Some advice on submiting a business plan

**Silverion** · 10-02-2008 10:06 AM

Hi,

I recently recieved a message from an investment bank manager requesting my business plan for one of the projects I am looking funding for. The idea itself is not new but no one else seems to have "packaged" it as an investment product. The project can generate returns of between 60% to 100% per year in average.

However I am a little curious on how to proceed considering he simply requested my business plan and told me he would review it and get back to me. I am not afraid he steals my idea but more of it getting shared with too many people and then getting leaked to the point that investors start looking at this niche as an investment product. But I am not sure if I should request him to sign the NDA, I prepared to have some protection, before sending him my business plan because I don´t want to scare him away.

Can someone give me some advice on what would be the best way to proceed in this case. Thanks.

**AOCenteno** · 10-02-2008 11:25 AM

Great ideas are a dime a dozen, execution of that idea is what's important. The passion, intelligence, and dedication needed is rare, and that's what separates successful start-up from ones that never get past the idea stage.

I doubt he'll sign an NDA, as that he probably looks at hundreds of plans and can't be bothered by the liability that someone somewhere will ten years from now accuse him of stealing the idea. Honestly.....he is a money guy, not entrepreneur.

Use some business plan software and find a few templates on the web. He wants to see that you have thought through the idea, and what your team is like.

Good luck!

**jasaunders** · 10-02-2008 11:41 AM

Your story is a little unclear. I'm not sure why an investment bank would be interested in looking at your business plan. And if it's just an idea and not a business, it would have no need for any serious type of funding now anyways.

**akula** · 10-02-2008 02:03 PM

Originally Posted by AOCenteno

Honestly.....he is a money guy, not entrepreneur.

as far as private equity goes, ibankers are not financiers, they're brokers who help businesses raise money by supporting the ceo in doing roadshows for institutional investors

as far as startups go...i've met these "investment bankers" before. they're usually long con operators, who promise that they can raise money for the entrepreneur from their "extensive network of contacts", provided the entrepreneur pays an upfront fee to "show that they're serious", after which time all the deals fall through, the "banker" goes on a "business trip" to "fix up the problem", and asks the entrepreneur to pay for the "airfare"...which the entrepreneur usually does because he's already lost money and doesn't wanna look like an idiot in front of the missus, or he doesn't pay and gets blamed by the "banker" for not being ready "to do business"

if i wasn't a retard, i'd probably be doing what these "bankers" are doing because there's never a shortage of suckers...plus, it's pretty hard to get pinched for this kind of fraud

it's all very sad

**Woodcs82** · 10-02-2008 02:14 PM

Is it an Internet Project or offline project? (you don't need to go into detail)

**Iamnotsatisfied** · 10-02-2008 02:56 PM

He probably won't sign the NDA for reasons already mentioned, but if you get him interested enough in you business he might consider it. Try sending him a summary of your business without actually leaking the parts you want to keep confidential.

However you have to be as close to revenue collecting as you can. Just an idea will not do.

**Silverion** · 10-02-2008 05:10 PM

Thanks everyone for your replies. To begin answering your questions:

Originally Posted by jasaunders

Your story is a little unclear. I'm not sure why an investment bank would be interested in looking at your business plan. And if it's just an idea and not a business, it would have no need for any serious type of funding now anyways.

Well, I posted some details on the project in one of those sites where projects get looked by prospective investors. Thats how I got contacted. In general you could say its just an idea (not an established business) but if I got the funding I need today, I could start working on the project tomorrow and in less than 2 months I could have produced a return for the investor of around 6.5% and the project would continue to produce returns on a monthly basis. And yes it might be a startup but I am looking for between $300,000-$600,000 for the seed funding in an investment similar to a credit line. I could work with a lower investment but the project is relatively secure and right now I can´t think of any reason why I should ask for less than that (other than to calm a nervous investor which he doesn´t seem to be).

Originally Posted by akula

as far as private equity goes, ibankers are not financiers, they're brokers who help businesses raise money by supporting the ceo in doing roadshows for institutional investors

as far as startups go...i've met these "investment bankers" before. they're usually long con operators, who promise that they can raise money for the entrepreneur from their "extensive network of contacts", provided the entrepreneur pays an upfront fee to "show that they're serious", after which time all the deals fall through, the "banker" goes on a "business trip" to "fix up the problem", and asks the entrepreneur to pay for the "airfare"...which the entrepreneur usually does because he's already lost money and doesn't wanna look like an idiot in front of the missus, or he doesn't pay and gets blamed by the "banker" for not being ready "to do business"

if i wasn't a retard, i'd probably be doing what these "bankers" are doing because there's never a shortage of suckers...plus, it's pretty hard to get pinched for this kind of fraud

it's all very sad

Well, he didn´t strike me as that kind of "banker" but I will ask him some more questions before I submit my business plan. Who knows, maybe you are right.

Originally Posted by Woodcs82

Is it an Internet Project or offline project? (you don't need to go into detail)

Internet Project

Originally Posted by Iamnotsatisfied

He probably won't sign the NDA for reasons already mentioned, but if you get him interested enough in you business he might consider it. Try sending him a summary of your business without actually leaking the parts you want to keep confidential.

However you have to be as close to revenue collecting as you can. Just an idea will not do.

I will try this method, although it might be a little hard to share enough of the idea without actually leaking the core of it, but I´ll see what I can do.

**Cole Taylor** · 10-02-2008 05:34 PM

duplicate post - hit enter

**Cole Taylor** · 10-02-2008 05:37 PM

Originally Posted by Silverion

Well, I posted some details on the project in one of those sites where projects get looked by prospective investors.

That's the problem. Those sites you speak of, i.e. gobig, are chock full of scammers. Despite what those sites claim investors dont go online to learn about investment opportunities.

So you know, every accredited investor in the Country, who is not on the DNC is contacted regularly about investments in the private arena. If they've taken a look at a deal they're on another list of those who were packaged. These are the leads I generally buy. We've pulled about 50 investors out of the last 600 or so packages we've sent.

What you will recieve are people that want upfront fees (usually about 5k) to write you a business plan and executive summary. Occasionally you'll be approached by finders who want upfront money to sell your project to their book.