"I should be able to find business startup funding in a few months"

Yeah right. It may take years!

So if you anticipate that you'll need business startup funding anywhere in the near future, you'd better begin the search now. There are several complicating factors that you'll encounter on your search for business startup funding. After all, landing a million bucks from a startup investor isn't just a stroll through the park!

The first thing to consider is how fundable your business truly is. It may turn out that you're not actually ready for capital due to a number of reasons. Have you exhausted all other growth avenues and do you absolutely need funding in order to scale your business? Is your business fundable in the first place? Do you have a proven business model with paying customers?

Many investors will want to see this before even thinking twice about funding your venture. These are just a couple of the many factors to consider before even beginning your investment search.

When you have established that your business is indeed fundable, then you're ready to begin the hunt for a suitable investor. Thanks to Invstor.com, this part is now a lot easier. You can search for and contact thousands of potential investors on The Invstor.com Network.

You'll need to find an investor that makes a great match for your company. This new relationship is crucial to the success of your business. Just because they can provide you with money, doesn't mean that you want to take it. Is the investor able to help you in any other way such as offering advice and direction supported by previous experience in your industry?

Once you've found the ideal investor, then the negotiation process begins. This can take several iterations to get right and may ultimately never work out. You have to prepare the financials (and do them over and over) before your meeting. This step can be worked on while you are still making your initial search for potential investors. Once you meet the investor in person, you'll need to negotiate the amount of funding required. This may take several meetings.

When this is settled, you'll get the term sheet. The term sheet will ultimately need approval from both parties - this will take some "massaging" before it finally goes through.

If all goes well and the stars are correctly aligned, you'll successfully land your business funding. Unfortunately, most of these meetings don't result in a successful match. You may have to go through this process dozens of times before the ideal partnership occurs.