Financing Start-ups

Every sound business in financing start-ups begins with one clear customer and one clear problem. In São Paulo and the wider state, demand is real but crowded, so a small, well-described customer group wins before a broad one.

• In financing start-ups: Founders want money and help; investors want evidence; write both profiles.
• Write the customer in one sentence: a founder and an investor. Add the place, the moment of need and what they use today.
• List five rivals or substitutes within reach. For each, record price, strength, weakness and how people reach it.
• Interview at least eight real customers with open questions. Record exact words, not your summary.
• Count the market in units: how many advisory packages could one area buy in a month? Use two public sources and your own count, then take the lower figure.
• Choose one first segment and say why the others wait.

Activity. Write the one-sentence customer, a five-row rival table and eight interview records. Share them with a peer for a challenge round.

Standard to meet. Define a specific customer, build a rival table with prices, and trace every claim to an interview or a source.

Brazil asks every trader to be visible and accountable. Know which register, tax regime and sector rules apply before the first sale, and check each against the current official text.

• In financing start-ups: Raising money may bring securities rules; confirm what is allowed before offering to the public.
• Choose a legal form: micro-entrepreneur (MEI) only if your activity appears on the official MEI list, or a company registered with a CNPJ. Regulated activities need their sector authorisation first. Check the current limits and lists on the official portal.
• Learn the tax regime that fits your size and write down which taxes you will collect and pay, and when.
• Find the sector rules for financing start-ups: licences, inspections, professional registers. List each with the office that issues it and the renewal date.
• Personal data of customers falls under Brazil's data protection law (LGPD). Collect only what you need, say why, keep it safe, and name who answers questions.
• Consumer law gives buyers clear rights on information, returns and complaints. Put your terms in plain Portuguese.

Activity. Build your own six-line compliance table for your first location. Mark what is done, what is pending and who confirms it.

Standard to meet. Cite an official source for every line, assume nothing, and date every pending item. Local law always wins over this course.

An offer states what the customer gets, how well, by when and at what price. For funding and support for a new firm, the offer must make the quality visible and the next step easy.

• In financing start-ups: Offer stages: small grant or loan first, larger funding after milestones.
• Describe the core offer in three lines: what is delivered (funding and support for a new firm), the standard it meets, and the time it takes.
• Add one proof for each promise: a sample, a test result, a guarantee or a customer record.
• Price from cost upward and from customer value downward, then pick a price inside both.
• Write a simple one-page terms sheet: what is included, what is extra, how to cancel.
• Create two options at most, so choice stays easy.

Longer notes. Define one advisory package a founder can buy for a fixed price: a twelve-month cash forecast, a break-even sheet, a funding-options memo and two review meetings. Write what is included and what is not, such as legal drafting or guaranteeing a loan. Estimate the hours, data checks and meetings behind one package. Offer it first to founders you already know and ask for a written comment afterwards. Do not promise outcomes, and verify the conditions of any funding programme at its source before you describe it to a founder. Collect a one-page intake form before the first meeting, covering sales, costs, debts, owners and goals. A prepared client makes better use of the review meetings, and your hours stay inside the estimate.

Activity. Write the offer card, the proof list and the terms sheet. Test them with three customers and note every point where they hesitated.

Standard to meet. Check that promise, proof and price are consistent, fit the terms on one page, and record three customer reactions.

Good operations make results repeatable. For financing start-ups, write each step so a new person could follow it on their first day, and measure each step.

• In financing start-ups: Process: screen, interview, due diligence, terms, funding, milestone review.
• Map the process from first contact to paid and closed. Typical stages: enquiry, quote, preparation, delivery of the advisory package, check, payment, follow-up.
• Name the key resource at each stage: a milestone plan. Note what happens if it is missing.
• Write a one-page standard procedure per stage: who, what, tool, time, record.
• Choose three measures: speed, quality (errors per 100) and customer rating. Review them every week.
• Fix the cause of a defect, not the symptom. Ask 'why' five times and record the answer.

Activity. Draw the process map and write procedures for the two riskiest stages. Run each once and time it.

Standard to meet. Write procedures a stranger can follow, record weekly numbers for each measure, and trace one defect to a root cause.

