Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

hi... my name is Cristian and i`m from Romania... first of all let me tell you that i really appreciate what you`re doing with this website and the way you help people succeed and hopefully you can also help me... here is my problem:

i seek a foreign investor to help me my start my own business in business consulting offering marketing, management and online consulting in the first phase... i`ve already made a business plan and an elevator pitch... and i don`t need that much money... about 20.000-30.000$ would be enough.

my question would be... how should i approach investor? i was thinking to email the biggest companies in business consulting and send them an elevator pitch hopefully they will agree to have a talk with me... but i want the email to be perfect and as i understand from one of your articles is that it should contain a perfect presentation... but will they reply to my email or should someone recommend me to them or how does these things go? i`m new at this... hope you can help me... thanks in advanced!

best regards,

Cristian

A piece of advice - get hold of a proper investors listing from the countries you have in mind.  If you start sending emails people might say that you are one of those culprits who try to con people online.  You know what I mean - those with million of US dollars in their "locked" - late - fathers` account (normally a high ranking officials in their war torn government?)

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thanks for your reply... i`ve searched the hall of commerce in Romania and there aren`t any business opportunities in this field of business... my plan is to get the support of a US business consulting company so i could say that my company represents the US company in Romania... this way i could use their brand to make an impact on the local market... it`s a strategy adopted by many small companies to give them an edge in their startup... i`ll keep searching for venture capitalist... but won`t this idea work: to ask a big US business consulting company for their financial support in order to apply their business strategies in my country?? and this is a good idea... how should i approach them by email?

Why do you need that much money - it doesn`t sound like your business would require any capital.  Why not spend your efforts at landing a few clients and build up your business via shoestrings.  Give good deals at first to build a solid base that will provide you with references.

Don`t take money from investors unless you absolutely need it.

i would need the money because i would like to create a Business Center.. something that is new to ROmania... and for that i would need a pretty big office and at least 5 people to hire... but like i said before... i`m not interested only in the money... more than the money i need their professional support and let me use their brand to spread my business, spreading also their brand too all across Romania... in other word my company would be their representative in my country.. a bit like frachise but not exactly like that...
at the moment we are 2 people... me and my partner... so we have 2 posibilites... start the business really small with no aditional employee and for this we need about 2000Euros(for creating the firm and all that.. plus other expenses), unfortunately wo don`t even have this amount of cash at the moment... or we could start big and for that we would need an investor to help us out with the money problem and for that we would need about 20.000Euros... anyway this thing will go i`ll really confident in my business and i really want to do this kind of thing because it`s an optimum opportunity and i don`t want to miss it!

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thanks for your help mister Robert... glad you like my idea... i already found a number of US companies in this field but how could i find out if they would like to expend in Romania? how should i approach them? should i send an elevator pitch from a first mail? how should i proceed? i`m new to this and i`m searching for guidance... maybe some of you could help me?

and about your advices... the 1st thing, accumulating some amount of cash to bring into the business is not really an option.. but i already have a team that can `make it happen`... we just need the capital to start the business... and i`m choosing an investment rather than a loan because it would give me more flexibility... so mister Miller thanks for your offer but i think i`ll pass...

i`m sure there are plenty of experts on this forum so i`m waiting for their expertise as well... so let`s see what you got!

cristian..once you get your investor, always stay cool, calm and collected. Be sure you take your time when you present your idea and always respect the other person who is giving you feedback. Depending on what you want him to be (equity, on the board, etc) build a kinship with him so you feel comfortable. You must have moral chemistry with him, if you dont it`s not worth working with him. If the person has loads of money, but is a jerk..DONT WORK WITH THAT PERSON!

thanks for the info truman.. but i was asking how to approach by E-mail a potential investor? what should i write them to catch their attention? anyone else got some ideas?

I wish you the best of luck in finding an investor.  But until you find one, I think Eric has a point.  Focus on building the business you have.  If you find an investor, they will want most, if not all, of the profits and you will end up working for them.  If you continue working to build the business, it may take longer but the profits will all be yours. 

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