How do I get started?

If you already have one or more projects that are reasonably well defined, please proceed to pre-qualify

CAP funding A-Z | Synopsis | Who is it for | See also: Indicative Terms & Conditions (Requirements)

Your Portable Project Development Coach

If you don’t already have at least one viable project in the works, or are unsure if yours will qualify, please consider some of the following options to get started, knowing that this CAP funding pathway will greatly increase your chances of securing the necessary capital.

Why?  Mainly because we don’t care about stage of readiness — anything reasonably beyond the idea stage could secure 100% funding by CAP.  This favors developers that are still in planning mode, just starting out, or with so many options they don’t know where to begin.

Consider the following questions?  Which ones seem worth reflection and answering in greater detail?

1. What do you already know?  Take an inventory of skills, proficiencies, work experience by sector, life experience, strengths, and capabilities and reflect on that for a day/week/month or longer.
2. Who do you know? Who else do you know that you could partner with to define a business in your local market?  Possible industry sectors (a subset of what is possible … just to give you ideas)
3. What raw materials or crying need already exists in your market, or overseas (if transportation or “localization” isn’t too costly), that could be fulfilled by a project you develop?  Examples:
   1. Waste materials accumulating, that could be processed into marketable products of value
   2. What necessities are perpetually in short supply where you live?
   3. What trends or drivers are you aware of that have created new market opportunities?
   4. What is coming to your area that will cause displacement, disruption or other forms of change?  What can you do about it?
4. Who or what do you have in your local market that could serve to collaborate or as a resource to define an opportunity worth pursuing?  Sometimes the answer is obvious if you just look for it.
5. Pray for answers to questions you would ask if you knew answers were easily available!?  Then ask!
6. Can you encapsulate your idea in a few sentences?  What projects have you seen already in operation in your area?  Is there room for more?  What might be an innovative variation on that in your own market or interpretation of what is most needed and wanted?
7. How will you know when you are there?  Devise at least three (3) specific measures of your success.  Write them down and devise a way to measure and track your unfolding success.  Ask others for review and feedback.

In “greenfield” project finance and startup venture capital, the seed of an idea can germinate, get defined, so that the minimum sufficient scale can get discovered, which will give rise to the cost of inputs (raw materials, support infrastructure, workers, physical location for administration and management, etc.) and outputs, usually in-demand products or services, where the history of demand is discoverable.

This is much more straightforward than defining an entirely new product or service, or new category of product or service (often called “first-of-a-kind” or FOAK) when you would need to cover the costs of testing the idea just to begin planning the project.  If you cannot verify a ready market you have to first test your way in so that you know your idea would have commercial legs.

Innovative improvements, more efficient production or sales, variations on what’s come before, … make it easier to test and validate (or invalidate) your idea.  Why test?  So you know the idea makes business sense.  Nobody will agree to take a business idea forward (nor should you) if you are unable to show that it will “win” customers.  Calculate your risks and potential rewards, but be very careful not to “fall in love” with your idea without gaining some objective, third party (like potential customers) feedback. If your business is a commodity like food, water, energy, industrial materials or valuable information, then you are able to write down the specifics of what, where, how much and why, making it easier to determine if a funded project would be feasible as a business.

Why Financial Feasibility Comes First

Note that In3 can also finance projects that are more philanthropic (marginally or not at all profitable), up to a third of our partner’s portfolio, but even those projects need to take advantage of market forces and make the most favorable economic case possible.

Basic feasibility comes first, without forcing an idea to fit into the mold of other financeable projects, without making a side preoccupation out of addressing all the perceived roadblocks, limitations, and inherent problems.  Unless you want to.  Generally it is better to not get overly focused on obstacles … focus on a compelling vision of the future, a “theory of change” that can be funded and built in a definitive manner.  Building a better mouse trap is certainly a valid approach in some situations, especially if you hate mice, but the opportunities for making a big difference (staying out of the rodent control business) have never been more compelling.

Financial feasibility is your first consideration — how you know the market and your project will achieve projected sales (net income) greater than net costs year-on-year?  We can provide the analysis to determine your project’s potential for success by delving into what matters, avoiding the time and expense of formal feasibility studies.  More about Project Development Assistance

This feasibility arena is the one thing In3CAP has in common with other sources of funding — reasonably low or no commercial risk, such as through customer “offtake” arrangements. Until that is achieved through rigorous financial modeling, with transparent assumptions, you have work to do.

How?  You might want to work with your existing team members, or recruit new partners, sponsors, or advisors, in order to demonstrate this.  We’re also offering to involve In3’s team on a more focused fee-for-service basis, as CAP funding is extremely flexible in other areas, but you first need to know for your own sake that your project is financially feasible.

Contact us for feedback or, better yet, keep going until you have something specific to share.