The most serious risk in this field is money given without a plan or tracking. A calm, written risk routine protects people first and the business second.

• In financing start-ups: Risk of funding weak plans; score team, market, product and traction.
• List ten things that could go wrong. Score each for how likely (1 to 5) and how serious (1 to 5). Multiply and sort.
• For the top five, choose a control: remove the hazard, replace it, guard it, train people, or use protective gear, in that order of preference.
• Write who does what in an emergency, and rehearse it once a quarter.
• Keep an incident and near-miss log. Near-misses are free lessons.
• Check that insurance and legal duties match the risk you actually carry.

Activity. Build a ten-row risk register and a one-page emergency plan. Run a ten-minute drill with a peer and note two improvements.

Standard to meet. Rank controls by preference for the top risks, run the drill, and start the log. Where a regulation applies, follow the official rule.

People deliver the promise. Define roles, train to a standard and give feedback in the open.

• In financing start-ups: Train the review panel on fair scoring and conflicts of interest.
• Write a role card for each person: purpose, five tasks, the standard for each, and who to ask for help.
• Train by showing, doing with support, then doing alone with a check. Record sign-off per task.
• Set service rules for answering customers: reply times, tone, how to apologise and fix.
• Hold a ten-minute team check each day: yesterday's problem, today's plan, one risk.
• Build a growth path: what a new person can do in week 1, month 3 and month 12.

Longer notes. Train a junior analyst to run the package the same way every time: collect the client's bank statements, build the forecast from a template, check that closing cash matches, and write a one-page summary. Sit in on the first two client meetings. Review each model against a checklist of formulas, sources and unusual items before it goes out. Agree who answers client questions and keep confidentiality rules in writing. Set a rule that every number in a client file has a source note, such as a bank statement or an invoice. A junior who cannot explain a figure should flag it rather than guess, and clients notice the care.

Activity. Write two role cards and a training plan for one new hire. Role-play a hard customer conversation twice and review.

Standard to meet. Write role cards with measurable standards, show the sign-off steps in training, and write the service rules in plain words.

A business lives or dies on a few numbers. Know your contribution per unit, your fixed costs and the volume you need.

• In financing start-ups: Track funds out, follow-on rate and returns; expect most to fail.
• Contribution per advisory package = price minus variable cost. Fixed costs are paid whether you sell or not.
• Break-even units = fixed cost divided by contribution. Plan to pass it by a safe margin.
• Make a 12-month cash plan. Cash timing matters as much as profit: customers may pay late, suppliers may want money first.
• Keep money for business and money for the owner apart.
• Test the plan: what if sales fall by a quarter, or cost rises by a tenth?

Activity. Build your own table: price, variable cost, contribution, fixed cost, break-even and a downside case at 75% of sales. Show it to a peer or mentor.

Standard to meet. Calculate correctly, give every figure a source or mark it as an assumption, and show a downside case.

Growth should follow proof. Measure, learn, then add; and keep returning to the customer.

• In financing start-ups: Grow with a portfolio and visible founder success stories.
• Pick one growth lever at a time: new customers, a higher repeat rate, a better price, or a new offer.
• Set one measurable target for 90 days, such as 'raise repeat customers from 20% to 30%'.
• Ask each customer how they found you, and record it. Spend more where the record shows results.
• Review monthly: numbers, defects, complaints, cash. Write three decisions each time.
• Plan the renewal of licences, equipment and skills a year ahead.

Longer notes. Log every enquiry with its source, meeting date, outcome and reason for a no. Count how many leads reach a meeting and how many meetings become packages. Ask each client after two months whether the forecast matched reality, and use the answers to improve the template. Keep a short list of founders who may need a second package once they raise money or add a product. Raise the price only when you have a waiting list. Send each client a short summary three months later asking how the forecast compared with real cash, then use the differences to correct your template. Honest feedback is worth more than a testimonial alone.

Activity. Write a 90-day plan with one target, three actions and a review date. Present it in five minutes and take questions.

Standard to meet. Set a measurable, dated target, break the actions down small enough to start this week, and put the review date in the calendar.