investment opportunity - bargain

[julian]

I sent my pitch to dragons den online this week requiring a 1million pound investment to kick start NationBank.co.uk - in return for a 20% share.

NationBank will sit a layer above all the rest of the banks offering a similar service based on the Student Loans Company Business model e.g. charging only a small % above base rate.

I'm not holding my breath for theo pathetis so if anyone here is interested pm me..

thanks

 

[scooter]

nice one! but you know as well as me and every other person that watches, that 20% will turn out to be at least 45%

.

 

[crabfoot]

The trick the Dragons want to pull is that your great idea stretches your finances, so that you get skint and have to ask for more money.
They are business predators, they want your great idea for themselves, and with NO EFFORT.
To get to that situation, they want to work both you and your capital very hard.

If you are not aware of the way they work -
They will not tell you about pitfalls that will give them an advantage.
They will take any opportunity to push your money to the edge, as long as it does not cost them too much - then they will take advantage of your skint state and buy more of the "comatose dog", until you become an employee. At that point, they will inject enough capital to revive the "comatose dog", and you will be working for a salary in a company that you should have the majority stake in.

Make sure your business estimates are "conservative" in the accounting sense.
Underestimate profits by 10-15%, overestimate costs by the same amount, and if in doubt LIE about costs so they can't push you too far.

Make sure you do this adjustment on the individual figures within each stage of your business plan process, so they are unlikely to pick up on it - don't work everything out and add a "stage adjustment".

Accounting conservatism is merely a "future-proofing" protection against the figures going out of date in the forseeable future - m'lud.

I've seen "angels" in action, and they have all been "devils in disguise".

Get past the first two years and they will respect your acumen, and let you into "their club". Otherwise, they will treat you like every other "mug with a good idea".

Signed -

A mug that had more than one good idea,
Craig

 

[stevebrowne]

nice summary.

 

[aZooZa]

You'll need a lot more money to start a bank than a million quid. But I wish you the best of luck!

 

[mat]

Starting up a bank in the credit crunch with £1million and a domain you registered 2 days ago?

 

[Skinner]

I am imagining Dr Evil, holding the world hostage for 1 million dollars

 

[FagEnd]

The trick the Dragons want to pull is that your great idea stretches your finances, so that you get skint and have to ask for more money.
They are business predators, they want your great idea for themselves, and with NO EFFORT.
To get to that situation, they want to work both you and your capital very hard.

If you are not aware of the way they work -
They will not tell you about pitfalls that will give them an advantage.
They will take any opportunity to push your money to the edge, as long as it does not cost them too much - then they will take advantage of your skint state and buy more of the "comatose dog", until you become an employee. At that point, they will inject enough capital to revive the "comatose dog", and you will be working for a salary in a company that you should have the majority stake in.

Make sure your business estimates are "conservative" in the accounting sense.
Underestimate profits by 10-15%, overestimate costs by the same amount, and if in doubt LIE about costs so they can't push you too far.

Make sure you do this adjustment on the individual figures within each stage of your business plan process, so they are unlikely to pick up on it - don't work everything out and add a "stage adjustment".

Accounting conservatism is merely a "future-proofing" protection against the figures going out of date in the forseeable future - m'lud.

I've seen "angels" in action, and they have all been "devils in disguise".

Get past the first two years and they will respect your acumen, and let you into "their club". Otherwise, they will treat you like every other "mug with a good idea".

Signed -

A mug that had more than one good idea,
Craig

Nice description of the dragons

They are not trying to help businesses, they are trying to line their own pockets. I'm not saying it's wrong, I'd love to be in the position to do the same. But at the end of the day, I'd rather own 60% of a profitable business with a healthy working capital than 100% of a struggling business.

Look at the guy with the reggae reggae sauce. Worth a fortune now It's a great product and I buy it all the time. Without the marketing skills and contacts of the dragons it would never have made it mainstream to supermarkets etc.. So giving up a large portion of your business can make sense a lot of times.

 

[woopwoop]

As someone once told me, "It's better to own 50% of something, than 100% of nothing".

Starting out others will probably take advantage, but if they have the contacts/marketing skills like FE said above - it's probably worth it. Otherwise an idea can live for 10 years without doing anything and then die.