Family Fun Center
Name: Charles Whitman
Industry: Family Fun Center
Goal: To obtain funding to build a family fun center.
Goal Reached: $2MM in Equity Funding
Overview
Charles Whitman had always dreamt of one day opening up a Family Fun Center that would provide good, wholesome enjoyment for families looking to save a few dollars in the process.
Unlike smaller retail-style establishments though, a Family Fun Center requires quite a bit of space and considerable build out to make it attractive to customers. Charles estimated his project would need at least $2,000,000 in equity funding from interested investors to get the project off the ground.
Goals
- Lease, build out, and launch Family Fun Center
- Prepare a comprehensive business plan to detail the use of proceeds
- Obtain at least $2 million in equity funding
Approach
Whenever an entrepreneur is seeking capital, especially when it’s $2 million, investors are going to expect to see a well thought-out strategy for using that capital. This strategy is best articulated in a strong business plan.
Charles worked directly with the Invstor.com Business Analyst team and our expert business plan writers to refine the goals of his company and the necessary capital requirements.
We knew that the biggest challenge Charles would face would be structuring his financial projections so that his large capital requirements would be met with a clear go-to-market strategy for how he would make the company profitable.
The next step was to identify potential investors that had an affinity for destination establishments that appealed to families. This kind of research requires Invstor.com to understand the individual portfolios of its investors as well as their personal investing habits so that Charles didn’t waste time talking to the wrong investors about the wrong project.
Success
Armed with a very strong business plan strategy and the list of investors to approach, Charles was able to secure over $2,000,000 in equity funding from a group of strategic investors that believed his plan was solid.
What Charles has to Say
“I got the investor matching and business planning services …. We were amazed at the response and have been extremely impressed with your company and staff”
Funding Lessons
Charles had all the ingredients of a successful entrepreneur – he had experience in the family fun center space, he had a strong vision for a product that people wanted, and he knew exactly how to approach the market. What he was lacking was a way to translate those ingredients into a package that investors could understand.
Sometimes having all the right ingredients isn’t enough. It’s how you prepare them.
Investors evaluate your business in small, successive parts. It starts with the right introduction (which helps if you know you’re talking to the right person). It continues with the right initial documents to review, whether that’s an executive summary, pitch deck or just the right well-written email.
A successful capital raise considers the fact that every part of the investor courting process is well-prepared and positioned. Great ideas become funded ideas when they have the right preparation.
Summary
Charles is an Entertainment Entrepreneur who needed to raise $2MM in capital to help fund his family fun center. After contacting Invstor.com, we helped Charles get prepared to pitch investors with a professional business plan. Once completed, we coached Charles and enrolled him in the investor matching service. Through these connections, Charles was able to raise over $2MM in funding for his family fun center.