elan and the comptition
MGT441-04 : The Global Entrepreneur Unit 4, Individual Assignment 1 “ Ronda’s Case” Presented By Anthony (Tony) Nicosia Friday, May 14, 2004 1. Where to Find an Equity Investor Trying to find investors in a small business is a daunting task. As Ronda found out having a great business plan is no guarantee that she will be able to generate an investor. One way of explaining the different ways in which banks and venture capital firms evaluate a small business seeking funds, put simply, is: Banks look at its immediate future, but are most heavily influenced by its past. Venture capitalists look to its longer run future. If I were in Ronda’s position the first place I might start looking for equity capital, is with the Small Business Administration (SBA). The SBA has a program that may help Ronda find an equity investor. The program is called the Small Business Investment Company Program (SBICs). SBICs are licensed and regulated by the SBA, are privately owned and managed investment firms that provide venture capital and start-up financing to small businesses. Entrepreneurs like Ronda have three easy to find sources to search for active SBICs. The first is the SBIC directory this information can be found at www.sba.gov/inv. The second source of SBIC information is under the member listing of the National Association of Small Business Investment Companies (NASBIC) at www.nasbic.org. The third source is the National Association of Investment Companies (NAIC) website at www.naicvc.com, which dedicates financial resources to investment in an ethnically diverse marketplace.. Another source of funding that Ronda may seek is that of an Angle Investor. Business “angels” are high net worth individual investors who seek high returns through private investments in start-up companies.