Capital is the third and, for most entrepreneurs, the most challenging cornerstone in building a strong foundation for their Small to Medium-sized business. We have met a lot of entrepreneurs in the last 30 years working in this sector, but you could count on one hand the number of them who did not struggle with working capital from time to time.  As any experienced business person knows, great ideas and talent can only go so far without the application of capital.

To this end, Momentum Network is working to assemble a series of capital-based relationships with strategic partners who understand the specialized requirements of SMBs working to exploit the fast-paced opportunities when using the FlatWorld-Platform.




Principal Protection Strategies

Momentum Network and SMB-Capital have established a strong relationship with Trust Asset Group LLC, to provide a dramatic risk reduction strategy to Investors, Lenders and Entrepreneurs.  This valuable service creates a true “win-win” system to protect investor principal.  It helps both investors and entrepreneurs.  Term sheets can be more flexible and fair for both when both groups “KNOW” that the capital will be returned in a reasonable period of time.

The Principal Protection Strategy™ utilizes an irrevocable trust that acquires an A+ rated Insurance Instrument, to guarantee an amount equal to the total principal invested in any project or company.  This means an investor can realistically plan to receive a minimum of ALL his initial principal back (when the instrument matures), if the business fails for ANY reason.  These innovative, but proven strategies simplify the funding process and allow more conservative investors to become “players” in the exciting venture and growth funding arena.
 
Principal Protection Strategies make sense for all private funding sources and many institutional investors as well.  Even investors that like to “roll the dice” with their venture funding, will be able to commit larger amounts of money if there is an A+ rated safety net that guarantees to return an amount equal to their principal over time.

Capital Risk and the uncertainty related to financial projection accuracy cause many start-up, growth or emerging companies to fail to secure the funding they so desperately need.  Either the companies can’t get funded at all, or the terms entrepreneurs are forced to accept are so onerous, it makes almost no sense to close the funding deal.
  
Please contact Mel Masters or Chuck Reese at (415 ) 485-4400 or e-mail Sales@MomentumNetwork.com





Equipment Leasing 
Printing Presses, Vehicles, Aircraft (bigger is better), Full-sized 'Tonka Toys' for earth moving, construction or remodeling, all of these and more...  If you have positive cash flow and your equipment package is valued at $30,000 to $50,000 or more, you should contact us.  Not all categories are of interest to our SMB-Capital participating lenders, but if you contact us with a brief description of what you are trying to finance, we can give you a quick answer to whether or not we might have a home for your deal.


Momentum Affiliate Licensees & Specialty  Equipment Packages:
This is an area where our close ties with our SMB-Capital participating lenders can benefit Momentum Network Affiliates better than most leasing operations. Our Momentum Business Coaches generally need similar equipment to run their operations. This can include specialty-branded automobiles, vans and travel trailers in addition to integrated packages of video and computer equipment.. To the degree that most of our Momentum Licensees use similar configurations in this specialized equipment, we can intervene with our SMB-Capital members and offer recourse for these lenders if the lease contract should go bad. In other words, we can help our lenders by refurbishing this equipment and remarketing it to another Momentum Licensee on a priority basis. This additonal quarantee can make a difficult equipment financing deal just a bit easier to get done. Due to the highly specialized nature of Momentum equipment packages, the rates on this program are going to be a bit higher than generic equipment leased with a strong credit rating. However, when you factor in the "opportunity cost" of failing to move quickly to market due to the tight working capital conditions experienced by many new startups, the value of this tightly integrated funding is easy to compare with alternative capital sources. In making our evaluations and recommendations, we actually factor in talent, energy and creative focus as key elements in the funding and evaluation process.



Participation
Sometimes, we find entrepreneurs who are extraordinarily equipped to take advantage of a growth program, but are not in a position to invest the money on the marketing ramp-up that they need. On these occasions, we do participate in their growth by way of a revenue sharing program offset by our investment in marketing and advertising. We are compensated based on revenue growth above a 'pre-defined baseline' -  taken from previous 12 to 18 month measurement period.  These programs can be creatively structured, where the client is in a high margin business (50% or better).  Low margins requiring massive injections of working capital, in advance of reasonable estimates of increases in margin contribution, do not qualify.  For a bit more information related to Momentum-Startup services, click here.

While we do not generally participate with actual venture capital, we never say never. We do find that most startup and very early-stage businesses are best funded by multitasking, personal savings, credit cards, friends and family. We also believe that with many good ideas, a capable entrepreneur is able to just plain sell his / her way out of the starting gate.  Traditional venture capital is tough to land; and for many startups, it may not be the right path.

We urge you to pull your thoughts together, generate a 1-page executive summary and a proforma spreadsheet for the next two years.  Then eMail these documents, along with a current financial statement, to SMB-Capital@MomentumNetwork.com




Links to SMB-Capital Participants & Collaboration Members:
While you my chose to contact one or more of our SMB-Capital participants directly, we would urge you to follow proven process. We have spent many ours developing these business relationships and we know what these capital providers are looknig for in the way of documentation, size, quality and return.  We can save you a lot of running around trying to find a good match if you simply contact us first. We will ask you a lot of questions, we will help you clarify your thinking and we will guide you in the packaging process. We know what sells and what does not -- so work with us to put a presentatioin together that is highly likely to find a home with one of our SMB-Capital participating members.