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Posts Tagged ‘how to take your company public’

Business Owners: Build A Corporate Structure That Investors Love! Ok, you’ve decided to go after investment capital but you’re not sure where to start. Here are the basics that you should pay close attention to before putting your company in front of investors.

First and foremost you need to perform an industry analysis that answers the questions pertaining to where you are in the industry and who are your competitors. It doesn’t matter what product or service you offer. You could be selling underwater sock fitting kits and there is a competitor and industry leader somewhere in the world. Don’t be so naive in thinking that there is no competition or that you are at the pinnacle of your industry. Show your audience that you’ve done your research and that you’ve identified the players in your market.

Next get your executive team together and it better be the who’s who in your industry. If you can’t attract the upper echelon of your industry genre then you need to do some serious PR on behalf of your individual executive team to show the public what they are made of. Brand them as the up and coming powerhouse executives in the industry. Publish their articles and knowledge on industry blogs and article submission sites. When a funding source initiates general due diligence you need to shine like a lighthouse in the fog. Each and every executive team member needs to have an image that screams power, success and investor security.

The next thing you need to do is take a serious look at your board of directors. Who is on your board, what is their compensation and is there someone that is a better fit for formulating strategies and alliances than those who are currently populating your director staff.

One of the main reasons that investors turn down companies for funding is because they lack the backup of industry players in connection to strategic alliances. You need to identify and contractually reach out to companies that will enhance your overall business strategy. Your minimum goal should be 10 solid, aged companies that have already branded their names in the marketplace and are willing to add you to their mix of advertising and ongoing strategy and they will expect the same from you. Show investors that it’s not just you treading water in the industrial whirlpool and that you’ve built a life preserver of alliances.

Now you are ready to write a business plan and private placement memorandum that takes all the essential elements above and puts them in two well authored and to the point documents that will make an interesting and informative read for investors who have a track record of investment in your particular industry. If you’ve written your own business plan, toss it. If investors are going to take you seriously you need a professionally written business plan that touches on all the triggers that investors are currently looking for.

Next, it’s best to use the Regulation D, Private Placement Memorandum as the vehicle for staying within SEC guidelines for raising capital and you should use a Direct Public Offering as the process for raising the actual capital. Reaching out to friends, family, industrial counterparts and alliances should be the first place you go for funding. If you are lucky the consultant you hire to assist you with the above processes will have a solid database of investors to assist you in your initial, first round raise via DPO.

Last but not least you should consider, even though it’s not a mandatory requirement for a PPM or DPO, getting an independent audit done on your company to demonstrate an objective analysis of your financial reality so that investors can find their comfort level quicker without a prolonged comments stage.

There you have it. These are the basics to what it takes to achieve equity investment in this current market. Get out there and raise some money!

Foreign, Indian and Chinese Companies, Take Your Company Public, call Princeton Corporate Solutions at 267-233-0183Take Your Company Public the easy way!

Where Are All The Good Investor Finder Services? Companies raising capital whether trying to get a loan, raise equity capital with a private placement memorandum or go public on the Pink Sheets, OTCBB or any other platform has no doubt been told to find a good investor finder. Sure there are multitudes of membership databases like ‘Angel Funding Project’, one of the industry’s largest and many others but where are the ‘investor finders’ that everyone’s CPA and CFO are talking about?

I’ll tell you where, they’ve discovered how valuable their portfolio of active investors actually is and they’ve teamed up with consultants that take companies public and they provide the 40 initial investors needed to qualify for a public offering and they also help supply the capital that the consultants need in order to facilitate the ‘going public’ process. They have gone from making $2,000 here and $10,000 there, to making $100,000 here and $500,000 there by getting involved in the ultra lucrative world of pre-IPO finance and technical facilitation.

They are going from the headaches of trying to get investors interested in placing money with a goofball who doesn’t think he needs a business plan or PPM to raise capital to getting the red carpet rolled out for them at every term by investment bankers, global broker dealers and companies that desperately want to go public but are working with minimal liquidity.

Quality investor finders are becoming more and more valuable as the economy declines in some regions and remains stagnant in others. Good investor finders no longer sell their services, instead clients and strategic partners must sell them on why they should break open their contact base on their behalf. As the global economy changes, new opportunities are popping up everywhere. Investor finders are being heavily lobbied by Chinese and Indian companies who want to merge their foreign corporation with a public American entity.

