Essentials
£495/month
A steady start: the toolkits month by month, quarterly readiness reviews and one 45-minute advisory call a month to work through the gaps.
About Essentials
Services · Investor readiness
Investor and private equity readiness
Investors look hard before they commit. We help you prepare your numbers, your team, your plan and your legal house, so that when conversations with investors begin, the business is ready for the scrutiny.
Preparation only: we do not raise capital, introduce investors or give investment advice.
The investor’s review
Six things investors will examine
Every investor has their own process, but the ground they cover is familiar. Preparation means being able to answer on each, with evidence, and being able to answer your own six questions first.
Before the first meetingQuestions it answers
- Is the business ready for an investor’s scrutiny?
- What will an investor want to see, and do we have it?
- What would weaken an investor’s confidence, and can we fix it first?
- Does our plan explain clearly what the investment would achieve?
- What might change for me as a founder once an investor is involved?
- Is outside investment the right step for us at all?
The last question matters as much as the first five. Readiness includes being sure.
The plan
Where the business is going, what the investment is for and how it will be used.
Pillar 02 · business strategy
The numbers
Historic performance, quality of earnings, forecasts and the assumptions behind them.
Pillar 03 · financial clarity and drivers
The team
Whether the leadership can deliver the plan, with depth beyond the founder.
Pillar 05 · team and leadership
The market
The size and direction of your market, and what sets you apart within it.
Pillar 07 · market position and brand strength
The risks
Customer concentration, key-person dependency and anything else that could derail the plan.
Pillar 06 · customer value
Governance and legal
Ownership, contracts, intellectual property, and how decisions will be made once an investor is involved.
Pillar 08 · exit readiness: risk factors and red flags
Where our role starts and stops
We do
- Help you understand what investors look for, and why
- Strengthen the areas they will examine, in order of importance
- Prepare your numbers, plan and team for scrutiny
- Help you think through what you want from an investor, beyond the money
We do not
- Raise capital or arrange investment
- Introduce investors or funders
- Give investment, tax or legal advice
- Produce formal valuations
Who it is for
For founders preparing to bring in investment
Investor readiness is for founders who expect to talk to investors, or who have already been approached. It suits founders who:
- are considering growth capital to fund the next stage
- have been approached by, or are considering, private equity
- want to know how an investor would see the business before a conversation begins
- are preparing for funding, a sale or a strategic transition
- want to go into investor conversations with fewer surprises
If the investment is to fund growth, our growth strategy work helps you decide where it should go first.
What the work involves
Four steps to investor-ready
Much of it is the same work as preparing a business for a transaction of any kind, done with an investor’s questions in mind. Our guide to due diligence shows what their advisers will examine.
See it as an investor would
We review the business against the areas investors examine, and identify the gaps.
Strengthen the fundamentals
Financial information, team, systems and legal housekeeping, prioritised by what matters most.
Sharpen the plan
A clear account of where the business is going, why, and what investment would make possible.
Prepare for the conversations
Knowing what investors are likely to ask, so you can answer with evidence rather than optimism.
Types of investment
The main kinds of outside investment
In general terms only. The right option depends on your business and your goals, and needs independent advice.
| In general terms | Private investors | Growth capital | Private equity | Debt finance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who provides it | Individuals, investing their own money | Investors funding a defined next stage | Investment firms | Banks and other lenders |
| What they take | A share of the business | Usually a minority stake | A minority or majority stake | No share: you borrow, and repay |
| Often used for | Sometimes brings experience and contacts as well as money | Expansion, new markets or acquisitions | Established businesses, often backing the existing management | Weighed alongside investment, rather than instead of it |
| Their horizon | Varies from one investor to another | Tied to the next stage of the plan | Typically plan to sell their stake later | The term of the loan |
Independent starting points
The British Business Bank’s guidance on getting investor ready, its explainer on private equity and its Finance Readiness Checker are useful, independent places to start. We do not give investment advice; take independent advice before any decision to raise finance.
Why Nik
He has sat on the founder’s side of funding conversations
Nik secured funding for Pure Recycling from Rugby Borough Council through the 2008 banking crisis, in a deal believed to be the first of its kind. In cleantech, he funded and led HERU (Hybrid Energy Resource Unit) to TRL7 with universities and engineers, and secured 81% of a major commercialisation round led by Investec.
He knows what investors ask, how it feels to answer, and how much easier it is when the preparation has been done.
Our time together covered everything from growth and succession planning to value creation, private equity readiness, and navigating strategic pivots. Nik operates as a trusted peer rather than a traditional consultant — practical, direct, and experience-led.
How the plans fit
The plans for founders preparing for investment
Advisory+, for founders preparing for funding, sale or transition, is the usual fit. The Exit Programme adds a quarterly review of your accounts and data-room readiness; Bespoke suits the most complex situations.
Closest fit for investor readiness
Advisory+
£1,250/month
For founders preparing for funding, sale or transition: two 60-minute calls a month, priority access, deeper valuation mapping and exit-readiness support.
About Advisory+Exit Programme
£2,250/month
Up to three hours a month and a quarterly review of your management accounts and data-room readiness, so the business is ready for scrutiny.
About the Exit ProgrammeBespoke
From£5,500/month
Fully tailored, with up to six hours of advisory support a month and secure collaboration under NDA if required. By application.
How to applyQuestions
Investor readiness, briefly
Short answers to common questions about preparing for investment. The full FAQ covers plans, the Vault and more.
All questionsCan you introduce us to investors?
No. We do not introduce investors, raise capital or arrange finance, and we do not give investment advice. Our role is preparation: making sure the business, the plan and you are ready for the conversations.
How long does investor readiness take?
It depends on where you start. Some gaps, such as tidying records, can close quickly; others, such as building a second tier of leadership, take longer. The Readiness Assessment is a quick way to see which apply to you.
Is private equity the same as selling?
Not necessarily. A private equity firm may take a minority or a majority stake, and founders often keep a share and stay involved. It is a significant change either way, so take independent advice on the terms.
Your starting point
Be ready before the first meeting
Take the complimentary Readiness Assessment, then book a complimentary Founder Conversation with Nik to talk through what an investor would see.