Approaching angel investors.

• Author: Stewart, Nick
• Position: NEWS

When he split off from Sudbury marketing firm 50 Carleton & Associates to start his own "virtual worlds" marketing business, Mario Parise hadn't anticipated needing outside investment to help manage the company's growth.

Just three months after starting 1up Marketing with his wife, Evelyne Gervais, he now finds he needs more employees to keep up with day-to-day management issues.

As a result, he's looking to angel investment conferences like the one recently hosted in Sudbury by the Northern Ontario Enterprise Gateway (NOEG).

"Even if we don't get any investors, it's been great just to see where the gaps are and to see what our strengths are," Parise says.

Twenty-four entrepreneurs, including Parise, participated in a series of workshops recently hosted by the Northern Ontario Enterprise Gateway in conjunction with the Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre, the Northern Centre for Advanced Technology (NORCAT) and North Carolina's Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBTDC).

A conference in Thunder Bay from Nov. 6-9 and a single-day workshop in Sudbury on Nov. 14 discussed the pros and cons, do's and don'ts of angel investment. This investment system finds businesses making a pitch to investors who typically seek an equity share in exchange for their money and knowledge.

Speakers included Tim Janke of the SBTDC, who pointed out the importance of telling potential investors the size of market they want to reach.

Keynote speaker Michael Atkins, president of Laurentian Media, also shared lessons learned throughout his many years as an investor, including the need to prepare a solid business plan, hire managers when necessary, and never stray from your interests.

Small business owners seeking angel investment often lack this kind of knowledge, says Jim Noble, NOEG's regional coordinator, who adds that more workshops are being planned.

Entrepreneurs also need to know that Canada has a $5 billion funding gap for start-ups, according to Daniel...