Any solid consulting firm can take a company public but few have the contacts to be truly considered full service. If you are interested in taking your company public and have a solid business model, find an IR consultant and sell them on your corporate strategy and if they take you on you’ll be raising capital with lightning speed.

Indian and Chinese Companies, Take Your Company Public, call Princeton Corporate Solutions at 267-233-0183Take Your Company Public the easy way!

For many professionals, entrepreneurs and business owners the current reality of their intercompany and inter industry promotion and prominence is a far cry from where they originally envisioned themselves to be. What is the factor that thrusts some people and companies forward in the professional sense and why are some straggling behind like desperate, obsolete room size computers in a hand held PC world?

Its actually quite simple and it all comes down to a decision… a decision to step up and dominate in a no holds barred, bare knuckle fight to the finish. You need to understand and be comfortable with the reality that not everyone will make it. Most of your colleagues and professional friends are not psychologically or professionally built to last, meaning, they are not willing to do ‘whatever it takes’ to get to that next level.

Here is how it’s done: First, decide on what you want, who you want to be and where you want to go in your career. Second, surround yourself with people that have the above characteristics your are seeking to acquire. Chances are, most of these characteristics will be spread out over several different people as opposed to one or two professional who demonstrate your future self so find 10+ people to become well associated with and begin to pattern them. Don’t just pattern the outward and obvious characteristics but absorb the aura of their overall presents (calm, cool, collect and maybe even arrogant and rude at times).

What are their hobbies and extracurricular interests as these interests are a contributing factor to who they have become. Next, make a decision! Make a decision to overcome any obstacles that stand in your way. Dump friends and associates who are not supportive as they will only hold you back. You should quickly sever ties with any and all counterproductive individuals and interests that keep you from achieving your goal. Next, every morning as you’re getting dressed, brushing your teeth you should also be putting on your psychological garb as well. Slip into the mindset of that person you want to be.

Put blinders on your eyes so there are no distractions. What you will find is that opportunities will seem to fall into your lap because you are willingly submerging yourself into a subculture that has worked for all of those around you who are living the dream that you will soon be part of.

As for domination, you will find that stepping into this new code of conduct and professional character you will begin to steamroll forward, yes some people will be crushed under the wheel of your progress but this is a natural part of evolution. Use the element of arrogance, not in an artificial way that is used by insecure people but in a form of self promotion. Begin to state your opinion on industry specific blogs.

Put out industry niche information videos on viral media sites. Bring internet surfers to your blogs and videos with social and news bookmarking links scattered all over the web. Brand yourself as the ‘god’ of your industry. Your opinion matters and after others see you opinions and concepts enough they will begin to see these ideas as the norm. They will feel that up until now they have been misinformed and uninformed and you are the person on the cutting edge of your industry. As you build momentum, whatever you do, do not stop! As you build traction of growing your own personal ‘brand’ and ‘subculture’ within the industry, this should only influence you to take it one step further with articles submitted to global, high PR article directories and press releases through various channels. This is just the beginning but you are on your way to absolute, industry domination!

Need A Corporate Consultant?, call Princeton Corporate Solutions at 267-233-0183We Can Transform Your Business

As a global corporate strategies firm we are beginning to get many inquiries from foreign corporations that wish to take advantage of the rapid growth capabilities of trading stock in the US. Getting set up with a consulting firm that specializes in fund-raising mechanisms such as private placement memorandum, direct public offering and/or taking one’s company public on the OTCBB can help a foreign entity obtain virtually instant gratification of raising large amounts of capital in an expedient manner.

Chinese companies typically have similar questions and concerns when they contact us such as: How long does it take to go public? What are my options for raising capital with a US structure? Do I need to have an American corporation? How much equity should I give up to the public? Can I merge my Chinese company with my American company to strengthen the American corporation’s asset value? And How do we sell the stock to the public once we have a symbol and are ready to trade?

