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Serving Entrepreneurs & Investors since 2004
Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Contact us



Q. What do clients, capital investors and business partners have to say about LAUNCHfn?
 
A.  Review testimonials from companies seeking early stage capital, high growth companies seeking expansion capital, our joint venture partners, early stage capital investors, early stage venture capital firms, angel investors, and small business investors. 


Q. Where are you located?
A. We are headquartered in Atlanta, Ga, but operate virtually through internet based tools and can help companies all over the U.S. 


Q. Do you charge for a consultation?

A. We offer a free initial half hour consultation that you may reserve a time after completing our intake form and selecting an available time from the appointment scheduling link sent with your confirmation email.
We charge consulting fees when entrepreneurs request that we spend more time analyzing their business plan for elements that are not appealing to investors, to create capital and business strategies, or to provide our expertise in raising capital to their quest for capital.
We also offer full investor relations programs and use of our online secure portal for companies raising capital through the SEC authorized REG D 506c and REG A+, and for companies conducting intrastate capital raises.  

Q. Are there any former clients I can contact about your services? 

A.  Please visit our Testimonial page to see written and recorded testimonials from clients, peers, and investors.
 

Q. How do I know if I am ready for funding?
A.  Although the capital investment market is reported to be tight, millions of dollars are being invested every day in sound businesses that are packaged and prepared properly. Yes, it is  difficult for a start up company to receive funding, although not impossible. The first step is to review your business strategy and operations and give you a courtesy recommendation. This can happen in person or over the phone. When the stats tell us three out of four companies never receive all the funding the seek (and need).  You need to do something different to increase the odds of you being tha 1 in 4 that does receive funding.  

Get professional help to make sure your business plan, pitch deck, messaging and capital ask and terms are on point....that they help you in your capital raise effort and not hurt your efforts.  Karen Rands is that professional with over 15 years of helping entrepreneurs get on track and attract capital and working directly with investors on what they want, expect and understanding why the don't invest too.  Even if you believe you are "ready", you need to ensure that your message is clear and the investor community can easily determine the likelihood of a return on their investment.  

With a business plan review, we identify any obvious obstacles to raising venture capital or seeking to find angel investors such
as:

·  Incomplete financial and/or business plan (market/sales strategy, operational information, barrier to entry not established).
·  Complex or confusing message within the investor documents regarding business model or investment opportunity.
·  Structure of the offering, perceived cost of the investment relative to a high valuation or unclear exit and return to the investor.
·  Inexperience or incomplete management team, and/or attitude of management conveying a sense of entitlement or resistance to advise & counsel.
·  Specific industry focus or niche marketplace that limits the potential number of investors. 

To learn more about our business plan review services click here


Q.  What are capital investors or  angel investors looking for when they consider a company raising venture capital ?
A.  There is a common saying in the investment community....a company with a "B" product and an "A" management team will raise venture capital before an "A" product and a "B" management team. This is often difficult for entrepreneurs to appreciate because they are so passionate about their product, that they think that should be good enough. You should work your network or engage a firm that has  resources to  help you identify interim and permanent management and advisors that will strengthen your overall package. The second thing investors want to know is can the product or business make money? Will somebody buy it? How will profit be made? And the best way to determine this is to have customers. If you don't have customers, then engaged resources can help you with your go to market and shore up some of those issues. Lastly, they want to know that there is a barrier to entry to your competitors or a significant differential between what you offer and what your competitors offer. This may involve Patent protection, speed to market or other factors. All of which LAUNCHfn resources can help you address.  We offer our "Access to Capital System" specific for this reason--- to determine the capital strategy that best fits your business strategy and then help to identify the sources of investment capital for your type of company and stage you are currently in. 
 
 
Q.  What types of services does LAUNCHfn offer?
A.  There are many sad stories of entrepreneurs spending precious dollars to secure services for business plan/pitch development and raising venture capital solicitation, without achieving the desired results. Securing the correct resources to make your business capital friendly and to introduce it to the right early stage capital, small business investors, angel investor networks, capital investors, early stage venture capital firms that will make the difference in how much time and money you will spend in your pursuit of raising venture capital.   During the free initial consultation we will learn a bit about your company and make a recommendation based on your needs and budget. 


We offer an assortment of review and strategic sessions for preparing for investment or qualifying for debt financing to determine your investor readiness.  You can review the programs and determine which one best describes your situation and financial need: Click Here

We offer a very unique entrepreneur capital mastery program designed to teach and equip you to raise a seed round of capital and develop skills that will increase your odds of getting the capital you need at each stage of your growth. 

We customize programs for companies that are qualified to raise capital through the new crowd funding methods and through Direct Public Offerings through a secure portal under the provisions for Reg D 506c and Reg A+.  For more info about those programs and see which is appropriate for you, please sign up for our initial free consultation form

Q.  What types of services does your network of service providers offer?
A: LAUNCHfn's strategic partners offer a variety of services that growing entrepreneurs need to be thriving well run companies:

    * Business plan enhancement and development
    * accounting and financial modeling
    * strategic planning and general business development
    * sales and marketing consulting
    * human resource planning
    * patent search and filing
    * corporate legal services and securities legal work
    * filing for public offerings
    * profit and efficiency maximization
    * outsourced executive resource (CFO, CMO, CLO)
    * coaching on presentation style and development of investor pitches
 
Q.  How many investors should I expose my opportunity?
A.  According to the Kugarand Theory of Investing, for every one capital investor who invests, three say they will invest, and fifteen were exposed to the opportunity.  You must have a plan to expose your opportunity to hundreds of investors perhaps, and furthermore, a system to follow up and stay in touch with them to let them know of your progress so they will become more comfortable and more likely to invest.  
 

