Angel Investors: Who They Are & When Are They Appropriate & Business Plans

Angel investors are individuals who invest in emerging business ventures. Angels typically provide both capital and know-how to companies who are in either their start-up or expansion phases. To reflect the increased risk of investing in such firms, angels seek a higher rate of return versus traditional public stock investments. nnAngel investors fulfill the financing need that exists between capital provided by friends and family and capital provided by venture capitalists. Individual angel investors often write checks from $25,000 to $100,000. Recently, angel investing has become more organized, and angel groups often invest from $250,000 to $500,000 at a time to deserving ventures. nnAngel investors often have similar financing criteria as venture capitalists. They want to see proprietary intellectual property, a large market size, management team members with expertise and experience and a current valuation that allows for a good return on investment. nnIn identifying and attracting an angel investor, companies should seek angel groups that are located in their region. For instance, the Tech Coast Angels have funded over 85 Southern California-based companies since 1997. When seeking individual angel investors, it is critical to network in order to create a personal connection between yourself and the angel. Also, ideally the individual has experience within your specific field so he/she can provide industry contacts and operational expertise in addition to capital.nBusiness PlansnnWay back in business school we had to churn out business plans every semester. As soon as the assignment would drop we would be scrambling for information. Start the number crunching game, do the analysis, do some mental planning and write business plans. nnThen we graduated and got jobs. But, we still have to write business plans. nnI came across a collection called Business Plans from 'Business-planning-4-you' (http://business.marc8.com/ebook-info.php/name/business_plans/toc_id/1-0-1-5) a few weeks ago. The title caught my eye as I wondered who would be giving away business plans and how many? How would they manage the number of industries? I wanted to find out more. nn- It seems that they have over 1500 readymade business plans in their database. n- Covers a wide range of industries: from Abattoir Business Plan to Zen Practitioner Business Plan. n- The cost is $50 as of this writing. That makes it 3 cents per business plan (50/1500 = 0.03). n- They offer about 24 extra bonuses nnI know I would be happy with the business plan templates that I could modify and add my own thoughts. I think it would be like instant soup. You have bought the basic ingredient, but you still need to provide a little bit more like hot water and a bowl. nnThough I haven't tried the collection myself it looks quite good. I think this would be useful if you are in business school, early part of your career, or even a seasoned business man venturing into new areas. nnTill next week and all the best with your business planning!n