| |
| |
|
Investing Information |
|
|
|
Angels, Are They Real?
They're real, but few survive. High risk investing is dangerous to your bank balance. The process toward extinction is that an angel risks money in one venture. It fails. Then, he joins a group of angels and risks money in another venture. It fails. At this point, the angel usually hands in his or her wings. To be an angel, you must have considerable discretionary income. This is why most angels are attorneys, accountants, medical doctors or successful small business people. Attorneys and accountants often form angel groups from their client base. Their goal is to take the ride on the roller coaster without paying for the ticket. Their clients invest in the project and they get a piece of the action. Since the action is usually bad, all they get from the effort is a reduced client base. Angels want to invest within fifty miles of their location. This allows them to visit the office or plant of the investment on a regular basis. As the company starts to fail, the proximity card encourages the angel to try to take over the business investment. This mistake is often made by successful small business people. I'd defer to a study on the odds of attracting an angel to your company. However, my experience suggests that an angel will invest in about one company out of every three hundred that send the angel their business plan. My experience is based upon working with San Francisco Bay Area Venture Capital Clubs over a decade ago. Given the greater investment interest today, your odds may be better than 1-in-300. Eighty-five percent of small businesses fail. Among the 15% that succeed are franchises and professional offices. My guess is that an angel has about one chance in ten of making money on a risk capital investment. The angels think they can beat the odds. They're wrong. Most attorneys, accountants and medical doctors achieve their social position and income by believing what they read. As a student, if you question the data in a textbook, you are unlikely to pass the final exam. This pattern of read and believe gets the student from first grade to medical school or law school. Believing what you read in a business plan is often a mistake. Professionals tend to believe the written word. Doing so as the basis of a risk capital investment is fatal. As more than one professional has told me when they turned in their wings, "I guess I'll have to raise my fees to offset my business loss." I've often wondered if barring professionals as angels wouldn't lower legal and medical costs. Small business owners believe they are "smarter than the average bear." It's their ego that often clouds their judgment. If you don't believe that you've made a mistake, you'll dump more money into a black hole investment. It's this group that are most likely to turn in their wings as they file for Chapter 11. "There's a time to hold them and a time to fold them." Successful small business people don't believe in folding. There are always angels coming into the Market. We live in boom times. The population of angels is growing. If you can catch a nearby angel, do it. It's best to catch them before they see the financial fire that awaits most of them. As with buying lottery tickets, there are a few successful angels. I'd like to see a study of how long they last, if they beat the investment odds. Published February 2000 About The Author William Cate has been the Managing Director of Beowulf Investments [http://home.earthlink.net/~beowulfinvestments/] since 1981 and is the Executive Director of the Global Village Investment Club [http://home.earthlink.net/~beowulfinvestments/globalvillageinvestmentclubwelcome/]
MORE RESOURCES:
Investing - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
The Arrow-Debreu Contingent Claims Model of Investment Throughout the discussion of speculation and stability, we emphasized that uncertainty theorists now have a generally accepted framework for modeling choice under uncertainty. Economic theorists have chosen to model uncertainty as the revelation of a state of the world. Gold; What Type of Gold to Buy JewelryThe advantages are:? Gold Jewelry is the easiest of the gold to buy and has the enjoyment of being able to be worn.The disadvantages are:? Retail Jewelry is often marked up by 300% or more in the shops. For Entrepreneurs A SIMPLE Plan May Be Best Q: I own a small decorating business and I'll be the first to admit that I don't know anything about taxes or retirement plans. I'd like to set up a 401(k) or an IRA or some other kind of retirement plan for me and my three employees. Global Markets: A Window on the World Economy Expectations drive the market. Every stock price is driven by what people expect the company to do. Better Investing Made Easy If there were one piece of advice that an investor could ask for, the question would probably be something like "What do I need to do to invest better?" Better investing choices are sought by investors every day. Some find them and succeed, others do not. Maniac Investment Let's first understand what maniac means. According to Webster a maniac is "mad; raging with madness; raging with disordered intellect". The Switzerland of Asia Shines In many respects, Singapore is the Switzerland of Asia.Begun in 1819 as a British trading colony, the Republic of Singapore was founded in 1965 under the leadership of the current Prime Minister's father, Mr. Investing in Car Dealerships: How to Do It Right The financial characteristics of the automobile dealership are attractive:". . Trading Is Not Rocket Science! Despite what some people may lead you to believe; day trading, swing trading and trend trading is not anywhere as difficult as they would like you to think. It really boils down to two key components. Real Estate Clubs Hot Among Investors Six or seven years ago, the stock market was booming, Internet companies that no one had ever heard of were valued at billions of dollars, and anyone and everyone was investing their money in tech stocks. Then, in 2000, the stock market crashed, the Internet companies closed their doors, investors lost trillions of dollars, and life went back to normal, more or less. Franchise Opportunity Sellers Beware; franchise buyers lie on forms? It seems completely absurd that franchise buyers lie about their financial position, available cash and abilities in order to buy a franchise. After spending 8 years setting up franchises around the nation and fielding inquiries I am appalled at the lack of integrity of the average business buyer. The Past Does Not Equal The Future: Mutual Fund Returns! A way that investors get ripped off and in a sense rip themselves off is based on the culture of performance in the mutual fund industry. If you stop and think about it there is absolutely no reason that the past has to equal the future. Invisible Mutual Fund Fees Erode Your Returns! Many investors think that investing in mutual funds is free. What nonsense! Funds collect more than $50 billion a year in fees from investors. Creating a Financial Future - Putting Your Plan Into Action Part 1 This column has previously discussed "picturing the future that we desire", and outlining a plan to achieve it. We mentioned that the plan must include goal-setting, measurement, and implementation. Trading Systems A trading system consists of a set of rules for viewing markets and making trades. The advantages of trading systems can be hidden when they become associated with trading platforms involving trade order submission and processing. Poll Names Coin Laundries Best Investment For 2005 According to Morton Pollack, CEO of PWS, The Laundry Company and editor of the newsletter, "Historically, laundry owners have been a quiet group. Knowing they are onto a good thing, they've been pretty reticent. Your Portfolio and "Old Ironsides" The USS Constitution first ventured into the waters in 1798. From there she became an icon of durability and success. Success Trading: Yet More Basic Terminology for New Traders In this day and age of online brokers for virtually every market out there, there are some very useful tools that will help protect your account and lock in profits when you have them. It is our recommendation that you use a good online broker and take advantage of not only the low commissions they offer, but also the automated tools that are available. Brain Snappers and Other Wall Street Nonsense The last time you spoke with your broker did he use any of the following words? Diversification, Price-to-earnings ratios, discretionary trading, lifting a leg (he's talking to you not your dog), leverage, divergence, fee-based compensation, escalator clause, tactical asset allocation and other mesmerizing words to place you in stupefying shock.Brokers do that to let you know that you don't know anything about the market and you must allow them to make decisions for you. Success Trading for New Traders: What Does Bid and Ask Mean? Do you ever wonder exactly what's going on in the trading pits after you've sent an order to purchase stock? You've no doubt seen market quotes either online or even in the newspaper. Have you noticed that there are always two sets of prices given? What exactly do those mean and where will my order get filled? Let's discuss the basics of the two prices you see.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