How long does it take to go public? To go public on the OTCBB you need to have a solid business plan and corporate structure, usually a pre-public round is done with a Private Placement Memorandum to offer discounted stock in return for equity seed capital that will fund the ‘go public process’. This process can take a few weeks to a few months, it all depends on the deal and what you’re offering the investors at this stage. Next you’ll want to do your third-party audit and your S1, after your audit is done and your S1 is filed you’ll enter into the ‘comments’ stage where the SEC is going back and forth with you or your lawyer or your consultant (whoever is helping you go public). The comments stage can be anywhere from a couple weeks to a few months, the more unorganized the company, the longer the audit and comments stage will take to complete. The average for an organized company with the audit and S1 prep done simultaneously is around 4 to 6+ months (the more unorganized the company the longer it takes).

What are my options for raising capital with a US structure? Raising capital in the US happens quicker than in other countries because of the vast wealth in North America and its position in the global market place. Invest-able deals are all in the eye of the investor. The challenge is getting in front of investors with a track record of investing in your particular industry genre.

Do I need to have an American corporation? Yes, to go public in the United States, you need to have an American corporation. This doesn’t necessarily mean that it has to become your primary corporation. You can use one corporation as your operational entity and one as a subsidiary but to strengthen and stabilize your share price you’ll need to eventually show growth and assets in your US entity.

How much equity should I give up to the public? This is a decision that will be made with your attorney and Board of Directors and the decision is based off of your company’s industry position, the value of empirical assets like equipment, contracts, patents, current foreign based share holders etc.

Can I merge my Chinese company with my American company to strengthen the American corporation’s asset value? Yes absolutely. This is the most popular technique to show current and future shareholders that your company will be a long term public player. The more asset ‘skin’ you are able to put in the game in the beginning the better for the longevity of your enterprise.

How do we sell the stock to the public once we have a symbol and are ready to trade? During your ‘going public’ process you’ll be attached to a market maker. The market maker, your consultant and your publicist (if you don’t have one your consultant will find one for you) will work together at all fronts to help you leverage your new public entity. Your publicist will have authors in newspapers and magazines do write-ups on your company as they help you label yourself globally as a new industry powerhouse, each of your executive team members will also have their own publicity strategies going as well so that your publicist can place them on expert TV and radio panels as industry experts which brings website visitation, new distribution opportunities, personal and corporate branding and investor confidence which is all conducive to an increase in your share price. All of this will bring call volume into your market maker while they are selling your stock to new contacts as well as calling on their established database of investors. The process is typically audited quarterly by your consultant to find dead weight or weaknesses and tighten everything up.

Using the public fundraising strategies based in the US is a wise decision to grow your business. Finding the right consultant is crucial. The right consultant can make or break your efforts to go public in the United States.

Go Public With Your Company, call Princeton Corporate Solutions at 267-233-0183Take Your Company Public the easy way!

OK, so you’ve just spent 5 months to a year in the process of going public. You’ve paid fat fees to auditors, consultants and lawyers, now you’re public…now what? How do you make a success of your new public company? Obviously you have solid executives at the helm and a board of directors advising you on various strategies and setting up new strategic alliances. You’ve eyed up companies to purchase as growth through acquisition is one of the main reasons for being public but how do you keep your stock selling and stable? How can you make it so your company stands head and shoulders above all other priorities of your market maker or broker dealer? You need to make their phone ring by pounding the pavement via public relations and pure publicity.

A sizable portion of your corporate budget as a public company has to be publicity. You need a publicist that will get you on the radio and on television as an industry expert. You need to be mentioned in newspaper and magazine articles. You have to create a presence that forces people to call their brokers to get information about your company and make a move toward stock purchase.

You must take an ‘in your face’ approach to your public relations strategy and your CEO and even your CFO have to take this as their full time occupation until the company gets the traction it needs and then after you have gained traction, take it up a notch with a simultaneous approach of both publicity and product placement to start rapidly building your brand.

After this, again you should take it up another notch by adding publicity solely to market makers and broker dealers. Get published and buy ad space in journals that cater to this crowd. Do the dog and pony show rounds. Introduce yourself. Tell these industry specialists about your plans for the company this year. Leak out some potential acquisition info that can act as a juicy tidbit to get them to dig deeper.

Now you’re ready to take it up a notch again; be seen with the in crowd. By in crowd we mean other professional executives within your industry genre, not competitors but potential strategic partners, get snapshots taken and have your publicist start the hype machine and remember, anything even remotely ‘note worthy’ should have its own press release sent out to the masses!

