Having your own business is difficult and as a founder, you start out with just you. So many things that are difficult to deal with happen in business and how you adapt is key to business survival. Finding creative revenue streams and maybe even a new business model can be the way your business survives deaths, fires and funding falling through.
As more and more consumers demand healthy, natural and free-from foods and as more capital and technical assistance is made available for new and innovative brands, the brands that survive will be the ones who take their communication about their financial position (and other metrics like store velocities) seriously.
Food, beverage and value-added agriculture businesses need to raise money serially in order to grow. And, they need different kinds of money at different stages of their growth path. And, specific sources of money are often for specific uses, and all of this needs to be documented.
Equity-based crowdfunding (not to be confused with donation or rewards-based crowdfunding) is a new industry and it may not be worth pursuing as a source of capital for such small amounts of money from so many investors who now have an ownership stake in the business.
Private Equity investors are interested in being an owner of a company (perhaps not the controlling interest). This means the business owner must sell the company at some point, and the sale offers a return upon the successful sale or “exit” at sale. Private Equity investors invest in some of the more high-risk investments in the marketplace.
The best entrepreneurial candidates for VAPG do their due diligence, looking at all aspects of the business, like financing, marketing, product testing, talking to others and hire a team (like lawyers, accountants, etc.) that can help them before rushing into the process.
This deck provides the standard outline of topics that any food, beverage or value-added farm business would need to pitch investors on their business model. The main goal of the presentation is to communicate the vision, strategy, and business model enough to capture the investor attention and interest.
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The farm credit system includes many lending organizations around the country and is a great source of financing, including for non-traditional farmers like CSAs and value-added on-farm processors. These institutions also sometimes provide educational opportunities around financial literacy, financial statements and what it takes to successfully repay a loan
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This podcast outlines what it is like to work with credit unions. Summit helps food entrepreneurs access SBA 7a programs to provide up to $5 million of capital to younger businesses for working capital, inventory, and equipment purchases. The SBA 7a Express program provides a quicker turnaround than the traditional 7a, allowing for loans up to $350,000.
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This podcast outlines what it is like to work with alternative lenders and CDFIs like WWBIC. WWBIC offers a combination of relevant business classes, business loans up to $250,000, assistance with personal financial management, and connections to people who can make things happen for business owners and entrepreneurs across the state of Wisconsin.