Raising Investment in Poland

Hi all,

I am a graduate entrepreneur with a strong transport business start-up which is progressing to market.

I have experience in Poland and am seeking investment into the business in total 50000zl. This can be tranches or whole. I have tried regular channels (banks, EU etc) without success. I am not natural polish person though I am a temporary resident.

Any ideas welcome

Nie Dla Idiotów! Please.

Temporary resident in what sense? Are you EU or non EU? If you're EU, then you'll need the 5 year permit before you can even think about accessing investment money.

What kind of share are you willing to give up in exchange for the investment?

How much have you already invested, and what prior experience do you have?

I'm an EU resident with a registered residency in Poland.

I have spent 8 months working on this project so have extensive knowledge of the market, competition and product.The technical and legal side is complete which is a major obstacle fixed.

50k zl has already been invested.

I'm happy to discuss stakes equity with serious parties.

If you are interested, by all means PM me, I note you are in Poznan too?

Firstly if you have been looking for finance in this year 2009 and the banks have refused you, don't be too disheartened - The general policy in banking in Poland this year is ultra conservative and they are not taking any risk. nada. They want to see if Poland is behind the recession and if things will get worse in 2009 - the good news is that Poland has performed really well this year and confidence is coming back and my opinion is that by the middle of 2010 banks will have more confidence and will be releasing more money. Its a waiting game.

I have alot of experience of raising finance and businessplans and would need to know alot more about how you put the whole thing together in the first place to really help you, but their is an art to dealing with banks and banking in general is conservative in Poland. Its not impossible but they need security which is a very hard thing to create if this is your first business plan and attempt to raise finance - This is one of the reasons why its easier to setup companies and partnerships - there are a number of people in any market or area who are at different stages of business. You may have someone older who has been in business, made money but likes the buzz of business but does not want to be on the frontline and dealing in setup from scratch, hence they want to invest in someone who will put in all the groundwork, they can have boardmeetings and analysis the problems. All businesses encounter the same problems so experience is key to survival, banks want to see some experience on any team, it means less risk and these days the banks have no appetite for risk full stop, the American sub prime market was one of the biggest disasters the world of banking has ever seen and has frightened the life out of the banks.(rightly so)

Equity stakes are a good idea, again before you go looking for investors, invest in legal tax advice and structure a very solid plan for what type of investor you are looking for. If a business person has lots of experience they will talk you into giving them a really good deal, you will think of the money and really just want to get this off the ground and then 4 years later when you are doing all the work and they are getting money for sitting on their behind you will be pissed off.

PLANNING IS THE KEY - don't rush into it if its a good idea it will still be a good idea in 6 months.
Lawyers and accountants (make sure you can trust them) also have other clients and they may be able to introduce you to someone who can invest, but make sure that you know what you are looking for beforehand and that you retain ownership of your idea -

Advertise, what you are doing now - the world may seem like a hostile place at times, a closed shop where its hard to get a lucky break, but I assure you there are people out there. Business is a buzz a drug in ways and many people love the buzz of a new business and will take a risk on a person with drive who wants to make it. I speak from experience. If you don't ask you don't get.

good luck with it.

MKD

MKD,

Thanks.

You are right in much of what you say. I've had the benefit of researching and working on it over a number of months so I know the realities here. It's tough but workable.

Equally I have experience abroad of investors and equity so the rules of the game aren't too different

The advantage of the hard work is that I'm not a dreamy eyed foreigner coming to Poland for big profits as can be the case of the misinformed.

Your experience seems interesting, do drop me a PM if we can talk further

I have not been on this site long enough to be able to PM sorry - also I am due to have a baby anyday which makes things a bit more difficult.

Its always good however to have another opinion - i think it would be a great idea to set up a group that maybe has meetings for foreigners and Polish who would like the benefit of each others experience or to create synergies to help businesses improve. I have been a member of various business groups in ireland from Rotary international to smaller groups and always found them so helpful, I have had some great mentoring from retired people who have left the working world but like to keep the brain active, wow i met some great people who had so much advice and experience and money to contribute to younger business people.

mkd

please PM me with more details

- sector you want to operate in
- age
- nationality
- whether you speak Polish (and level)
- your business experience
- how long before investment planned to become profitable

those 6 things enough at present.