Making the decision to invest in a value-added business requires careful analysis. Should I Invest in Agricultural Start-up Business Ventures will help you think through your investment decision.

Attending an equity offering meeting may be the first and/or only exposure you have to the investment opportunity.  So you need to make good use of your time.

Before you go to the meeting, identify the important questions you want answered.  Assessing Business Opportunities can help you identify these questions?  This piece can also be used:

• during the equity offering presentation to identify additional questions and record your answers,
• at the end of the presentation to identify other relevant topics that need to be addressed, and
• to identify follow-up questions after the meeting to ask the business leaders.

The “disclosure document” you receive at the meeting is also a good source of information about the investment opportunity.

Although this process provides no assurance that you will make the right investment decision, it does increase your odds of making the right decision.

Another worksheet for assisting you in this process is AgbizSMART Evaluator®.  An explanation of how to use this worksheet is provided in Evaluating Agricultural Value-Adding Business Opportunities for Equity Participation.

Remember, these business ventures have an element of risk, frequently high risk, so don’t invest more than you can afford to lose.  The rural landscape has reminders of “super” business opportunities that turned into “super” failures.