Investment Readiness or, as we prefer, Funding Readiness is having your business in the best possible position to secure the funding that it needs to develop, grow and prosper. In our experience, many of the reasons that businesses fail to secure equity investment from Business Angels or Fund Managers are fundamentally the same as the reasons that businesses fail with bank loan or grant applications.
Some of the questions that you need to consider:
Greenborough can help you unpick all of the above and prepare your business to become truly “investment ready”.
When your business needs to grow, but quicker than is organically possible, where would you go to find the funding?
Here at Greenborough, we are experienced, impartial and connected. We will sit down with you and understand what you’re looking to achieve and how much funding you’ll need. Based upon that, your current business circumstances and the funding opportunities available, we will signpost you to the most appropriate funder or financial planner for you – just drop us a line or give us a call to see how we can help.
Business Angels are private investors, usually “High Net Worth” individuals, who invest in unquoted – often very early stage – businesses where they inject cash, and often know-how and experience, in return for a shareholding. Business Angels tend to hold a few investments at the same time and typically retain those shareholdings for 3-5 years. As well as hoping for a sensible return on their investment, Business Angels often enjoy the journey and are excited by the growth prospects that their businesses offer.
Business Angels come in all shapes and sizes, but many are members of clubs, networks and associations. They often de-risk their investment through tax efficient schemes such as the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS).
For most people pitching is their worst nightmare – OK, there are one or two people out there who are actually good at it and enjoy it and fortunately some of them work for Greenborough!
We have over 10 years of helping businesses to pitch for investment, awards and other accolades with great success.
We hold specialist workshops to ensure you have the skills and tools at your fingertips as well as offering one to one training to teach you what works. This includes rehearsals and feedback all aimed at giving you the confidence to deliver a winning pitch to anyone.
As well as running our own Pitching Workshops, we have run numerous for other partners – 10×10, Y Accelerator, Oxford Innovation, Harper Adams University, University of Lincoln….to name a few!
There are an increasing, and often confusing, number of debt related schemes available to businesses – depending on your stage, sector and trading history. These vary from commercial mortgages, overdrafts, secured and unsecured loans, factoring, asset finance….the list goes on!
If your bank has turned you down, it may be that your funding proposition is best suited elsewhere. That’s where we can help.
Greenborough deliver, or broker access to, a number of growth grant funds including:
Applying for funding can be daunting – a bit like sitting an exam – but if you read the questions and respond with an answer that the funder is looking for, you’re half way to getting a great result. Writing a grant bid is a skill that improves with practice but we already have years of practice under our belts, so use our specialists’ experience to improve your chances of success.
If you’d like to know more about how your business could benefit from the grants available, just give us a call and let one of our friendly team undertake a free, and totally painless, business diagnostic. We can then help you to access the most appropriate grant available.
We’re happy to advise and find the best solution that will get you the growth you need.
These are some of the funds we’re directly involved in securing for your business growth. If you need something more bespoke we’re happy to help.
