Access to Capital

Sorry to disappoint if you thought this was going to be a piece on something of a more romantic nature. I am sure if you look hard enough on the internet you can find material of this nature.

When we talk about going all the way its about asking this question:
Do you have a vision and desire to see your company capitalised, liquid and your investors (including yourself) having the ability to undertake unrestricted buyer offers and sales of securities in your company? In other words do you see yourself achieving a listing of your business on an exchange?

YES or NO?

The answer to that question alone can singularly determine the success or failure of your ability to raise capital. As I have mentioned before there are, at any one time, over 10,000 businesses seeking some form of capital from the market. Less than 500 accomplish this successfully. One of the reasons a Small or Medium Sized Enterprise (SME) will fail is that they are not prepared to go all the way.

Let me explain: Investors are in the box seat. They are inundated with requests for potential investment. What do they have to choose from:
Managed Funds; Locally and Globally representing every possible asset and risk class.
Property: Directly or Indirectly.
Own Business
Other Businesses through Private Equity Placement
Other Large Businesses through Local and Global Sharemarkets

The list goes on and the spruikers are hard at work trying to lure investment in all manner of opportunities. So as an SME you are competing against each of these investment types. In order to attract investment you then need to be prepared to do whatever it takes to attract that investment and one of those is planning for ‘going all the way’. You might never get there, you might build a successful business for you and your investors without having to list but you should plan for it none the less.

Why? Because if an investor is asked to choose between a closed option with no exit strategy and an open ended plan that wants to go all the way then 98 times out of a 100 the open ended plan that goes all the way will attract the investor.

There are key fundamentals to raising capital. If you avoid the fundamentals, like most things in life, then you are setting yourself up for a more difficult task. Bear in mind that you are already facing an uphill battle by deciding to go to the market to raise funds in the first place. So be prepared to be open, transparent and have a plan to go all the way.

On another matter I would like to thank all those people that email in their questions and ask for more information. Obviously we try to respond to as many as we can but we are by no means the experts on every subject. That is why we have added another two web sites to our links for you to get some value. The first is a site Catapult and is run by ABC Australia and has a great Q&A section for innovators and inventors. The second is an American site called Entrepreneur.com and is a good resource centre for all manner of starting and growing a business.

We keep looking for great material all the time. Australian Anthill Magazine have even started contributing and their first article is now in the File Cabinet. If you have any ideas on where we might find good content and links to quality sites then please send them to us and we will continue our commitment to education and information through this site.

Good Luck and Good Business

Andrew @
Access To Capital

Andrew Winter is an Experienced Business Development Consultant specialising in helping companies grow through establishing and implementing sound capital raising strategies.

AccessToCapital has a range of experts available in Capital Raising and Business Development to assist growing businesses.

“The world cares very little about what a man or woman knows; it is what a man or woman is able to do that counts.”
Booker T Washington