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Does an Angle Investor look for existing businesses only, or do they look for start-up businesses that have not been created?
The term Start-up doesn't quite mean what it meant a few years ago. In the height of the dot-com boom, money was being raised on ideas. You could have no experience and pay a college artist to draw your idea, put an e- in front of a common word and raise a few million dollars to start you new e-venture.
Not anymore. There are very few Angels, if any, who will give their money to such a high-risk entrepreneur. You need to have something for an investor to look your way. This doesn't mean $4 million in sales and a full staff of 30 developers. It means, at a minimum, a working version of your product and someone out there who says he will buy it.
There are several things that investors look for, but 2 of them are paramount: Management and Customers. Investors are not investing in your idea as much as they are investing in Your ability to manage and sell your idea. Additionally, they want to see that some customer will pay you even a dollar to use what you make.
Now you may be thinking, If I don't have money, how can I start the company? There are a few low cost things you can do by yourself - Incorporate. Its only a few hundred dollars. Set up a small website. Buy a domain name and pay for hosting. Get a real email address. No investor is going to take you seriously with your smoochybear1445@yahoo.com address.
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