How often have you thumbed through a business opportunity magazine,
noticed a franchise opportunity advertisement, and felt you’d really
like to get in on that...
How often have you thumbed through a business opportunity magazine,
noticed a franchise opportunity advertisement, and felt you’d really
like to get in on that ... if only you had the money? If you’re like
most who are seeking greater opportunity and wealth, this probably
happens with you more often than you care to admit, except perhaps in
strictly private conversations.
When the average person sees one of these opportunities, or comes up
with a similar idea of his own, the problems of start-up capital may
seem formidable. But in reality, they may not be. In fact,
just about anyone with a good credit record and an “insider’s sense of business” can get the capital he or she needs, whenever it’s
needed. The secret is in knowing how to put together a proper
proposal, and to present it to the right person. These are the
“how-to” instructions we’re going to give you in this report.
The first thing you’re going to need is a complete business plan.
This is a complete and detailed description of exactly how you intend
to operate the proposed business. Your business plan should
detail precisely the product or products you plan to sell; how you’re
going to produce or manufacture the product; your costs (inventory
costs if you’re purchasing them from a supplier); who is going to sell
those products for you; how they’re going to be sold; the attendant
costs; when you expect to recoup your initial investment; your plans
for growth or expansion; and the total amount yow’re going to need to
make it all work according to your plan. Your business plan must
be detailed-complete with projected income and expense figures --
through at least the first three years of business.
Now, assuming you have your business plan all worked out, put together
and ready for presentation with your request for capital, let’s talk
about your capitalisation proposal.
First, keep in mind that whenever you ask somebody for money,whether
it’s for a small personal loan or a large amount ofmoney to fiance a business, you’re involved in a selling situation. You have to
prepare a “sales presentation” just as if you were getting ready to
sell an car or fridge. Within this sales presentation you must
have all the facts and figures; you must anticipate the questions and
the possible objections of the
prospective lendeò with answers or explanations; and you must “package”
it as impressively as you would yourself for an audience with the
president of British Telecom, or IBM.
The more money you ask for, the more “in the know” will be the people
you want to borrow from, and so the more detailed and organised your
proposal must be. This shouldn’t cause you too much worry
however, because you can hire a CPA to help you put it together
properly, once you’ve got the facts and have a business plan he can
work from. Look at it this way: the more money you request for your business, the more your lenders or prospective investors are going to
want to know about you, your planning, and your business. They
want to be impressed with the fact that you’ve done your homework; they
want to be impressed with the fact that you’ve researched everything
and documented your facts and figures; they want to be assured by your
presentation that investing in your business will make money for
them. It’s just that simple at the bottom line. Unless you
can instil confidence in them with your business plan and loan or
investment proposal, they’re just not going to give much positive
thought to your request for capitalisation.
So you’ll need a balance sheet describing your net worth-the worth of
what you own compared to the amount of money you owe. You’ll also
have to prove your stability and money management talents relative to
how successful you’ve been in paying off past obligations. If you
have had credit problems in the past, get them “cleaned up”, or at
least explained on your files at the national credit bureaus.
Under the law, credit bureaus are required to give you all the
information they have about you in their files, and it’s your right to
correct any errors or enter explanations regarding negative reports on
your credit. Do this without fail because prospective lenders or
investors will definitely check your credit history.
So, now you have your balance sheet prepared; your credit history
organised in a light that’s favourable to you; your business plan (with
costs and income projected over the coming three years), and you’re
ready to start looking for lenders or investors.
Almost all franchisors offer help in setting up with one of their
franchises. Most will go out of their way to assist you in
getting the financing you need. Some will lend you the entire
amount, with payments coming out of the income they expect you to make
from their franchise operation. Many will carry this loan
themselves, while others will carry part of it and find you a lender to
finance the remainder.
Franchisors have two objectives in mind when they offer franchises to
the public: They are trying to expand their operation, thus increasing
their profit, and they are trying to raise capital for
themselves. Generally speaking, if you have a good credit
history, and if they feel you have the necessary business personality
to achieve success with one of their operations, they’ll do everything
within their power to get you in a franchise outlet. Keep this in
mind the next time you see an advertisement for a promising franchise
opportunity requiring a substantial amount of cash outlay. You
don’t necessary have to have all the money. They want you, and
they’ll help you!
Many people seem to be unaware that most of today’s largest
corporations started on a shoestring-on borrowed money. Many
people seem to think that unless they’ve got it all “in hand” in
savings, then they’ll just have to keep plugging away until they can
save up enough to take the big plunge. Nothing could be further
from the truth. Just a quick bit of research will show that 999
out of every 1,000 businesses were begun on borrowed money. Look to
your family and friends for financial help. Approach them in a business-like manner; tell them about your idea or plans, and ask them
for a loan. Agree to sign a formal statement to pay them back in
three, five or ten years, with interest.
