Do I Need A Business Angel?

You need a business angel if you need some money to invest in your business and if you think you could do with a mentor. Generally Business Angels will not invest in your company if they believe the company has no future and is a bad idea. If however they think your business is an innovative idea and has great marketing potential and selling ability then your are on to a good start. If you have an already established business and are looking to expand over seas for instance then a business angel might be just what you are looking for. They can come up with the finance for your and help with the expansion. Business start ups are also another area where business angels can help.

What is a business angel?

Business Angels are people that have successfully demonstrated entrepreneurial flair and who are willing to help others with there money and advice. Of course this help comes at a cost and they will expect something in return. They are not stupid and would not give out money willy nilly. They will expect a stake in the business and will only invest in companies they see as worthy. Business Angels and mentors form part of a growing investment community in this fast moving and constantly changing society.

What is the difference between a Business Angel and a Venture Capitalists?

Venture Capitalists usually make much larger investments than business angels. Business Angels generally will invest between £10,000 and £250,000 but will not invest regularly. Venture Capitalists usually make much larger investments generally a minimum of £2 million and they don’t often help start-ups. The type of input you get with a Venture Capitalist is more formal and more hands off but a Business Angels will take a on hands on role in management.

What steps should I take to become a successful entrepreneur?

• If you are starting up a business, do not do it for money, do it for the love of it. Businesses take time to set up so make sure you are enjoying what you are doing.

• Make sure you know about the business you are setting up.

• Be persistent – a successful business takes lots of time and hard work.

• Learn from your mistakes, do not be afraid of them

• Use your common sense.

• Ensure the people you work with like you and you like them.

• Be self-disciplined.

• Get a mentor and listen to their advice

What does entrepreneur actually mean?

Well the work comes from Old French meaning ‘to undertake’. However in the Oxford English Dictionary the meaning is ‘One who undertakes an enterprise; one who owns and manages business; a person who takes the risk of profit and loss’. The important things to take note of are ‘undertake’, ‘risk’ and ‘enterprise’.

How do I know if I have a good business start-up idea?

The key ingredients of a good business start-up idea are a great innovative idea, the right marketing opportunity, good selling ability, a realistic finance strategy, a team of experienced people and lots and lots of time. If you have all of these then you are on to a winning formula. All you will need now is a Business Angel to get the finance needed and the expert advice.

Angel Startups Are The Best Way To Make Your Business Succeed.

This is a true story of how a business angel could have helped my friend, she was tipped at being a self made millionaire but instead after 3 years she claimed bankruptcy and gave it all up. I have changed her name and omitted details of the invention to protect her identity.

I met Sarah on an access course and found her nice but a bit bossy and competitive. One day we were talking about going to university and she asked me what I planned to do and what she thought would make her the most money. I had plans to study computer science and suggested CAD (computer aided design) would probably bring in the most money. In the end I became pregnant and my partner and I decided to start up our own business from home. We got a loan from the Princes Trust to start us off. My friend went on to University and I didn’t here from her again until 3 years later when she was just about to graduate.

I was watching the local news and my old friend Sarah was the main story. She was being tipped to become a self made millionaire all because of her final year dissertation. She had invested a product that was tipped to sell world wide and make her a fortune. She had won numerous awards and had been asked to appear on a number of television shows including This Morning and Living Genius. There was a big hipe around her and this new product and she was getting investors left right and centre. The university bent over backwards to help their star pupil and advised her on what to do next.

Around that time unfortunately for me my relationship had crumbled and my partner had left me for some cleaner and took the business with him, leaving me a single parent on benefits. I tried to get a job but was told by my local job centre that even though I was more qualified than the job centre lady interviewing me I would be not be better off going to work infact worse off. This made decide to go to University.

After my first year at uni I had seen my friend on a program and thought I must get I back in touch with her as she seemed to be doing so well and I was pleased for her. She was a hard worker and obviously deserved all this attention and the rewards from it. I got back in touch with her through a mutual friend and I popped round to her new business premises to see her. She was sat behind a desk with all her awards and certificates behind her on the wall and she looked like the cat how had got the cream, and who could blame her. I was a little envious I guess but I thought she had got a little two big for her boots and all she talked about was her her her. The premises were huge, far to huge I thought for a starting out business. She was renting part of the space out as it was so huge and the costs were so high. I remember thinking then that this will fail, she had daft ideas and was not very business minded. Her husband didn’t seem to have a clue about anything and was little help.

She was going on about a global company that want to buy her product and sell it via their outlets around the world, but they want to change the material and use their name and packaging. Sarah however wanted to sell her product with her own box and packaging and sell to little outlets around the county and give the smaller businesses a chance. Big mistake! That company would have made her the millionaire that everyone claimed she was going to be. Had I been her investor or business partner or adviser I would of jumped at that offer. I had already thought that I liked the idea of the product but I too thought it would sell better if it was a different material. I daren’t of told her that as this was her baby and she would argue the toss.

She plodding on for another 18 months or so and things never really took off. She was running at a loss and there was no sign of the millions she thought she would make. After another year she gave up completely. The entire buzz around her and the invention vanished and she was left stressed and feeling a failure.

So the moral of this story is it takes more than just a good invention and hard work to make a business become successful. I believe if she had been given the right firm advice and ignored all the hype and press surrounding her she would be that millionaire. Her invention was good, but needed tweaking so as to make it a global success. She should have listened to the advice of professionals and looked at her invention as a business venture not as her precious baby. By turning down a big contract with a huge global company she lost out. But I believe if she had the right backing she could have been a huge success.