Illinois Investment Network

Entrepreneurs

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Entrepreneur FAQ

I just submitted my info as an Entrepreneur but am I registered?

Once you submit your entrepreneur registration, you can immediately log into the entrepreneur login area. We also send you a confirmation email that includes a link that we encourage you to click on to confirm that emails from the site are reaching you; however, we do require that you click on this link in order to register.

Who are your investors?

Our investors consist of angel investors, venture capital funds, and investment professionals with access to private and/or commercial funds.

What is an Angel Investor?

Originally, the term "angel" was coined to refer to the people who financed broadway plays when all else failed. Today this term has become common among the investment community to refer to a high net-worth individual that invests their own personal funds in various businesses. Angel investors typically invest in a business after the entrepreneur's "love capital" (capital from relatives and friends) has been exhausted, but before the firm has reached a stage at which it will be eligible for venture capital investment.

What is the difference between an Angel Investor and a Venture Capital firm?

Generally, angel investors do not invest in deals over a million, whereas venture capital firms typically do not look at deals under this amount. Angels make their own decisions as opposed to a board or group of people making a decision for investors that have pooled money together. Angels tend to be more involved in the businesses that they invest in and provide assistance in ways that venture capital firms do not. Angels typically do not own as large a stake in the company as a venture capital firm would. A venture capital firm can fund larger deals and is often sought after in later rounds of funding.

How does the service work?

Entrepreneurs register on the site, log into the entrepreneur login area, and enter an investment proposal. When you are ready to activate you proposal, you can opt to list your proposal for free using our free Basic Services package. If you chose this package, then your proposal cannot contain contact information. Once we approve your proposal, investors will be notified by email about your proposal based on an algorithm which matches parameters of your proposal with the investment preferences of our local site investors and investors on our partner sites. Local site investors and partner site investors can also login and review proposals from any site. If any of these investors is interested in your proposal they will click a contact button which will notify you by email of their interest. That email will contain some information about the investor but not their name and contact details. If you want to obtain contact information, then you must pay our Referral Services or Premium Services fee to obtain investor contact details. You only pay this fee once per proposal and it entitles you to recieve the contact details for all investors who express interest in your proposal.

Entrepreneurs can also opt to pay for our Premium Services fee upfront so that they can enhance their proposal listing by 1) uploading additional assets (logo, business and marketing documents, images, videos), 2) getting better placement on the site (top scroller, front page, left column scroller), and 3) gaining immediate access to interested investors contact details. If you want to increase the likelihood that investors will express interest in your proposal, then opting to pay our Premium Services fee upfront helps.

Note: We are strictly a matching service bringing together private investors and serious entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs must perform their own due diligence on each interested investor. After satisfactory due diligence is performed by both entrepreneur and investor, both parties can work together to negotiate an investment deal.

Why should I trust this website?

This site is run by completely independant management that has no links whatsoever to any other investment or entrepreneur-oriented organization. We are incorporated under a corporate charter. We fervently believe in the objectives of this service and are focused on ensuring credibility and commitment to our customers at all times. The website is the result of a significant financial and intellectual investment by its management over a long period of time. It is continually being upgraded and improved. The modest fees that are charged for our service represent only a small fraction of the total investment that has been made and in no way could be considered a "quick buck" operation. Finally, any upfront fees paid by Entrepreneurs are eligible for our generous refund policy should an investor contact not ultimately happen.

How is my privacy protected?

The site was developed using proprietary database management tools and a secure server is used to assure that no one sees your business or personal information. Your information is not offered to any third party for any purposes unless it involves help in obtaining capital. The information you enter into the website is guaranteed to be kept confidential and private.

How can I pay if I don't a paypal account or credit card?

We use PayPal to process payments. Using PayPal you can pay using a paypal account or credit card. If you are unable to or uncomfortable with using a credit card, then we arrange to have money sent from your bank account to our bank account. Simply inform us of your intentions using the contact us page on this website. At that point, we can send you specific instruction on how to complete the transaction.

