Expert Responses

Any outside investor will have their own reasons for taking shares in your company, and before taking anyone on board you should clarify and learn as much as you can about what expectations the investor will have of you and your fellow shareholders.

What many people forget when looking at outside investment is not only that different types of investment have different objectives at their core (flotation is in many ways a completely different route to private equity for example), but that investors in all classes have different styles and ways of working.

My answer to the question therefore would be to consider your own objectives first, see if these align with your proposed investor, and be objective about whether you should make a decision to proceed since some change is inevitable. As with many things in life, not understanding what you are getting into only causes more heartache and problems further down the line!