From the desk of Eddie Cambas.

From the desk of eddie cambas.

When wealthy individuals get together as an organized group, they are all able to benefit from the resources of the entire membership. Angel Groups are structured organizations of individuals who have a strong desire to invest in entrepreneurial companies. The “angels” work together to find great deals in hopes of achieving a higher than average return on the investment.

What does it take to qualify as an “angel” investor? According to the SEC, angel investors must satisfy certain requirements and be accredited. They are typically individual investors with high net worth. The whole rule is created to protect persons from a higher than normal risk.

The federal securities laws define the term accredited investor in Rule 501 of Regulation D as:

1.a bank, insurance company, registered investment company, business development company, or small business investment company;
2.an employee benefit plan, within the meaning of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, if a bank, insurance company, or registered investment adviser makes the investment decisions, or if the plan has total assets in excess of $5 million;
3.a charitable organization, corporation, or partnership with assets exceeding $5 million;
4.a director, executive officer, or general partner of the company selling the securities;
5.a business in which all the equity owners are accredited investors;
6.a natural person who has individual net worth, or joint net worth with the person’s spouse, that exceeds $1 million at the time of the purchase, excluding the value of the primary residence of such person;
7.a natural person with income exceeding $200,000 in each of the two most recent years or joint income with a spouse exceeding $300,000 for those years and a reasonable expectation of the same income level in the current year; or
8.a trust with assets in excess of $5 million, not formed to acquire the securities offered, whose purchases a sophisticated person makes.
For more information about the SEC’s registration requirements and common exemptions, read the brochure, Q&A: Small Business & the SEC.

http://www.sec.gov/answers/accred.htm

It is very interesting to find out that the term “angel” came from the City of New York where they were describing wealthy individuals who supported funding for Broadway plays. A professor from the University of New Hampshire who founded the Center for Venture Research first began to use the name. He was describing the high net worth individuals that were providing seed capital for the start-ups.

A lot of angel investors are retired executives who have accumulated wealth as an executive or entrepreneur. The very reasons they invest go far beyond just trying to get a nice return on their investments. They are persons who are excited about what they do, and have an appetite for assisting others and developing successful start-ups. One of the great aspects to having an experienced angel investor provide funding to your start-up is their wise knowledge.

A lot of professional angel groups are put together for the purposes of pooling assets. Since only a low percentage of these deals pan out, it is good to spread the risk around. Another thing is that when a deal does work out it typically takes a longer time horizon than your average investor is willing to be patient. These groups also like to research their investment opportunities together so that no one person is over-burdened with due diligence. Finally, many groups allow entrepreneurs to directly pitch them as a group face to face which enhances the entire overall funding success.

Written by Edward Cambas – Capital Matchpoint.

Please get up off your butt and do something.

Are you trying to start your own business? If you are you may wish to keep the paycheck that you have while planning your next moves. Of course you want to fire your boss, but there are some things you should consider while you plan and execute your entrepreneurial launch. If you take these important steps you will be much more likely to succeed.

After being in business and working in various organizations for over 25 years, I preach the slow go approach to start-up business organizations. I like to think positive and be aggressive don’t get me wrong, I just learned from experience that it pays to pursue your dreams cautiously. My preference is that first-time entrepreneurs consider keeping their salaried jobs as long as possible to preserve personal savings. If your company is properly funded and the concept is very sound that may not apply. Most entrepreneurs have a fantastic idea or concept and little capital if any at all. This is why making all the right moves with regards to getting funding is important before going all in.

All too often entrepreneurs leave their jobs with a dream of becoming successful in their own business and have not properly planned to sustain themselves during the initial phases. A lot of business people crash before getting the chance to begin. I have personally seen a lot of people who have to get part time jobs or who have to take low level earnings to supplement themselves while trying to climb the ladder to success. In many cases these entrepreneurs begin to lose confidence and savings as their dreams and hopes start to fade. This is actually why so many businesses fail early. It is not good to start from a point of weakness rather than strength. Lack of capital is the number one cause of business failure.

The smart way to go about this is to make sure you do all the time consuming research and planning prior to launching the company and prior to leaving your steady paycheck.

Follow these steps to ensure viability and sustainability of your new business:

Get organized. Start completing all of your domain registrations, websites, and logos. In addition, have all of your marketing materials in place. Make sure that your business and brand names do not conflict with any trademarks. Start by visiting the U.S. trademark electronic search system (TESS) at http://www.uspto.gov/. All of the searches are free.
Get all of your financials in order. The best time to apply for credit is when you don’t need it. Entrepreneurs always get a better deal if they tap their equity or increase credit card spending limits before leaving their salaried positions. Pre-startup is the best time for a person to work on their credit scores. Your personal credit score can dictate what you might pay for equipment leasing, credit processing, and anything that requires a credit check. You can get one free credit report per year to check your report at http://www.annualcreditreport.com/ .
Set up the company and choose the structure. You need to decide whether you benefit most from sole proprietorship, s-corporation, corporation, or LLC. It might be good to investigate the benefits and pitfalls of each of these choices before making your selection. It might be good to ask an attorney or accountant to define which selection is best for you. It can and will determine the taxes and how they will be assessed. A great place to finalize and register you corporation is http://www.amerilawyer.com/ . Prices start at only $99. I can personally say that this is the best service and the least expensive company I know of. My recent total paid was $117 after they add for shipping and that was a corporation.
Make sure you experiment before starting. If you are setting up a restaurant you would want to have worked in a similar style business before starting your own. Learn everything you can. It makes the job seem more meaningful when you have to go to work for somebody else, and you know that it is just learning for the future.
Health Insurance – make sure that you look into all of the aspects which may affect your health. The Federal law mandates Cobra which would allow you to stay on the company health plan after you leave in some cases. Getting new health insurance is often very costly and this is one of the major considerations in planning ahead. A lot of people who have an illness might be very cautious as to how they decide to leave their current coverage.
There are all types of things to consider before starting your own company. The most important thing is to “plan your work and work your plan.” One of the traits of strong entrepreneurs is their level of persistence. In addition, most entrepreneurs are not easy to knock down. Remember, it is not how you fall down, but how you rebound which makes a person successful.

Written by Edward Cambas – Capital Matchpoint http://www.capitalmatchpointmedia.com/

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From the desk of Eddie Cambas in Miami Florida.