A venture capitalist (i.e. my mom's wealthy friend) wants to fund my start-up...talking to him tonight about what he wants, what I would need, etc..

I'm wondering how much I should ask for...what a fair percentage for him to make would be...how long I should expect to not be making a profit...and much of a cushion I should add to the calculations..

I am in San Diego, would be doing mostly specialty cakes (but would love to do wedding cakes...maybe soon, never done one b4 tho), and working out of a certified kitchen (no store-front)...what else do u need to know?

Has anyone gone this route? Thanks so much for any and all feedback!!

wow, what an awesome opportunity! I don't have any answers to your questions, but congratulations! And if this wealthy friend of yours wants to invest in a candy business in Ohio, call me! LOL!

Maria

yeah, that's super lucky & awesome for you, I have no idea about the answers to your questions though, sorry

Oh man that's so great! Good luck! I need a wealthy friend. haha.

thanks all, and Maria: LOL!

Tavyheather

Well done that is exciting news! But whether you pay the start up costs or a wealthy friend does you still need to do a business plan, work out your costs and needs, the answers to this will help you work out when you will begin making a profit and how much profit you want on each sale.

Also, you need to think how much of your business do you want to give to the investor, what rate of return they expect, what say he will have regarding the running of the business etc.

Its a lot of work starting a business and even more work when you have investors - think about what a bank would expect from you if you borrowed the start up funds from them.

Good luck
Nel

Thanks, Nel...lucky for me I have a friend who owns a non-cake business, so she has been through the loan stuff before. She is giving me the number of a financial planner who will figure all this out for me!

Keep the input coming, I would love to know how much your first year projections were, etc.....