Q.  What else do I need besides a business plan to raise capital?
A.  If the company is pursuing private equity investment under a REG-D offering, there are two ways to proceed.   First, the company can sell their own shares through a "direct offering" to their friends and family and investors familiar with the management and the company and under specific controlled conditions, the company may sell their shares privately to accredited investors. Raising capital is a learned skill.  It is regulated so you must adhere to state and federal laws, but you also must understand that you are selling shares.   You must have a plan to sell the shares similar to how you sell your products or services.  If you don’t know how to sell those shares or develop the strategy, seek professional advice from a firm like LAUNCHfn.com.  LAUNCHfn.com will work with the company to teach you how  manage this process and create and maintain the records needed for regulatory purposes.  LAUNCHfn.com under specific controlled conditions may introduce investors to the company in a private setting using the "road show", group, and individual investor meeting strategy.   Second, LAUNCHfn.com has established good working relationships with a number of Registered Broker Dealers in Atlanta and select other markets.   These firms will develop the legal documents required and then represent the company to their angel investors, capital investors, early stage capital, small business investors, angel investor networks, capital investors, angel groups, early stage venture capital firms, and private investor networks, and manage a campaign to promote the shares of the company.     
 
 
Q.  Is there benefit to raising capital through a reverse merger or direct public offering on the OTCBB?   
A.  Once you are beyond start up and have a proven business model, and determine that venture capital is not a likely source of growth capital, you can explore going public using a structured equity offering through a reverse merger or an SB1 filing with the SEC.   There are a lot of pros and cons for doing this to raise capital so seek many opinions and be sure to plan for the time and expense it takes to create the market for those shares after you go public.

 
Q. I hear the banks are lending now to small businesses, is there also another source of working capital that is available to me?   
A. If the company needs a funding strategy that includes some debt in equipment leasing or facility acquisition, or they need working capital as an interim to an equity raise, there with many different lenders that can provide a variety of debt programs.  There is capital available for purchase orders, inventory financing and equipment, letters of credit for offshore manufacturing and working capital from invoices.  


Q.  How do I get started with LAUNCHfn?
A.  First, register your company, LAUNCHfn starts with an initial consultation over the phone.   We try to understand you goal and objectives and any milestones you have accomplished with your business.   We explain the basics of the capital formation market place and our methodologies.  If you think you may want to engage our services, and we believe you will value our counsel, we will begin with a business plan assessment and development of a funding strategy.  The next step may include implementing the funding strategy or further developing the business model so that funding efforts are more effective.  step 1: sign up for a free consultation, Step 2: sign up for our Investor Readiness Service or Full Business Plan Review.  Step 3: obtain your loan, raise capital, or use the Kugarand Holdings Investor portal to conduct an investor relations program. 
 
 
Q.  How much does it cost to raise capital?  
A.  To raising venture capital or your initial funding, you should work through people you know, often called friends and family, although it may not be your friend or your family, but an affinity group that is somehow connected to you or your product in an emotional, subjective way.  This should only cost you for dinners, lunches, coffees, and travel.   When it comes time to raise millions of dollars though, you should plan on setting aside some of your initial capital you raised to cover this expense.  It will cost you for presentation fees, broker/finder fees, legal fees, consulting fees to ready yourself, travel fees, and entertainment fees.   If you are not experienced at raising capital, then you need to hire an expert.   Entrepreneurs can file their own patent and do their own taxes, but they often outsource that work to professionals with greater expertise to ultimately save themselves time and money in the process. It is the same with raising venture capital.  

Q:  I don't have any money to pay up front fees.  Can I pay you to raise capital for us as a % of the capital raised?

A:  There are many reasons why this won't work:  1.  By law you are not allowed to pay a commission to someone not licensed to raise capital.  2. Anyone or any firm that has developed trusting relationships with investors will not risk that relationship by taking a company that is not vetted and validated as a legitimate investment opportunity to that investor network so at the very least you will need to submit to a review process and pay for the time spent and provide ALL of the documents completed and ready for an investor to make an informed decision.   In the absence of those due diligence documents, you will need to create them or pay someone to create them.  3.  It is very rare for a person to be able to go to ONE investor or ONE group of investors to get all the capital you are seeking.  Therefore, it will take time, energy, experience, and effort to reach out to multiple investors and market your offering to those investors.  In order to have quality time spent on your project you need to pay that person or firm for their time and effort.  4.  You are unable to raise the capital on your own, therefore you need help.   Someone might be willing to risk spending hundreds of hours on raising your capital if you could GUARANTEE that every investor they put in front of you invested, but just like very few firms can guarantee that they can raise you all the capital, you cannot guarantee you can close on the capital offered.  Therefore it is best for you to look for a hybrid model from a firm that has reasonable confidence they can be successful and therefore are willing to share the risk with you....you pay for basic costs of time and resources spent, with profit for those services being deferred until capital is received and the outstanding accrued services billings can be paid.  You agree  to a limited time scope that can be continued based on the progress being made.  


Gain valuable information about the funding process at the following sites:
http://www.entrepreneurblogspace.com
http://www.myvirtualangelworld.com
http://www.kugarand.podomatic.com 

Have a question for us? Contact UsClick Here.