Grow Your Business

Ben Yoskovitz lists the 10 common questions investors will ask. Whether you're a startup or needing working capital to grow your business, knowing the answers to these questions will help you stay focused and be prepared to talk with a financial institution. However, we rephrased the questions for the company that needs working capital -- not startups:

Instigator Blog provides five simple and powerful tips for making the most out of pitching to investors for a startup. These tips also apply to seasoned businesses looking to raise working capital.

Here are his five tips with my notes.

This story from Crain's Detroit Business shows how companies find other ways to succeed during difficult times. If your company provides a service and the economy forces a rate cut, what do you do? Reliance One doubled its sales in 2007 and expects to up them by 56 percent this year.

This Dallas Morning News article (may require free registration) confirms the trend that many businesses look beyond banks for loans. The article features a business that wants to expand its inventory after four years of steady business. The owner says that he tried going to banks, but they don't pay attention to a business' success.