Those who are able to achieve higher yields on their investments typically don’t have a broker and don’t listen to the advice of a financial planner. After all, if either of them knew what they were talking about they wouldn’t be hustling others into allowing them to learn the trade game off of other people’s money.

If you are considering going public you are coming from one of two positions: you are either coming from a position of liquidity where you have the capital to spend $200k to go public on the OTCBB or you are coming from a position of weakness and you don’t have liquidity.

When my firm goes into a privately held corporation to create strategies for expansion and a solid foundation before initiating the ‘go public’ process the first thing we do is analyze the CEO,CFO and COO professional pedigree and many times the current executives need to step back and allow us to bring in professional ‘C’ level management so that the company can go public, attract investment dollars from accredited and institutional money sources.

When an investor is looking at your business they are obviously looking for the basics: an executive team that has worked with other companies in your industry at the exact stage you are at now with a solid track record of success, an active advisory board that is eager to help and has a solid comprehension of your industry, a board of directors that acts as your company’s strategic think tank and action center where the tough issues get dealt with and questions get answered. Investors also want to see that you are in a growth industry and that all involved have the discipline to step out of the emotional ups and downs of a start up or company seeking capital and look at the business objectively.

If your company is about to start taking steps for a public offering you will most likely want to bring in employees that will help season your business plan and private placement memorandum for your initial rounds of capital. The human resources section of your PPM is crucial and on your business plan your ‘key executives’ portion is critical.

Most companies who are on the venture capital trail are not set up properly to attract investors. When an investor looks at your business plan and private placement memorandum they are looking for certain things. Of course funding sources look for the obvious, a solid business model, positive cash flow, industry genre with solid future growth, recession proof business (if there even is such a thing) and minimal debt.