It’s looking like as of now I’ve got 5 serious guys with leads on dozens of qualified guys. I’m missing radios, helmets, boots, uniforms, and a few other things that may be needed depending on the contract.
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Where to find serious business investors?
- Thread starter Shags
- Start date
I would say traditional crowdfunding sites can help you find investors, but your business is a specific niche so you’ll likely need to find a community of investors that are somewhat familiar with security/military/government contracts and tech.
Look for related community groups on facebook that are at least somewhat familiar with the space and can understand the potential.
On a side note, I don’t see how $50k could possibly even get you through the first month based on what you stated so far. Also, if I were an investor and you tell me that you’re trying to raise $50k for a business, I’d probably not even listen to the pitch. I think you should aim much higher.
If you have a talented marketing team, their first job should be to help you sell the business model to potential investors.
Look for related community groups on facebook that are at least somewhat familiar with the space and can understand the potential.
On a side note, I don’t see how $50k could possibly even get you through the first month based on what you stated so far. Also, if I were an investor and you tell me that you’re trying to raise $50k for a business, I’d probably not even listen to the pitch. I think you should aim much higher.
If you have a talented marketing team, their first job should be to help you sell the business model to potential investors.
$50k is the bare minimum I’d need to get the business rolling. I have zero overhead for the time being so I have no major costs holding me back. If I was to do a full launch I’d need 5-10x that amount.
I’ve had a good few meeting with investment groups and I’ve spoke to a few angel investors. Either they don’t understand the business and the income potential not only stateside but internationally or they watch too much tv. Does anyone have any sites, communities, or places to reach out that may be more towards that market?
Most small businesses start with either a second mortgage or the owners credit cards. There are a couple of loan websites that are crowd funded. They all have some interest rate based on how big they think the risk is. How will you compete with the larger players already in the market ? Garda based in England has an advantage of more friendly laws than the United States. XE services here is the leader in the market. I think your $50,000 number is low if you think you are going to fund international security. Travel and per diem would eat $50k fast. Let alone operation cost. You would have to carry the bills potentially for 90-120 days before any money starts rolling in. and probably a year or two before you see any real profits.The Middle eastern countries are notorious about being crappy to pay. Ukraine has 16,000+ volunteers from other countries. Why would they hire you ? If you think we do not have Americans on the ground you are kidding yourself. You can not compete with free. (taxpayer funded)
Private citizens in Ukraine are paying top dollar for extraction services right now. Most of the contracts are running 1-2K per man per day. The caveat is, these are not given to new contract extraction teams, so the chances of obtaining one o these out of the blue is pretty much zero...
Every international or stateside contract available to me currently is through a private contact. I have no real intentions of competing in an over saturated market when the niche fields are in more need and pay better.
$50k is enough for me to get a small group of guys working a few of the short term contracts I have available. No overhead keeps the budget a hell of a lot more under control. I‘ve already dumped 30k into this business to obtain licenses, traveling to meet prospective future clients, and other costs as they’ve occurred. If I have to pay more out of pocket I could care less as long as I know the companies making money.
Not just Ukraine. People on the Afghan-Pakistani border are still to this day paying for armed transport. The world has more conflicts on a larger scale raging consistently now more than ever before. I doubt work will be hard to find for a long time to come.
Potential Investors bail...So do Potential clients
My advice for Investors is require 'Proof of Funds' before even discussing business further. Just like in Real Estate. If they aren't able to provide that, then save your time.
If you know this already, I don't mean to sound condescending or anything, just lending my 2 cents.
I've worked high end Contract security and brought in contracts for companies for around 10 years. Every contract I've been on, the Security company bids/ wins a contract, secures the funding first and then buys the required gear. One client may authorize weapons and handcuffs, while another doesn't. So it'll vary. No need to buy a bunch of standardized gear before knowing what each contract will require. And depending on the contract price, you may realize that $200 piece of gear is feasible instead of the $50 version you were going to buy.
From what I've learned, security contracts is all about showing how much more capable you are than someone else's company. Image and marketing. Once companies see what you're capable of, they'll come to you. Do you have a Business Press Kit, professional website, photos, business cards, etc?
Also, smaller businesses want to pay weekly. Big businesses pay quarterly or yearly; and THAT'S who you want. So areas like Sandy Springs, Brookhaven, and Chamblee are prime. Celebrity homes/ neighborhoods are also great to target. I work a rotation at a celebrity's home once or twice a week when I can and make $600/ day.
Lastly, do some homework on the competition and draft up contract bids. I've seen completely unknown companies takeover a contract from another company and instantly start raking in the $$. It's all about providing the same service for less, providing better service for the same price, or showing them why they should pay more for your service.
