Venture Capital International

 V.C.I provides a variety of services in the preparation and evaluation of plans for emerging growth-companies, as well as startup enterprises. We can provide everything from a simple evaluation to the preparation of the entire business plan for submission to a potential investor or lender.  NPF can prepare a detailed business plan in a reasonable time frame and cost effective manner.  The plan will include all the necessary information on the company itself as well as the industry it is in.  The plan will also discuss the past performance of the company or the key personnel in the case of a startup operation.  The plan will go into the marketing and implementation of management plans in detail, along with detailed information on each key person in the company.   NPF can also provide all the accounting work required such as pro forma projections, balance sheets, audits and cash flow charts, as well as the recasting of current financial statements.

A business plan is as much of a management tool as it is a document. It should force the management team to think through the business issues facing them, including: what is the product or service, why it is needed, how much it is needed and who needs it.

In addition, the plan should outline what the team has and will do to deliver the products to the customer and create value for the shareholders. The entire management team often participates in developing the plan.

In addition to the above, we will need information regarding:

• The management team
• Existing owners
• An analysis of the opportunity, the industry and competition
• Financial results: historical and projected (income statement, balance sheet and cash flows)

Good business plans come in many flavors. Their organization is varied, the level of detail ranges from little to much, graphics range from non-existent to overwhelming and the plan may be stapled, placed in a three ring binder, or bound. The point is that the content should take precedence over packaging.

Good plans show a systematic approach to analyzing the market opportunity and showing that management will be able to execute.

The following outline provides an idea of what we look for in a good business plan:

Executive Summary

A 2-3 page overview of the business plan. This is typically the first thing that venture capitalists turn to (the second is the section on the management team). The Executive Summary should outline what the company has done so far and what it plans to do in the future, and explain why this is important or valuable.

Areas to cover are what the product or service is, why it is in demand, who will pay money for it and how much, and how large the market is. Additionally it is important to note the progress the company has made in product development and in terms of revenues and other financial measures, the experience and background of the management team, the financing desired and the uses planned for it, and of course how to contact the company.

And don’t forget to add how much in funding dollars you are seeking. Often times, we see Executive Summaries that manage to exclude how much money is being requested. Remember, we want to make it as easy as possible for the investor(s) to make their decisions.

Industry & Market Analysis

This section should explain the basis for the need for the company's product or service, how urgent the need is, and how large the need is.

Questions often covered are: Is the industry new or well-established? Is the need well recognized or still undiscovered? Who are customers: consumers, the government, or businesses? Who are the competitors, what are their abilities and weaknesses, why have they succeeded or failed, what is their market share, etc? Where will competitors be in eighteen months in terms of market position and product capability?

Here a competitive matrix can be useful: comparing you to your competitors in terms of financial performance & resources, target markets, product functionality, product pricing, areas of strength and weaknesses, key customers, and the like.

Target Market

What is your target market and why? What are its dynamics, size, locale, etc? Is it stable or evolving rapidly? Who makes the purchasing decisions and how long is the typical sales cycle? How much of the market can you expect to gain with the resources that you plan to have? What is the competitive pricing situation? What are industry gross margins? What barriers to entry face players in the industry and what regulatory issues must be handled? (If this company is in a regulated industry such as medical or telecommunications, the regulatory section may need to be separate.) Are any customers critical, or do any account for a disproportionate share of your current or forecasted revenues?

The Company & Management

This section should offer a brief history of the company. Explain what business the company plans to be in, what the company does particularly well, and who it is that is doing so - i.e., the management, board, and ownership team.

The management team organization, summaries of each of key management team resumes (with complete resumes provided in the appendix), holes in the team that you plan to fill, all are placed here. Additionally, information on the board of directors is also useful. An ownership table showing all shareholders, the number and type of shares, their percent of ownership, and the options granted and available is another important part of this section. Also note how the company is organized, as an LLC, Sub-S, C Corporation, etc.

