Investing In Start Up Businesses

 

start up 2

This post was recently submitted to Regus Blog when they asked me to Guest post on their site back on April 24, 2013. Regus office space provides flexible office environments for small or satellite businesses. Having been a user myself of their facilities; I enjoy the creativity that often flows within the environments that they create.

Many Have been faced with this idea of starting or investing in a fledgling business. Enjoy the advice provided by expert Alan Urech.

 

It’s a new opportunity! Exciting thought of getting in on the ground floor…. Being a bootstrapper or an Angel Investor sounds cool, Right? But then you hear all of the horror stories about people losing large amounts of money investing in startups. Fact is most startups fail. So how do you know when to invest in a fledgling company? It is a tough decision that I have seen many people struggle with; Often times it may even be a friend or relative presenting you with the idea. So what DO YOU DO? What Is Your Next Move? Take the gamble or do you play it safe? Below are 5 Criteria that expert Alan Urech looks for when facing this decision.

I recently heard Alan Urech speak as a part of a panel discussion regarding Entrepreneurship. Alan’s background is impressive to say the least, a serial investor and entrepreneur.  His background includes HBO & Company where he was part of a team that saw the organization’s expansion from an initial start-up of under US $3 million to over $180 million dollars in revenue within 12 years. During this period, Mr. Urech was instrumental in developing very successful healthcare product lines which significantly expanded the Company’s overall profitability. HBOC was sold in 1998 for US $13.8 Billion to McKesson Corporation, starting their information technology division.

 

The Management Team

  • Do they have passion?
  • Are they good business people?
  • Do they have good character?

He added that there should ideally be these types of individuals on the team.

  •  The Entrepreneur
  •  The CFO Type
  •  The People Person
  •   The Peace Maker

 

 

What is the opportunity?

  • Is there at least a $500 million market that exists if done well?

 

We are NOT going to be friends

  • This may seem harsh but it is business. He doesn’t allow relationship or emotion to cloud his judgment regarding investing decisions. I would suggest this is one where many people get tripped up.

 

What is the value?

  • Does this product already exist? Are there others who are doing it better? Is this new or innovative?

 

Financials

  • He has to see 3 to 5 years’ worth of a company’s financials.  Another panelist added, if the company does not have 3 to 5 years’ worth yet, the want to see the founder/entrepreneur have another income source outside of the new business being created.

 

 

What other ideas or recommendations would you share with someone facing this decision? E-Mail me at todd@toddburkhalter.com or tweet your responses….

 

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