How to Find Investors for Starting a Business

Finding an investor for your business provides you with the seed money you need to start the business. In return for investing in your business, most investors receive a percentage of the sales or company stock. Finding an investor for your business may be harder than it sounds, but there are some ways to go about locating and convincing investors to invest in your business.

Write a business plan. Before looking for investors write a business plan. A business plan is a written guide of your business including the purpose, the startup costs, expenses, sales forecasts and other information to gain the interest of investors.

Make a list of possible investors. Add people you know to the list who have money to invest and may be willing to take a risk with your business startup. Friends, family members and business owners of related businesses are the best places to start. For example, if your business involves a computer software product, then other software companies may be interested in investing in your company.

Locate business investors on investor websites. Dozens of investor websites exist, where business startups can search for investors (see resources), which may be called angel networks. If you do not have someone you know personally that can invest in your business startup idea, you can typically find possible investors through these networks.

Develop an investor presentation. Compile a speech or pitch to present the business idea for convincing investors to invest in your startup. Include information in your presentation that includes what the product or service offering for the business is, the costs involved in starting the business, what kind of demand there is in the market for the item and how much the company stands to make in one year, three years and so on.

Contact the possible investors. Schedule a time to meet with and make your presentation to each investor on your list.

Present your business idea to investors. At the meeting with the investor, pitch your business by giving your presentation and providing a copy of your business plan to the investor. Answer any questions the investor has about the startup and tell the investor what is in for them such as shares of the company stock or a percentage of the sales.

Sign an investor agreement. Once you find an investor, put your agreement in writing. You can find general agreement templates online or work with a business attorney to help you draw up a legally binding contract for both you as the business owner and the investor to sign.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/03/magazines/fsb/raising.money.fsb/
http://www.score.org/best_ways_to_finance.html
http://www.entrepreneur.com/money/finance/index.html
Lending Club: Find Investors for a Startup Business
https://www.lendingclub.com/public/about-us.action
http://www.gobignetwork.com/
http://www.angel-investor-network.com/

How to Look Up a Tax Lien

According to Experian, one of the credit reporting agencies, a tax lien is a claim by a taxing authority on an asset owned by someone who owes back taxes. For a business, a tax lien may be on a commercial property the business owns, possibly the property where the business operates. The two major taxing authorities include the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for business back taxes the business owes to the federal government and the county where the property is located. Whether it is a federal or county tax lien, the lien shows on the property records, which the county clerk’s office where the property is records on the public records. Whether you’re looking up a tax lien on your own property to pay it off or you’re an investor looking to invest in tax liens, your computer is the main tool you need to look up a tax line.

Find the county website. Use the National Association of Counties website to determine if the county where the property is located has a website.

Search the county website. Once you determine if the county is online, go to the county website and conduct a tax lien search. You can typically search for liens on the property using the parcel number, address or owner of the property. If the property is going to auction, the county websites also list upcoming tax lien sales and the procedures for paying off your own lien or buying tax lines.

Review the tax lien or tax lien lists. Once you pull up the tax lien for the property you’re interested in, the website provides various information on the lien. Typically, it lists the amount, date and payoff instructions for the tax lien.

Tips
If the county where the property is located does not have a website or does not allow online searches for tax lines, you have to go in person to look up the tax lien. Look up the address for the county clerk’s office, note the hours of operation and then go in person to obtain the tax lien information.

Some counties provide tax lien information by phone, but if you want a copy of the tax lien information, there is usually a charge.

Some websites, such as www.taxsalelists.com sell tax lien lists, which is another way to look up tax liens. Before you pay a third party to obtain a tax lien list, conduct some research on the business with organizations such as the Better Business Bureau, to make sure that the website is legitimate.

If it is a business IRS tax lien, you can contact the Centralized Lien Unit of the
IRS by calling 1-800-913-6050.