The first thing almost every entrepreneur thinks when they need capital is bank loan. The reality is that getting bank loans for entrepreneurial businesses is nearly impossible unless you have considerable equity to guarantee the bank loan.
The bank will also look at your ability to repay the loan if your business does not create revenue, so they are going to look at your current employment and investments to support the payments on the loan.
That often takes most entrepreneurs out of the running to secure a loan with a banker.
You now have to turn to alternative methods and resources to obtain capital for your business. That means that you may need to find investors, which may be a better deal as you will not be taking on debt, and instead selling equity in the company. It is far better to take on an equity partner than to take on debt.
You’re going to need a business plan (executive summary), projections and a subscription agreement at minimum to begin to raise capital for your start-up company. Without those documents, it will be nearly impossible to raise capital.
More importantly then the documents, you are going to have to have enthusiasm and controlled excitement for your project. Your investor needs to catch the excitement and want to be a part of your opportunity.
If you play your cards right, you should be able to get your potential target to actually ask you if they can invest in the company before you ask them. Nobody wants to invest into a company that needs money, but everyone wants to invest in a company that shows excitement and promise. You have to have that Wow factor, when showing people around your company and when you talk about your opportunity.
No matter what anyone says, your prospective investor is going to make an emotional decision because no matter what the numbers say, you have not proven your theory for your company. The potential investor has to believe that you are capable of making your company work.
If you can show the prospective investor how excited you are, and how much homework you have done, you will be a long way down the road to getting the investment capital you need to get your business funded.