For entrepreneurs who are looking for an angel investor to help them with their capitalization needs, one of the most difficult things to do is to actually meet with an angel investor and present his or her business plan. However, there are a number of things that an entrepreneur should bear in mind with regard to angel investors so that he will not have to worry too much about what will happen during the meeting.

Before the meeting

One of the first things that entrepreneurs should bear in mind is that even before an angel investor agrees to meet with him or her, the angel investor probably already has an idea of who he or she is. This is because of the fact that angel investors make it a point to “screen” who they meet with, and, as much as possible, they want to be introduced to entrepreneurs by a trusted friend or relative so that they would have a “reference.” This is because they want to meet with entrepreneurs whom they can have confidence in and trust.

If an angel investor is a family friend or was introduced by a friend or a relative, it would be good to hold a “pre-negotiation meeting” before the big meeting by inviting the investor to gatherings or parties. This is because doing so can allow the entrepreneur and the investor to get to know each other better before the meeting, which can also serve as a good opportunity to make a good first impression.

During the meeting

During the big meeting, an entrepreneur can build on the first impression that he has made by coming to the meeting prepared to effectively present his business concept and to answer any questions that the investor may have. To be able to do so, he or she must prepare a good business plan and bring some very important tools like a calculator, which can help him assess his business needs given the different options he would be presented with during the meeting. In case the investor agrees to invest, it would be a good idea to draw up a letter of intent. However, if the investor is a friend or a close family friend, a simple verbal agreement and a handshake would suffice before the papers are prepared.

To help relieve some of the anxiety that an entrepreneur goes through in looking for an angel investor, there are a number of ways by which he or she can make the meeting with an investor more pleasant. Some of these include holding a “pre-negotiation” meeting and preparing well for the meeting in order to leave a good impression with an investor and increase the chances of signing an investment deal.

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As with any investor, it can be expected that an angel investor would only put his money into a business that would provide the least risk on his investment. This is reflected in the investment decisions that such an investor would make, especially in the types of products or services that a business provides. Usually, angel investors invest in businesses that have the potential for long-term profitability. In recent years, the preference of angel investors has been in medical devices and medical related services, including medical billing services.

As a result, entrepreneurs who opt to go into businesses that make medical devices and provide medical related services have found it a little bit easier to get the interest of angel investors. However, this does not mean that anyone who decides to go into these kinds of businesses would get an angel investor to invest just like that, as there are things that entrepreneurs need to do first before they can sign a deal with an angel investor.

What angel investors look for

Apart from a presenting a potentially profitable product or service, businessmen need to prepare a number of things and equip themselves with a number of skills that would increase their chances of landing a deal with an angel investor. Among these skills, one of the most important is competent management skills. In addition to this, an entrepreneur needs a good business plan, which identifies the size of the market, the competitive advantage of his business, and financial forecasts.

On the other hand, there are also a number of things that entrepreneurs should avoid when they are presenting their business concept to an angel investor. Some of these include and having unrealistic valuations for the purpose of making his business more attractive. This is because angel investors are very astute businessmen, and they can tell if you are trying to fool them. If they catch you doing it, you can kiss their investment goodbye.

Recently, angel investors have become very interested in the medical field, which has made it easier for entrepreneurs who are in the field to gain access to capital. However, even if an entrepreneur is in the right type of business, there are still a number of things that an entrepreneur needs to prepare and skills that he has to learn before he can land an investment deal with an angel investor.

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When presenting your business plan to an angel investor you must understand that they will be very interested in your spreadsheets and proformas, but you must also realize that it is typically an entrepreneurial optimistic approach, which causes problems with proformas.

Therefore, you should have dueling spreadsheets; that is to say the spreadsheets, which take your best guess and double the time, double the expenses to compete with your optimistic approach. You should be able to present both of these to your Angel Investor; who chances are is a retired business person with a little bit of financial savvy.

This will show your Angel Investor that you indeed are a rational thinker and concerned about the money as well as the truth. If the Angel Investor cannot trust you your chances of being funded are nil. An angel investor is betting on the jockey not only the horse. As an entrepreneur you must be honest with yourself as well as your financial partner.

They want to make sure you believe in what you are doing and that you also have risked your own capital, time and energies into the new business. Angel investors want you to succeed and often they also like to give their input and if you end up taking their money for your startup, the need to realize that their input needs to be taken seriously.

Angel Investors are typically much better investors for a long-term business plan that Venture Capitalists, although they do not come usually with the incredible network to help you succeed. Venture Capitalists are more interested in themselves and making money on their investment then what you get out of it or the future of the business with you in it. An angel investor is interested in you, the future of the business and the possibility of making a whole lot of money on their investment. Please consider all this when presenting your business plan to an Angel Investor.

Written by Lance Winslow, Article Source

Equity capital, unlike debt capital, is when someone or some company invests in a company in return for shares or stock in that company. Angel investing is generally done as such an equity investment.

This money does NOT need to be paid back to the investor.

Rather, the investor generally gets paid when there is a liquidity event, which is the event through which the company “cashes out” such as being sold to another company or having an initial public offering or IPO. Note that a liquidity event is also known as an “exit.”

Note, however, that in some angel investments, angel investors can be paid dividend payments or profit sharing over time, and sometimes angel investments are structured as convertible promissory notes. Convertible promissory notes are loans with a fixed interest rate which, at maturity, can be redeemed for cash or shares of stock in a company. So, in essence, they are loans that can be converted into equity.

As you might imagine, equity capital is much riskier to investors than debt capital. As a result, angel investors expect to earn higher returns than they do with debt.

Specifically, angel investors generally expect to earn returns of approximately 30% from their private company portfolio. Note however, that you cannot simply offer an angel investor the chance to earn a 30% average return on investment (ROI). Why? Because most angel investments fail to reap any ROI. As such, if half of their investments fail, they would need to earn 60% returns on those that succeeded to realize a 30% average return.

Written by Dave Lavinsky, article source

In order to consider investing, angel investors must believe that the company has great potential to achieve a liquidity event, and one that enables them to earn a significant return on their investment. The following factors imply that a company has this potential.

The first criterion is scale or the potential for the company to achieve significant annual revenues. If a company expects to raise venture capital after the angel round, it must have the potential to earn annual revenues of $50 million to $100 million within five years.

Conversely, an angel investor, when no follow-on capital is required, might be willing to invest in a restaurant or website that has the potential to generate hundreds of thousands or a few million dollars as long as a clear path has been laid out regarding how they could get a sizable return on their investment.

The second criteria is barriers to entry. Barriers to entry are those things that make it difficult for another firm to compete against you, such as patents or proprietary technology, a unique location, and long-term customer contracts.

The third criteria is having a strong management team with relevant experience and successes under their belts. The angels must believe in and be comfortable with both the founders and the key operating personnel of the company.

The fourth criteria is that angel investors need to feel confident of your exit strategy, mainly that the chances are good of eventually having another firm purchase you or your firm going public. It is through your exit strategy that these investors profit from their investment in you.

A final criteria, while not necessarily tied to liquidity potential, is that angel investors tend to only invest in local companies. Angel investors often like to invest in companies that are close by so that they can visit them often and participate in Board and other meetings. In fact, according to the Center for Venture Research, 70% of angel investments are made within 50 miles of the investor’s home or office.

Written by Dave Lavinsky Article Source