EBS II

Help nonprofits that serve children by providing protection from predators through background screening .  1000's of non-profits and charities help kids, but few have the funds to screen the people that work and volunteer for them.  Our company provides no-cost and low-cost screening services to ensure that the recipients of services are protected from predators.  

In order to provide those free and low-cost services, we must first create the organization that can offer it.  Many, if not most, of us know how hard it is to get a new business off the ground.  We leverage everything we have and work long hard hours to make sure everything is right.  But the hardest part is funding.  15 years ago, when I started my first business with absolutely zero funding, it was tough.    

So now I'm starting a new business.  A business with an important social aspect.  The single biggest mistake I made with the first business was not having enough capital to focus on things like customer acquisition.  So I'm asking friends, family and the global community for a little help jump starting my new business, an employment screening company that performs background checks on applicants for employers - but takes the rewards of that success and helps non-profits, charities and foundations. I'm asking for $10,000 to be used for marketing and customer development.

About the entrepreneur: 

I am a career private investigator and small business owner. I started my first company 15 years ago, and I knew so very little about the business world. I tried to get funding from the usual sources (banks), but was told the business would never fly. I didn't let that deter me. I bootstrapped that business (Colorado MVRs, (http://www.comvrs.com, originally founded as Delphic Investigative Services, Inc.  http://www.delphicinfo.com) and created a small company that is still operating today. Considering that most businesses fail within the first few years, I was able to withstand all of the hard times, such as the economic collapse and the heart attack of my wife (with no health insurance). So before you back me, please know that you're backing a proven entrepreneur that has no quit in him and will do what needs to be done to achieve success. When I had no money for IT, I took classes to learn relational databases for order tracking myself.  I had no money for marketing, so I learned desktop publishing.  When we needed a website, I learned to write HTML and hosted our own with an in-house server.  Basically, I have experience in each operational and administrative area of the business and would be a perfect leader for a new start-up, simply because I understand what needs to be done.  I am intimately familiar with the industry and the target market. 

What the funds will be used for: 

The biggest challenge is the ramp-up. I don't really need funding for equipment or overhead - I've already spent my personal capital for that.  We're up and operational and are meeting monthly obligations.  What I need is funding for new customer acquisition. A large customer base will provide the funding for the long-term social component of the business, instead of continually raising money to support the services we provide for charities and non-profits.  Right now, referrals and networking are the two current methods for new commercial customer development, but we need funds to support telemarketing campaigns, targeted web-based campaigns and other mass-market techniques that will bring in the volume that we need. A basic telemarketing campaign, for example is $2,000. Google campaigns and other web-based targeting usually run several hundred dollars per month to sustain. 

Goals for FY2014: 
Our first full year goal (ending 2014) is $200k in revenue, which should give us the bandwith to support the screening of volunteers and employees of non-profits.  I believe we can reach that as our current revenues are approxmately $2k per month and we will probably be at $16k by the end of this year.  

Competition vs Opportunity: 

The market for a service company like this is competitive, but favorable. But the opportunity for small business like mine to launch and grow is because of the sheer number of small commercial businesses that need a screening solution from a local partner.  There are a handful of very small companies in our local market, but all have the same struggles - gaining market share through networking and referrals.  There are also a few larger companies, but we believe there is enough of a need in the market that it can easily accept a new company.  But none of them have a mission statement that includes helping protect children and the at-risk population.    

Summary 

I've proven I can start from nothing and achieve some modest success. I'd like to have some backers that believe in this cause and can help me launch this venture with a little bit of capital that will propel us into bigger markets and give us the opportunity to succeed in the near term instead of struggling out of the box. 

Thanks to all that read this and believe in the spirit and power of entrepreneurialism and small business - as well as the need to protect children and the at-risk community from predators. If I can answer any questions or supply a detailed business plan, please feel free to email me.