Investors have plenty of places to plant their money so if you want them to notice you, you will have to focus on what they are looking for. If you are in the lawn & garden industry your best chance of finding a financial resource is from the industry itself. Other lawn & garden companies are more likely to invest in your business than an investor from outside the industry because they have a comfort level of what to look for and what to expect versus someone who doesn't quite understand why your business forecasts 18 to 24 months in advance and how you sell to a very fragmented industry and why there are sometimes five steps in the supply chain. Most lawn & garden companies who invest in other lawn & garden companies have been lawn & garden entrepreneurs themselves, so they understand your situation, can relate to your vision and can stomach the risk. It's likely you'll get a warmer reception (and a more valuable partner) if you choose an investor who already has a portfolio with many companies that use your same supply chain contacts. They already understand the common difficulties and opportunities in your product category, and they may be able to provide much synergistic assistance for your growth. Often, these people have a personal interest in your business and therefore may put in more money, at a more favorable valuation to an outside investor.

If you're looking for almost any size investment you'll need a business plan. When creating the business plan remember the professional lawn & garden companies who invest in other lawn & garden companies all the time use the five Cs when evaluating an opportunity: Credit, Character, Cash flow, Collateral and Capacity. They also look at a company from a worst-case-scenario point of view to minimize their risk, so you must have good answers to their questions to demonstrate that you understand the issues you are currently facing or probably will face in the future. They will look at how much business they would lose and how much money they would lose if something went wrong with your company or your business plan. That's why they're going to look at everything about you, including your character. Your success history plays a big part here. That makes it even more imperative that you know what you're doing in your business.

So what do you do? You've got to show them a track record. You need to prove that you can reach your objective with their investment and they will make their money back and a nice profit no matter what. That's also why they want collateral-it's insurance, so they won't have to take it out of their slim profit.

If you can hit your projections, then apparently you understand your business and have it under control so if you have three years worth of sales forecasts that show you hit or came very close to your projections it will bring a smile on your potential investors face. You should have solid financials based upon conservative assumptions. You future projections should be conservative and show steady growth with profits over the next three to five years. Too much hype and too much projected growth equals too much risk. Like I said, lawn & garden company investors are savvy. They won't fall for the forecast showing your company as being the next Scotts Miracle Grow.

An investor also wants to see a track record of profit for the past three years; which also means you have to have been in business for at least three years. If you haven't been in business for at least three years or have not shown a profit for three straight years you are looked at as a higher risk factor and the investor will be looking for more collateral to lower his risk factor.

Investors in lawn & garden companies are also looking for proprietary technology - a patent, process, trade secret, or something that can be protected from competition-demonstrates an advantage. Regardless, you must have a unique product, process, or something special that can make a lot of money. An improvement or lawn & garden product that addresses a very limited market isn't nearly as interesting as something that appeals to a broad market area. Believe it or not, other lawn & garden companies want to know about your market, so include a strong analysis of your market as well as the sensible marketing plan. Back up your sales projections by demonstrating the demand for your product and your ability to reach and sell to customers and prospects who will ultimately provide the cash flow to repay your investor.

Don't wait until the last minute to seek out investors. Nobody wants anyone who's desperate. So, the more you try to get other companies or industry people to invest in your company, the more they don't want to. (The more you throw yourself at investors, the more they turn away.) If you believe you will need an influx of cash a year from now, start preparing for it and seeking possible investors as soon as possible. It is not unusual in our industry for this type of agreement to take nine to twelve months to finalize after an investor has shown an interest.

Finally, you'll need to overcome any emotional entanglement as you negotiate with potential investors. Don't be distracted by your emotional reactions to hard questions about your products or the way you have managed your business. Certainly most questions are reasonable and any smart investor would ask them. Your maturity and professionalism will help convince the potential investors you have the ability to manage their investment well.

I will be attending the following industry events:

May 30- June 3, 2008-Orlando, FL- GMDC
June 10-12, 2008 - Chicago, IL -National Lawn & Garden Show
August 19-21st, 2008 - Chicago, IL - IGC Show
September 20-23, GLEE - Birmingham, UK
October 16-17, Canadian Hardware Show- Toronto
October 23-25, Garden Expo- Louisville, KY

While we are all packing to participate in the Mother of all shows, The National Hardware Show there is another event I also recommend for those of us who are lazy. The event I'm talking about is The National Lawn & Garden Show www.nlgshow.com that is being held in the Chicago area next month. I like this event because they take a lot of the work out of it. First they make the appointments for you to meet with scores of buyers that represent a broad cross section of the lawn & garden industry. You will get a list of who your appointments are with and all you have to do is just show up prepared with your best presentation . There are no booths to set up, stand in and then tear down. You even get a report card that tells you what the buyers really think of you and your product. It's a no brainer if you have the guts.

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The Lawn & Garden Performance Group LLC provides a full range of services to companies, including, recruiting, training and managing direct sales forces and maufacturer representative agencies; identifying new market opportunities for existing business and serving as intermediary and negotiator to companies seeking aquisitions, mergers or strategic alliances.

The Lawn & Garden Performance Group LLC provides Lawn & Garden manufacturers with the tools it takes to successfully market their new products. The Lawn & Garden Performance Group LLC was formed in early 2000 under the leadership of Rick Pontz. Pontz, who held positions of president, vice president of sales & marketing and national sales manager at various lawn & garden companies over the past two decades, said he was driven to start the company after watching numerous products fail.

"Most of the products failed not because of lack of performance or consumer demand," Pontz said. "They failed because the product marketers didn't know about - or didn't pay attention to the idiosyncrasies and pathways to marketing lawn & garden products."

Pontz estimates between 2,300 & 2,500 new lawn & garden products were launched in 2001, but only a small fraction of those ever made it to retailers' shelves.

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