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Do I Offer Debt or Equity to Raise Capital
| Guest post by: Ken Hollowell |
Article Overview: What's the difference between debt & equity?
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Do I Offer Debt or Equity to Raise Capital
An equity offering is where the subject company sells an ownership stake in the company to investors. Equity is usually preferred by early stage companies that need flexibility regarding capitalization. In an equity situation investors profit as the company profits since they are partial owners. This provides the advantage of not having a debt service payment draining revenue from the company in its early stages of growth. Most companies sell 10-30% of their company for a first round funding - obviously there are exceptions but this is the average. We recommend using either a "C" Corporation (where you would sell stock to investors) or a Limited Liability Corporation LLC (where you sell a membership unit to investors). Investors typically profit in two ways from an equity deal; via their proportionate "per share" percentage of company profit (called a dividend) and via the final sale of the security through an exit strategy (example: the company buying the securities back from the investors, the company and its issued and outstanding securities being bought out by another company, going public and selling on the open market, etc.)
A debt offering functions much like a private business loan where the company sells a promissory note to investors. The note sets forth the terms and conditions of the loan arrangement between the company and the investor. Thus a note would provide a certain interest rate typically paid annually to investors with a maturity date that dictates when the principal is paid back in full to investors. The notes are sold in fractional amounts providing flexibility for accommodating investors - thus a typical debt offering for $100,000 would be the sale of 20 notes at $5,000 per note. An investor investing $10,000 would get two notes. If the interest rate was 12% then he would get $1,200 paid to him annually based on the $10,000 investment. If the maturity date was 36 months then at the end of the 36 months the company would pay back the $10,000 to the investor. Many early stage companies that lack the required equity or operating history for conventional bank financing will use private debt from investors for a short period of time (12-36 months) to establish a credit and operating history. They then have the capability to take out the private debt loan from the investors with a standard bank business loan at a lower interest rate.
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Article Tags: capital, funding, funding your company, ppm, private placement offering, raising capital
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About the Author: Ken Hollowell RSS for Ken's articles - Visit Ken's website He conducts numerous seminars annually on franchise development and investing in a franchise business throughout the United States. He is regularly requested by the Small Business Administration in Washington, D.C., S.C.O.R.E., Learning Annex and the International Franchise Association to speak on franchising. Mr. Hollowell's well-rounded experience and practical knowledge in both development and marketing have led him to be one of the most sought after franchise consultants in America. Mr. Hollowell has written many articles on both developing a franchise network and buying a franchise. Mr. Hollowell sits on no less than a dozen boards of directors. Mr. Hollowell works with as many as 120 new clients each year on teaching techniques and methods of raising capital through the SEC's Reg D Series of Offerings Click here to visit Ken's website   ARE FRANCHISES CHANGING WITH THE TIMES Are You Raising Funds For Your Business Legally Franchisors Must Document Everything WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BUYING A FRANCHISE Five Simple Rules For Choosing A Business Name |
Related Forum Posts
How to valuate a business
- Hi Garth - here is how we did it at Northern Crown Capital when I was helping them raise venture capital for Toronto-based entrepreneurs. Assume the start date is 2003 so 2008 projections are 5 years out:
How Northern Crown Capital Valuates a Business
2008 Financial Projections
Earnings Before Tax
$5,865,000
Tax Rate
42%
Taxes
$2,463,300
Net Earnings
$3,401,700
Amount Seeking to Raise Today
$3,500,000
Discounted Value of Future Opportunity, 5 Years Out
2008 P/E Ratio
15
Value of Company in 2008
$51,025,500
Discount Rate Applied
30%
Year 2008
$51,025,500
Year 2007
$35,717,850
Year 2006
$25,002,495
Year 2005
$17,501,747
Year 2004
$12,251,223
Value of Company at Investment in 2003
$12,251,223
Less: Investment Amount
$3,500,000
Present Value
$8,751,223
Discount for Risk & Private Company
40%
Less: Discount for Risk & Private Company
$3,500,489
Private Company Value
$5,250,734
Present Value (What the Owner Keeps)
$5,250,734
60.00%
Financing (What the Investor Gets)
$3,500,000
40.00%
Total
$8,750,734
100.00%
I hope this helps!
Getting something for nothing?
- This is a tough one because it's hard to get something for nothing.
There are two forms of financing - equity and debt. Equity is when you give up a part of your company / invention / idea in return for money or services. Hopefully the person you are bringing on is someone you can work with because you are now partnered until you sell or close down the company or buy each other out.
Debt is when you borrow money so you aren't giving up a piece of your company but you have to pay the money that you are borrowing back. If you have a solid credit history or tangible assets then you can get it from the bank. If you don't have either then you can get private money but the interest rates will be higher (10% or more). Since every month you'll have to make payments you'll have to think about how long it will take you to start bringing money into your business from your invention.
Either way you're giving up something in return for the financial help.The only other options I can think of are government grants that you don't have to pay back or befriending people who want to help you because they like you and by doing so they are being rewarded (very hard to find!)
Good luck!
Lisa Shepherd Story
- Great story! I love the Earn - Learn - Equity - it's very relavent for new entrepreneurs.
Del Castienne - International Business and Project Brokers
- In addition to the above, Del Castienne is an international brokerage firm specializing in various entrepreneural services.
Del Castienne is more than just a brokerage, as we facilitate Private International Venture Capital for Business and Projects from Commodity Speculation Transactions, MBO, MBI, M&A, Bridging Finance, Patents, Branding, JV, Corporate Advisory Services, Business Plan Development, etc..
Del Castienne is linked to 1200 private international Venture Capital consortiums and Funding Syndicates with a funding capacity of $ 115 billion and 5000 international Investment Bankers and Business & Project Brokers. This in itself should provide you with a gateway to the best source of funding in the world.
Through Del Castienne any entrepreneur can have up to a potential success rate of 25% (conditions apply) with absolutely no up front costs.
Del Castienne charges a maximum of 5% commission which is far below the international standard of 10% - 12% on project value.
If you are tired of running back and forth with countless dissappointments, please give us an opportunity to assist you. Our minimum Venture Capital amount is $1 million and we a Commitment Letter can be provided with in 30 days after formalities are in place and your information was received.
Home Equity to Finance your business
- Jen, do you have Home Equity you can leverage?
Maybe a relative or close family member can do it for you in return for an interest "balloon payment" at the end of 5 years (the rate would be above what they would get if they invested it in a GIC).
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