewhere in the world there is someone who will love your idea, so keep shopping it around. Print off about 10 copies of your business plan with all financial information attached and take them to all the banks or brokers that you know. You will certainly find success probably from the place you least expect it. Always remember that money is the commodity whose only use is to represent value and acting as a means for payment.