Product/Services Offered

This is where you explain what you are selling or planning to sell. Do you have any "unfair" advantages such as patents, copyrights, and the like? Why should customers choose you over the competition, and have they so far? How long should this advantage last if you do nothing more? What will you need to do to create, maintain, or expand upon the advantages (R&D, sales team development, customer partnerships, law suits, etc)? What is the current R&D effort and what are its goals and milestones? What R&D efforts are underway with your competitors.

Marketing & Sales Plan

This section explains how you plan to reach your target customers.

How will you acquire customers, and how much will that cost? What distribution channels do you plan to use, and what methods of marketing communication make sense? Will you build an internal sales force, use independent reps, use telemarketing, etc., and how will you compensate each. What is your revenue and unit break-even, and how does that tie to your sales strategy?

Manufacturing/Operations/Logistics

This section should cover how you design, develop, manufacture the product or provide the service(s).

Is this handled internally or by subcontractors?
Who are key subcontractors and what is their expertise and background?
How proprietary is the design and manufacturing component?
Is manufacturing capital-intensive or people-intensive?
What is capacity utilization on average and at peak?
What economies of scale are possible?
Do you have critical suppliers?

Financial Data

You should provide historical financial data such as income statements, balance sheets and cash flow statements for the past 3-5 years if available, and note whether the results were audited, reviewed by an outside accountant, or compiled. Additionally, year-to-date results should also be provided. Also you should explain significant items in the results, and analyze the trends and key ratios.

The other major component of the financial section is the forecast. Here you should project the next 3-5 years (including the current year) of performance for the income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement, and if appropriate, provide detail on capital expenditures. The projections should be done on both an annual as well as either quarterly or monthly basis, since cash needs during the year can often far exceed cash needs at the end of a year.

The major assumptions behind your projections should be explained. Changes in key ratios from historical results should also be explained. Often it is helpful to show some sensitivity analysis - the effect of changes in key variables such as growth, gross margins, sales cycle, and the like on the income statement and cash position. (Additionally it is useful to provide compensation history and projections on each member of the management team.)

Appendices

Here you should include resumes of the key management members, any product literature or brochures, analyses of the market or industry, or relevant articles that would help an outsider understand the significance of your company and the need that you are meeting.

Thomas S. Duffy is the CEO/ President and Founder of Venture Capital International, LLC, 

a private equity firm, which acts as a gatekeeper for seven private funds.  The firm was set up in 2006 for the purpose of identifying companies most poised for success, primarily in the real-estate, �green� energy efficient technology and pharmaceutical industries, and investing over $200 million dollars of funding into these companies.  With over twenty-five years of experience in merchant banking, extensive networking abilities and business operational knowledge, Mr. Duffy has lead Venture Capital International, LLC to consistently deliver positive financial returns to investors on every project since its inception, with some projects yielding over a 200% return within a twelve to eighteen month period.  Recent projects that Mr. Duffy has selected have included clinical trials, which, after funding, have garnered FDA approval.

Prior to founding Venture Capital International, LLC, Mr. Duffy was President at Tuthill LLC, a commercial and venture capital fund of over $100 million dollars concentrated in the lending of hard money from 1997-2006.  At Tuthill, LLC, Mr. Duffy honed his abilities to negotiate "win-win" deal terms that motivate portfolio company management teams yet provide solid governance, control and protection for investors.  Simultaneously, Mr. Duffy was a Partner at TDI Inc. where he managed over 100 residential real estate projects in the New York Tri-State area, with sales in excess of 1.5 million dollars annually. He spearheaded project development of the waterfront in Jersey City, NJ, and Weehawken, NJ and lead a team of twenty-five in the development of a sixty story residential tower. 

Mr. Duffy is President of the Fairfield Connecticut Chapter of Business Network International and is called upon to act as a Real Estate and Financial Consultant to New York City think-tank, Gerson-Lehman Group. He was awarded National Republican Congressional Committee Businessman of the Year in 2007, New Jersey Better Business Bureau Man of the Year in 2006 and Council Businessman of the Year from 1997-2001 by the Bergen County, New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. Thomas S. Duffy attended Fordham University in New York where he studied business.   

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