Congratulations! Starting a yoga studio deserves a round of applause because it comes with many details and decisions to be made along the way. Starting any business is challenging and exciting, yet assistance is often needed at certain touchpoints: securing capital to fully launch your yoga studio is one of them. If you are considering a capital raise, you’ll also want to consider the services of a venture capital consultant to facilitate that capital raise.
In the following paragraphs, we will explore the subject and develop the support details offered by a venture capital consultant.
A “venture capital consultant” is an advisor who comes alongside a business to prepare the executives, staff, operations, products or services, and financial overview of the company with the goal of presenting the best possible picture to potential investors who will attend the capital raising presentation.
The question most often asked is, “Why can’t I take care of this instead of paying for venture capital consulting?” You can. The primary definer isn’t that, as the business owner, you couldn’t take on the responsibility of this level of preparation, the issue is that you, as the business owner, do not typically have enough time to work several hours each day for weeks or months on raising the necessary startup funding, as the day-to-day operations occupy the bulk of your time.
As the venture capital consultant works on the preparation and package of the capital raising presentation, there are several items that will open for decision-making. One of these is the decision to secure capital via a planned approach. Within the capital raise options, there are a multitude of options to secure capital, with some directly solely to startup businesses. These are some options to consider for a new yoga studio:
Debt Capital Raising
This form of capital raising is dependent on loans from external sources that will finance a startup or expanding new business, such as a yoga studio. The benefits of debt capital raising is that large amounts of money may be loaned at fairly low-interest rates, which gives the owner a secure foothold to start and/or expand a yoga studio. Also, there is no commensurate equity foothold allowed into the business, so the owner retains full control of the business. The downside is that the loan is repaid with interest on a timely schedule, which may be difficult for a new business to execute.
Equity Capital Raising
Capital raising via equity is another means of startup or expansion funding for a new business. The advantage for a new business in this type of raising is that repayment does not need to occur on a regular basis, if at all. Interested equity investors will purchase stock in the business and own a percentage offered with their agreed-upon amount of capital. The downside is that the investors who take advantage of an equity capital purchase will own part of the company and that may affect the direction of the company in the years ahead.
Hybrid (Convertible) Capital Raising
A hybrid raising is one that combines the benefits of both debt and equity capital raising. Many investors prefer this type of raising for the protections it offers; consequently, the pool of interested investors may be larger than another type of offer. A hybrid offer is especially useful for startup companies because the arrangement allows immediate funding, with a pre-assigned equity share in future rounds of equity building.
SMART Capital Raising
This form of capital raising is directed at startup companies. A Simple Agreement for Future Equity is prepared by the business that is raising funds, which essentially states the owner or stakeholders of the business will take the investment funds with the debt to be paid off at a later time in the form of equity shares after the full valuation of the business is complete.
The listed forms of capital raising above are only a few of the options available and your venture capital consultant will be able to assist in choosing the format that best suits your business needs.
Starting a yoga studio is a wise endeavor, given the number of yoga aficionados in the world. With careful planning and dedication to the yoga studio, there will be additional rounds of securing capital for expansion as the months go by. Capital raising is an efficient and effective way to build your business to great heights; using a venture capital consultant will pave the way each time you approach investors or lenders.