The Keys to Standing Out in a Difficult Economy

There's no denying it: business is slow these days. Two months ago my phone was ringing off the hook and I was turning away clients due to too much work. These days I am only talking to a few potential clients each day.

We are in the midst of a very difficult economy. Small business owners and entrepreneurs are taking a wait-and-see approach to the credit market and putting projects on hold. And yet I am seeing many more email inquiries and getting alot more requests from established companies.

Despite the credit crunch, it is an ideal time to get started with planning your business so that you can stand out from the crowd when it does come time to get funding.

Loans and credit lines are tight, but that doesn't mean that financing has dried up completely. Equity financing is still available for great business opportunities. Many investors are looking for places other than the stock market to put their funds to use. They are willing to take the risk on a well thought out business idea.

The keys to finding financing in today's economy are the same as they have always been - you just need to execute even better than ever before and put in a little extra work:

Have a compelling business opportunity. A great idea, a vision on how to achieve success, and a plan on how to maximize performance. You will need to demonstrate all of the traits that investors have always wanted to see in a great business plan: an innovative solution to a problem, with demonstrated demand, sustainable competitive advantages, positive financial potential, and a committed management team who's been there and done that.

Tell your story in a clear, compelling way that that stands out from the stack. A downturn is generally a good time to start a business, but with a flood of displaced workers hoping to launch their own business will create a lot of entrepreneurs competing for a shrinking pool of capital. In order to succeed, you need to put a lot of time and effort into developing a killer business plan, practicing your elevator pitch, creating amazing presentations, establishing an executive summary, financial forecast, website, and more.

Perseverance. Even in the best of times, raising money is a hard job. The same process that may have taken three to six months might now take as long as a year. For some entrepreneurs, it will take extra patience and communications to sell your idea to the right investors.

This is not the first down-turn we've seen and it won't be the last, but if you keep your eye on the long-term view you can use these times as a opportunity to grow a successful business.