Need A Corporate Consultant?, call Princeton Corporate Solutions at 267-233-0183We Can Transform Your Business

Becoming a publicly traded company is an exciting and rewarding experience. The following sets forth the method, steps, fees and estimated timetable to go public on the OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB) ‘from scratch’, or through a self-filing and discusses the 1934 Exchange Act responsibilities after a company’s registration statement has gone effective (after the company has become publicly traded):

Prior to filing the registration statement, a company that wishes to go public must first obtain an audit of the Company’s financial statements for the past two fiscal years. For most companies, the financial audit can be completed in about a month and costs typically range between $5,000 and $25,000, depending on the complexity of the company financials.

A public company will also need shareholders. To that end, if additional shareholders are needed, the company going public will need to complete a self-underwritten Regulation D, Rule 506 offering in which the company sells shares of its stock to investors for real consideration. This is not a difficult task, so long as you have a properly prepared private placement memorandum (PPM) and you follow the relatively simple rules of Rule 506. The price per share and number of shares offered can be determined by the Company, but most registered broker-dealers that will eventually submit a Form 211 for an OTC Bulletin Board quotation prefer to have a minimum of 400,000 shares distributed among the investors.

In addition to the minimum number of shareholders requirement, a company must have free-trading shares, called the ‘float’, in order to go public. Upon completion of the private offering and the financial audit for the prior two fiscal years, an S-1 Registration Statement must be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to register the shares sold in the private placement, thus creating the free trading shares. The completion of the S-1 process with the SEC will make the Company a 1934 Exchange Act reporting company, which is required in order to obtain a quotation on the OTC Bulletin Board. The SEC will review the S-1 and provide comments within 30 days from the filing date. Comments from the SEC typically relate to the terms of the offering, the Company’s business and its financial statements. It usually takes between 2 to 3 months for the SEC to approve a registration statement on Form S-1 and for the S-1 to become effective. However, the actual amount of time will depend on the level of review and number of comments given by the SEC and the corresponding response time by the Company in filing its amendments.

Shortly after filing the S-1 registration statement with the SEC, a market maker must be ‘engaged’ to file a Form 211 application with FINRA for the purposes of obtaining a quotation of its common shares on the OTC Bulletin Board. It is important to note that market makers cannot receive compensation for making a market in a stock, thus typically you must have connections to accomplish this. The timetable for approval of the Form 211 process is approximately 3 weeks to 5 weeks. However, the Form 211 will not be approved until the S-1 is approved by the SEC since the approval of the S-1 provides the “free trading” shares necessary to obtain the OTC Bulletin Board quotation.

The completion of the entire process to become a public company typically takes approximately 3 to 4 months from completion of the private offering and financial audit, however, the actual time could vary based on the factors discussed herein. If done right, with planning, hard work, the proper foresight, and a good firm guiding you through the process, going public is a truly exciting and rewarding experience.

Take Your Company Public, call Princeton Corporate Solutions at 267-233-0183Take Your Company Public the easy way!

I consult in the turnaround sector with public companies on the Pinks, OTCBB, London Exchange, Frankfurt Exchange and every exchange in-between and everyone seems to have the same issue: there stock isn’t trading at the price they desire and they are dying to find a way to fix the problems that are hindering their trade. It usually comes down to a few basic elements. Use each of these elements with caution as this industry is full of predatory organizations and consultants and can be dangerous to amateurs. If you’re a newbie, that’s ok. Do what you can but know when you are in over your head and turn the remaining process over to people that swim with sharks for a living.

Public company structuring and turnaround strategies typically center around the elements of: corporate publicity, individual executive publicity, lack of an experienced publicist, lack of strategic alliances and lack of the proper promotion that is conducive to getting stock investors to pull the trigger.

Corporate publicity can be broken down into the immediate and ongoing use of: press releases, viral marketing video and article submission, corporate blogs, investor relations, market maker or broker dealer that is affective and of course the almighty strategic alliances that build hype and build power behind your brand.

Another major component that most companies are lacking is ‘Individual Executive Publicity’ by use of press release, viral market: video uploads with interviews and how to type material, article submission and personal blogs that center around the particular industry genre issues. It is important to make each executive stand out like a beacon in the industry and to press the reality or create the reality that your executive staff is composed of the who’s who of your industry.

