BACKING FOR A NEW BUSINESS IDEA, PRODUCT, INVENTION, COMPANY

Backing for a new business idea * product * invention * company * financial backing for a new business idea * creating demand * marketing * advertising * consultants

Any entrepreneur with a new business idea, product or new invention that needs backing must have a firm handle on how much financial investment they require, how that money is going to be spent on, when it will be spent and what returns it should make.

Approaching any business angel or venture capitalist for financial backing for any new invention, as explained on the previous page, without any clear or sound financial plan is like getting into the ring with Mike Tyson with both your hands tied behind you back.

If you have a new invention or product you have to know what it will cost to manufacture and deliver to the end user. You have to be certain that it can be produced at a figure that enables retailers to sell that product at a sensible price with a sound profit margin. The actual manufacturing costs are just a small part of the overheads. The real costs, where the overheads will eat into any investment and this is where any investment is going to have to be spent will include:

• Marketing (Too big and complex a subject to cover here) " Advertising (Newspapers/magazines/radio/television/internet) " Internet presence (not some pathetic little website that no one will ever see and will be no good to man or beast) " Technology " Salaries (including NIC) " Logistics " Utilities (Heating/lighting/telephone/business rates) " Travel " Rent (unless you are working out of a spare room or garage)

Plus you will need to do the work of the MD, marketing director, finance director, sales director, production manager, advertising manager and a host of other jobs, from making the tea, deliveries and sweeping out of an evening. The task is too big for one or two men or women, which is why these types of small businesses fail.

Seeing inventors and new entrepreneurs sell off 50% of their business for a meagre £50,000 when it wouldn't pay for a decent advertising campaign, would hardly cover the cost of a small marketing budget and wouldn't come anywhere near paying for a professional website that would be found at the top of Google would be laughable if it wasn't so sad. All it does is commit the new business entrepreneur to a career of slavery having sold their soul to the devil.

This level of investment will go nowhere in the whole scheme of things and could get swallowed up within a couple of months. You don't have to be Bill Gates to realise that the large companies making real money on the internet are spending fortunes on their internet presence. You cannot hope to launch any new invention, product or business over the internet and compete with the hundreds of million of websites by investing a couple of grand in an internet site. That kind of decision is for the idiots who think they are going to make millions out of owning a website.

The reality is that these sites are rarely seen by anyone and a total waste of money. It is like buying a can of petrol and thinking you can go into competition with BP. Yet millions of people do it every year and throw their money down the drain.

There is only one way, with very, very few exceptions to build a successful company and that is to start a large company with all the resources and infrastructure in place to ensure that any new business idea, invention or product is launched with all the backing and manpower and support needed to give it the best chance of success.

This actually requires people who have the skills, experience, knowledge, contacts and resources and are prepared to muck in and get their hands dirty when needed. This doesn't mean that roll their sleeves up and help with the deliveries or packing, it means that you have the experts on hand that you can delegate certain tasks to because they know exactly what they are doing. These are the people prepared to perform certain roles within the company and provide the necessary requirements to succeed without taking a salary and putting the business under undue pressure.

Experts who will build the website and take care of the online marketing and development, handle all the marketing, sort out and provide the advertising, manage the finances and provide everything at no or little cost in exchange for an equity share in the business and future profits. Hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of investment plus the mentoring and services needed to succeed.

In short, we set up a larger company with all the manpower necessary but without the overheads. Doing it this way means that a new invention, product or business has need for very little financial backing.