When you have your proposal assembled, you might even want to think of
a limited partnership or even a general partnership arrangement as a
way to finance your project. In any kind of partnership, each
partner shares in the profits of the company, but in a limited
partnership, each person’s loss liability is limited to the amount of
money he initially invested. The truth is, in this kind of a
situation, you’ll be doing all the work and sharing your gain with your
partners, but then it’s a fairly sure way to obtain needed financing.
In every instance where you run into reluctance on the part of a lender
to lend you the money you need, explore the feasibilities of “two-name”
or “co-signed” loans. You can have the franchisor sign with you,
or even one of your suppliers, a business associate, or even a
friend. Often you can borrow or rent collateral such as business
equipment or property, and in this way give greater confidence to the
lender in your abilities to repay the loan. Whenever you can show
a contract from someone who has agreed to purchase a certain number of
your products or services over a specified period of time, you have
another important piece of paper that most lenders will accept as
collateral. Still another possibility might be to get a bank or a
firm that has loaned you money in the past to guarantee your
loan. They simply guarantee that they’ll lend you money if the
need should arise.
Going straight to your local bank, applying for a business loan and
walking out with the money is just about the most unlikely of all your
possibilities. Banks want to lend money, and they must lend money
in order to stay in business, but most banks are notoriously
conservative and extremely reluctant to lend you money unless you have
a “regular income” that “guarantees” repayment. If and when you
approach a bank for a business loan, you’ll need all your papers in
order-your financial statement, your business plan, credit history, and
all the endorsements you can get relative to your succeeding with your
planned enterprise. In addition, it would be a good idea to take
along your accountant just to assure the banker that your plan is
verifiable. In the end, you’ll find that it all boils down to
whether or not the bank officer studying your application is sold on
you as a good credit risk. Thus you must impress your banker-not
only with your proposal, but with your appearance and personality as
well. In dealing with bankers, never show an attitude of doubt or
apology. Always be positive and sure of yourself. However,
don’t come on so strong to them that you’re either demanding or
overbearing. Just look good, know your stuff, and project an
attitude of determination to succeed.
When you’re looking for money to move on a business deal, it does not
really matter where the money comes from, or how it all comes
about. It’s important that you get the money, and at terms that
are suitable to you. Thus, don’t overlook the possibilities of an
advertisement for a lender or investor in your local papers.
Place your ad as well in national publications reaching people looking
for investments. Other avenues to seriously consider are
foundations that offer grants, local dental and medical investment
groups, legal investment groups, business associations, trust
companies, and other groups or organisations looking for tax shelters.
Basically, it isn’t a good idea to go to a finance company or other
commercial lender of this type for a business loan. The most
obvious reason is the high interest rates you have to pay. These
companies borrow money from larger money lenders and then turn around
and lend it to you at q high interest rate that they pay. Herein
lies the means by which they make money from granting loans to you.!
The more it costs them to provide the money for you, the more it’s
going to cost you to borrow their money. The only element in your
favour when borrowing from one of these agencies is that most will
generally lend you money against collateral other lenders won’t always
accept. Insurance companies and pension funds are not too out of
sight with their interest rates, but they generally will not even
consider talking to you unless you’re requesting £500,000 or
more. They’ll require that your business proposal be backed by
the best possible plan. Finally, the bottom line is this: You must have
a well-researched and detailed business plan; you must have all your
documents and projections put together in an impressive presentation;
and then, you will have to be the one who does the final selling of
your proposal to the investor or lender. This means your
appearance, personality and attitude, because --- make no mistake about
it-before anyone_lends you any sizeable amount of money, they’re going
to want to take a close look at you personally before they hand over
the money.
Actually, the different ways of financing a franchise opportunity are
as many and varied as your own creativity. The sources of
obtaining money are virtually limitless, and available to anyone with
an idea.
One word of caution before you jump into any franchise purchase
agreement: the price you pay to participate in a franchise operation is
not always the total cost involved in getting the business off the
ground. With some franchise operations, you may find other costs
such as down payments on the purchase of property, building
construction costs, remodelling or site improvements, equipment,
fixtures, signs, advertising, and training. Virtually all
franchise deals require that in addition to the purchase price or the
licence fee of the franchise, you’re required to give a certain
percentage of your gross business income to the franchisor, plus extra
payments for promotion and administrative costs. Above all else,
before you get involved in a franchise, or any business venture for
that matter, make sure you’ve conducted a complete and thorough
investigation of the opportunity presented. If it’s a good deal,
then go with it; but if you have any doubts or feel as though you’re
getting in over your head, back off and look around for something not
quite so ambitious, or perhaps expensive.
There are a lot of good franchisd opportunities, and some not so
good. It’s important that you be sure of what you’re investing
in, and that you can make money with it. From there, preparing
the proper business plan and the necessary financing, while not always
easy, can be done. Now’s the time to do it! We wish you
outstanding success with your franchise business.
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