Next you’ll need a corporate publicist with a focus on getting your CEO, CFO and/or corporate executives on TV and radio panel discussions as industry authority as well as newspaper and magazine articles and interviews about your company and its executives.

Don’t forget the importance of ‘Strategic Partnerships’. Announce new partnerships with multiple press releases, photo ops and articles. Pick strategic partners that have name recognition or are about to be in the public eye to piggy back off of the publicity they are receiving.

If you are an OTCBB or Pink Sheets company email campaigns to stock Investors are a quick way to get a nice bump in exposure and stock price but too many of these campaigns done the wrong way can hurt your company so be careful. Your investor relations consultant should have you listed on multiple stock alert services that run ongoing back to back. And the last but not least, the old fashion snail mail ‘Direct mail to stock investors’ can be the added bang to your stock price rising and stabilizing.

Turning around a company can and expensive proposition today but can increase your company’s value exponentially if done by an experienced professional. It’s a process that’s worth it to companies with an eye toward longevity.

Need A Corporate Consultant?, call Princeton Corporate Solutions at 267-233-0183We Can Transform Your Business

Many companies have a unique service or product but either lacks the capital or know-how to go public. Going public slams open the doors to massive global capital possibilities and massive partnering and strategic growth capabilities. A financially broke company should never try to go public to raise money to stay afloat as you’ll only attract the fee based predatory consultants who make their money on individual fee oriented services without the ability to bring it all together in a turn-key solution so in the end there is no accountability.

The prototypical company that will succeed in going public is either a profitable and mature company or a start-up with contracts in place for capitalization and patented and/or proprietary technology or systems that give it a massive edge over competitors. The decision to go public should be based in the desire for rapid growth and capitalization. The qualities of a company that will succeed on the public forum is one with a solid executive staff, experienced board of directors and a service that is recession proof (Yeah I know, what business is recession proof?), and finished with the actual developmental stage with a solid product or service and identified partners and distribution sources.

If you realistically have a chance at going and staying public you’ll attract consulting firms and/or broker dealers and market makers and many times law firms that focus on taking companies public in return for minor upfront fees and a solid equity position. Be careful not to sign on with a company that does not offer a ‘one stop shop’ or turn-key solutions which includes everything if you are going to be paying an upfront fee and equity. Many solid firms will ask for both fee and equity compensation and it’s worth it if they are truly capable of delivering a full range of services.

You should have a polite yet rigorous interview process with the firm before signing on. The ideal situation for a company going public is to partner with a consulting firm or broker dealer who offers absolutely everything you will need to succeed in the pre-IPO and post-IPO market. Expect to pay a fee for corporate structuring, business plan, private placement memorandum and Direct Public Offering to the firms database of investors (if they do not offer an introduction service to investors you should not take them seriously as a full service consulting firm as they are only offering you a sandwich without the bread).

Parts that a consulting firm will partner on if they can truly take your company public from A to Z is the initial Direct Public Offering to an in house group of investors who will invest the capital needed to pay for the audit (though many times this will have to come out of your pocket even if you team of with the best firms in the business), S1 filing and comments, SEC and FINRA approval and ultimately to the point where a market maker or broker dealer is selling your securities to the public. Sometimes it’s good to just hire a company that is strictly fee based for your ‘going public’ ambitions but be prepared to pay hefty fees. If you are a solid corporation with a realistic chance at going public, you’ll be able to tell by the tone that consulting firms have with you when you engage them in the initial phone consultation. If you’re ready to go public, a proper consultant will be able to identify your position in the market place to fill in the blanks.

Foreign, Indian and Chinese Companies, Take Your Company Public, call Princeton Corporate Solutions at 267-233-0183Take Your Company Public the easy way!

When an investor is looking at your business they are obviously looking for the basics: an executive team that has worked with other companies in your industry at the exact stage you are at now with a solid track record of success, an active advisory board that is eager to help and has a solid comprehension of your industry, a board of directors that acts as your company’s strategic think tank and action center where the tough issues get dealt with and questions get answered. Investors also want to see that you are in a growth industry and that all involved have the discipline to step out of the emotional ups and downs of a start up or company seeking capital and look at the business objectively.

