P1: OTA/XYZ P2: ABC
c20 JWBT144/Gordon September 25, 2009 17:55 Printer Name: Courier Westford, Westford, MA
Raise Money
sources and getting funded. The goals of funding sources are described later.
For now, let’s explore the capital needs of your business.
Understand Your Money Needs at Each Phase of
Growth
You will need money at all phases of your company’s growth, from concept
to development, through start-up and beyond. If your business is doing well,
you will need growth and working capital. If your company is struggling, you
will need money to ride through difficult times. We touched on your financial
needs in Chapter 3. Now, let’s peel the onion and understand the specifics
during each of the stages shown in Exhibit 20.1.
Concept Stage: From Idea to Opportunity: You are proactively searching for
ideas, going to trade shows, attending networking meetings, taking how-
to courses, meeting with business brokers, and then filtering likely op-
portunities through the Opportunity Screening Funnel (see Chapters
5 and 6). When you do zero in on a potential opportunity, capital is
needed for concept feasibility, proof of customer demand, sleuthing of
competitors, validating and refining your business plan, prototype con-
struction, and so on. You may need to hire an industry consultant to
provide objective product testing.
Preproduction Stage: You have made the courageous decision to go for-
ward. In this stage, you are readying your product or service for market,
building your team, implementing your sales/marketing ...