How will I attract the attention of potential investors?

When dealing with an investor, at the very least your proposal should address the following:

  • How much money do you need?
  • Why do you need it?
  • When do you need it?
  • What are you willing to give up to get it?
  • When and how can you pay it back?

Investors need your answers to these questions before they will even consider helping you. They are not looking for "pipe dreams" or unprofessional sounding proposals. They expect a reasonably sound business plan as well as an understanding from entrepreneurs that an investor is not going to just blindly hand over significant sums of money with no strings attached whatsoever.

My proposal was just submitted and I received match(s) right away. Will I also get further Investor interest over time?

It is normal to receive immediate interest after it has been reviewed and released to investors. Proposals are sent directly to investors in real time according to their investment criteria. Also, matches occur even over long periods on the system as investors constantly search the database to seek out business proposals and as new investors are added to our database.

I paid the one time fee and received just Investor names and generic emails. Was I supposed to get more info?

Each Investor specifies to the network what initial contact information is provided to Entrepreneurs. This is done for confidentiality reasons. It is also normal that individual Investors make use of temporary email accounts for first contact. Entrepreneurs should make proper brief introduction and then request full Investor contact information before proceeding. If the investor is not forthcoming with contact details or information for performing due diligence then please contact our administration with feedback email.

I have other questions. Who do I contact?

You can connect with us via our contact us form.

Illinois Investors

United States > Illinois

I have created nine internet companies of my own from the ground up, made them very successful, and collect massive revenue from each business on a regular basis. I have extensive experience with online advertising and product development, manufacturing, and distribution, along with business construction. I enjoy start-up businesses that are mainly just ideal concepts and aren't really established quite yet, for it really allows me to help the creator or creators expand on their ideas and improve their project. I own my own web development/marketing and promotion firm, I am in charge of directing the entire company and handling it's success, I have quite the experience with controlled investing.

$2,000 to $50,000

United States > Illinois

I have owned several companies from construction to manufacturing. I have a large amount of property and a large net worth. I have invested a total of 100 million + over the past 10 years in all sorts of companies using private money sources. I have in-house investment funds and also several groups to fund deals.

$50,000 to $25,000,000

United States > Illinois

I am a Vice-President with a Financial Group based out of Chicago. We focus on working with companies that are seeking financing or alternative business financing sources. We typically get involved with companies that are achieving sales, or they have a product/service that is ready to enter the market. We work with all kinds of financing scenarios such as private equity, venture capital, angel investors, bank loans, lines of credit, working capital, equipment financing, SBA loans, purchase order financing, mezzanine financing, and other combinations of debt or equity financing

$500,000 to $20,000,000

United States > Illinois

Investing on behalf of both large institutional investors and small private equity firms including debt, mezz and equity investments 18+ years in commercial real estate development and investment Group investor with access to $70Bln in funds

$5,000,000 to $1,000,000,000

United States > Illinois

I am a Vice-President with HY Financial Group. We help businesses and their owners with the day-to-day challenges of making sure the business has adequate funds for operations and expansion. We work with all kinds of financing scenarios such as bank loans, lines of credit, working capital, real estate financing equipment financing, SBA loans, purchase order financing, mezzanine financing, and other combinations of debt financing.

$500,000 to $20,000,000

United States > Illinois

Private investor with interest in Mexican businesses.

$0 to $5,000

United States > Illinois

I am keen on investing in a lucrative, calculated viable business, either by partnership or as a financier, I will welcome any profitable business plan/proposal (Long or short term). I will be willing to invest independently. I am a sincere and straightforward individual when it comes to business. I am ready to increase or reduce the investment sum to meet with the required amount, provided you will guarantee good returns for my investments.

$1,500,000 to $100,000,000

United States > Illinois

More than 18 years of commercial real estate investment and development experience. Most recently VP at GE Real Estate Purchase single tenant office and industrial properties for my company's own account and commercial and hotel properties for other investors for whom I am an advisor.

$50,000 to $10,000,000