All this said, the one aspect to creating a salivating group of investors is your massive and powerful strategic partner database. These partners are able to enhance your company is ways of distribution, sales, contracts, legal, tax etc. The partners that you team up with are often build off of and initiated by the rapport of your executive staff, board of advisers and board of directors. Your corporate attorney and accountant should also contribute heavily to helping you build strategic alliances with like minded companies in their client base. These companies that you are teaming up with allow for rapid expansion and optimal eye candy for people that are interested in placing capital with your company. Having some big names in your corner with the label ‘strategic partner’ just sweetens the pot. Companies thrive and dive on relationships.

If you are considering raising capital with a Regulation D exemption like 504, 505 or 506 (also referred to as a Private Placement Memorandum) chances are, your company will be funded by angel investors, private investors and other private equity money sources. Having a powerful partnership base is like adding a blanket and warm milk to your business plan and PPM when handing if off to the investor, it’s soothing and comforting to see that you’re not alone but you have some big names helping you on the road to success.

Are you thinking about taking your business public? The same thing goes. The public wants to see that you are in bed with big names who can step in and help your company out of a tight spot and that you can co-op advertisements and promotional campaigns together.

Raising capital is easier when you are moving forward with establish partnerships to ease the weight of the load and stress that comes with a growing company.

For Strategic Alliances or Investor Finder Services, call Princeton Corporate Solutions at 267-233-0183Take Your Company Public the easy way!

Corporate strategies’ consulting is, in its truest essence, a dirty business. Few understand this tiny, yet elite genre of consulting and even fewer are masters of its concepts. The same principles applied by this select faction of specialist should be applied by CEO’s and company executives in all industries.

First and foremost, executives must understand the idea of power. There are certain unbreakable laws necessary for the ascension of professionals to positions of influence and power within an organization or industry. Here are a few of the concepts applied by serious corporate strategies consultants that are mandatory prerequisites for the rise and maintenance of power in the corporate world.

The individual seeking to take a position of power must possess the ability to customize and facilitate a turn-key solution to transform the fate of a crumbling company. They must have the ability to construct an infrastructure that perpetuates growth and stimulates longevity and stability. Power, in a corporate sense, is purely economic without excuses of any kind that is driven by greed, self assured stamina and the inability to accept anything but a number one position in their specific industry genre.

The ability of an individual to prompt a capable executive group to ‘die hard’ action and a no holds barred mentality is what will save a company from being a statistic. The unrelenting passion to win and the tactical action of this executive to strap the burdens of a company and its employees to his back and take responsibility for all that is to come, good and bad, to absorb the stress, anguish and deprivation of sleep due to mission focus are characteristics of a leader that will step into any company in any situation and deliver them from failure to profitability and growth.

This individual will assimilate into a battle while forcing the war to transfer its current to his terms. He can break through industrial and bureaucratic chaos and capture the essence of the obstacle and create multiple synergetic strategies to inject the corporate growth engine with rocket fuel. An executive primed for corporate power wears a velvet glove over an iron fist and is quiet and calm yet calculating in demeanor. He can step into negotiations composed and cool while simultaneously eying up the jugular of everyone in the room, scanning those present for weakness and chinks in their armor, preparing for psychological attack at the perfect time to press the mission of his agenda that much further adding security to his company.

This individual will not fall for the false lore of friendship from potential competition but will reciprocate like a gentleman to those initiating camaraderie while keeping them at arm’s length and will always release enough rope to allow those around him to hang themselves if it means strengthening his company and position in his industry. The executive who has achieved the art of power will be able to prick the underlying wound of his target to find weakness then step back and watch them self-destruct as it is easier to do this then verbally pointing out the individual on the executive team who is the weakest link.

Most professionals who have mastered the above find themselves in consulting positions and are hated by their client’s employees but loved by the shareholders. If you own a business or are in a senior position at a corporation, try applying some of these characteristics to your daily repertoire and watch the response of those around you. You’ll find that you will naturally fall into a position of power because of the strength that these characteristics hold in the psyche of those around you. You’ll become the problem solver and the ‘go to’ guy who has a reputation for being able to structure any situation so that your company lands on top. Get ready for rapid promotion, real leaders are hard to find and will usually take a bidding war to keep.

Need A Corporate Consultant?, call Princeton Corporate Solutions at 267-233-0183We Can Transform Your Business