Ask Ms. Money: Advice for the Fiscally Forlorn

by Ms. Money

Published on this site: August 26th, 2006 - See more articles from this month

Ask Ms Money: Have a question about where to find funding? Dealing with the idiosyncrasies of investors? What to do with an egotistical entrepreneur? How to deal with balky bankers or cranky consultants? Well now you have someone who can tell you where to go. And how to get there in style. Ask Ms. Money your most troublesome question, your more most perplexing problem, your most diabolic dilemma. Answers are her middle name, advice is her favorite game.

Send your question to [email protected] See her answers at http://askmsmoney.blogspot.com

Dear Ms Money:

I've bought a telephone listing of wealthy individuals, at least that's what they're supposed to be, and plan on calling them to find investors for my new product. An acquaintance of mine did this and said it really was effective. Can you help me with the script for this cold calling? Talkative in Tennessee

Gracious Reader:

Dialing for dollars is for dumb-dumbs. Were you aware that what you plan on doing is breaching federal and state securities laws, never mind that it's rude? One can not solicit for investors without being properly registered. (Even in that certain county in Nevada, the solicitors must be registered, but that's another story).

Ms Money suggests you leave your acquaintance's method out in the cold, otherwise you just might effectively find yourself in the Securities and Exchange Commission's office and not even Ms Money could script your way out of that.

Ms. Money

Dear Ms Money:

My sister, my brother-in-law, my husband and I are thinking of going into business together. If we pool our savings, we have enough money to purchase this wonderful 50-seat Italian restaurant in our neighborhood. We all get along so well-we spend nearly every weekend together-and our friends all love our cooking-that it seems a natural for us to do. What are the pros and cons of going into business with relatives? Family Fun in Fargo

Gracious Reader:

Oh, there are pros? I wasn't aware of any. I'll have to check around and find out. Ms Money has her own Theory of Relativity:It goes: related individuals + business stress + hard work + long hours = inevitable disaster. The theory works no matter how close or how friendly the relatives are. Ms Money has an older sister, a smashingly gorgeous woman. We both got Master'sDegrees, graduating with honors from a prestigious Eastern university, and though we both set out to make a fortune, we were smart enough to not work together in the same field. I entered finance and am working on the becoming a multi-millionaire. She married one. Both are valid approaches to achieving wealth.

Ms. Money is a long time contributor to the Capital Connection - The Entrepreneurs Resource For Finance. http://www.capital-connection.com Read her column by subscribing to the Capital Connection newsletter
email:[email protected] or visit her blog http://askmsmoney.blogspot.com