Growing up, I always enjoyed reading Calvin and Hobbes, a comic series by Bill Watterson. There were comic strips where Calvin would ask his dad questions like how ATMs work or what causes wind. In typical “Dad” fashion, Calvin’s father responded with explanations like there’s a little guy inside the ATM who hands out the money or there’s wind because trees sneeze.
You might smile at the responses because you’ve had to give similar ones yourself at some point. But the comic highlights how we sometimes talk about everyday things without exactly knowing how they work.
While regulation crowdfunding might not yet be a “normal” thing (hop on the bandwagon, you pioneer) it is up and coming. Maybe you’ve done it before and know the ropes, or maybe you’re new to the scene. Either way, here is a simplified version of what you can expect during a raise campaign:
Step 1: Contact our team at Vicinity Capital (email [email protected]) if you haven’t already. We will answer all your questions on a quick discovery call, the good ol’fashioned way. No automated chatbot shenanigans, we promise.
Step 2: Send over a business plan or pitch deck, pro forma, and an assessment of the strength of your network (we can provide a worksheet to help). These help us understand what you’re trying to accomplish, how much capital you will need, and how workable it will be to achieve your target raise.
…If both parties agree crowdfunding is a good fit:
Step 3: It’s off to the races! Huzzah! We’ll hand over a step-by-step playbook for your raise that follows a simple “Ready, Set, Go” format.
“Ready” lays the groundwork with things like the info for your Form C, compliance checks, and owner bios.
Remember, this is “regulation” crowdfunding—the Form C is an SEC requirement for all Reg CF offerings. Next, depending on the campaign you want to run, we’ll provide template agreements for your round. We’re here every step of the way during your campaign.
Think of us as your personal A-Team.
Back to how raise campaigns work…
“Set” Is all about your campaign page. We will walk you through the details of crafting a killer home base for your raise. This page will cover all the must-knows like your story, people, financials and plan to bring it all together.
“Go” is where the checkered flag drops and you smoke those fundraising tires! Here you’ll officially file with the SEC and launch your campaign. This section of the playbook guides you through empowering your fanbase and turning your true believers into local investors in your business.
Aligned investors can pick their investment amounts and all transactions occur through the secure Vicinity marketplace. At the end of the campaign, if and only if it was successful, Vicinity will take 8% of the overall raise as compensation, and the rest is yours!
That’s about it. Simple, right?
While it’s not an overly complicated process, it pays to have some solid fundamentals in place, like the business plan and pro forma we talked about. Other key planning pieces are a marketing strategy, vision, growth strategy, and mission that resonates with your community. Then it comes down to execution. We have your back, but you have to own pitching your company!
Small Businesses make up 99.7% of all businesses in the US, so it’s safe to say that not only are you in good company but what you do forms the heart of our local economies. Vicinity’s mission is to help you raise the capital you need from people who love what you do and love where you do it.
Questions? Email [email protected] and we’d love to get in touch!