Get a venture capitalist on board

You are a business owner who starts from zero or wishes to expand her existing business and has no family or friends with excess cash on hand. What to do? Banks? Forget about it. With the crisis they have just experienced, they are more reluctant than ever to loan money. Your saviour is called a venture capitalist.

But how to get him or her aboard? A venture capitalist wants a high rate of return. So prepare a business plan. Show there is a market need for your product or service. And explain what advantages your product/service has over the competition. Will the market grow soon? Make the point. And show how your company will get a fair share of that growth.

But always remember: between the horse and the jockey the venture capitalist bets on the jockey. International research has shown that venture capitalists view the entrepreneur as most important when deciding to back a business. Your character is seen as more crucial than the market potential. This is the order of personality criteria that are taken into account.