Wealth Management

Voted #6 on Top 100 Family Business influencer on Wealth, Legacy, Finance and Investments: Jacoline Loewen My Amazon Authors' page Twitter:@ jacolineloewen Linkedin: Jacoline Loewen Profile

December 14, 2008

Driving Canada's Business Success

I live in an age which has seen the end of the British Empire, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and now, perhaps the decline of America, like a giant air balloon slowly deflating. In the meantime, the peaceful rise of a dynamic China and other Asian countries, matched with the rise in our own overambitious government entitlement programs, creates a new level of expectation for citizens.
When I went to McGill University, a slice of pizza at Gertrude’s on a Friday would be my one treat – otherwise I lived on peanut butter, tuna sandwiches, and beans on toast (yes, I like bread). I rarely bought a pre-made meal, which is why I was jolted by a blog written in response to Karen Selick, a lawyer with Reynolds O'Brien, LLP., who commented on Food Banks. This student was horrified at the thought of another student not being able to buy a cafeteria item. What’s wrong, I wondered, with the cheaper option of packing a cheese sandwich and an apple for lunch?
The end goal of helping the poor is desirable, but the debate rages around “how” we give.
Selick points out that there are better ways to achieve the same goal – temporarily feeding a person in dire straits. The use of supermarkets as the location to pick up goods seems a no brainer. Business owner Graeme Jewett of Marsan Foods tells me his company makes various President’s Choice frozen dinners but also a 97¢ frozen dinner, which has some meat and is preservative-free, for Giant Tiger stores. Can the Food Bank really beat the operating cost of getting an equivalent item onto Food Bank shelves? Could the savings pay for that 97¢ meal?
The Food Bank style of charity – giving to ease symptoms – is not to be confused with venture giving – philanthropy – which targets the underpinnings of society, asks why poverty occurs, and seeks to level access to opportunities.

Andrew Squire used to stay up all night doing his music and longed to own his own sound studio in Toronto. Then, he benefited from the philanthropy of the Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF), which redistributes money toward loans for high-risk entrepreneurs.
Andrew says, “It’s private companies like CYBF who taught me the skills to be an independent business owner by providing me with $1,000 a month for a year and giving me a mentor. CYBF insisted that I write business plans, make financial projections, and answer questions about the revenues and strategy of my business. By transferring their entrepreneurial skills, CYBF encouraged my passion for music into a business. I won the sound contract for a Sprite commercial and now I have my own studio – King Squire Audio. Of the 20 people in my CYBF program, more than half are now hiring other people. The cost – $240,000 – is peanuts compared to what the government is spending on big conglomerates.”
Andrew agrees with Selick, that “how” skills or resources are given increase the impact of levelling the playing field. “The CYBF model should be exploited as it is entrepreneurs who are running the program. Letting government ‘do the giving’ would be inefficient. It was private business people who taught me how to raise money and who gave me the right ideas about the tough world of business and this came through CYBF.”
The Food Bank is well meaning with its belief in the redistribution of wealth, but I believe in the redistribution of skills to people like Andrew Squire, who has shed his dreadlock image and projects a quiet confidence. The Food Bank tips the pendulum toward socialism. I nudge the pendulum toward free enterprise. The totality of resources is never sufficient to meet all goals at the same time. Life is dialectic – private enterprise versus public duty. But effective giving is something we can all have the courage and honesty to face.


Jacoline Loewen is a financial advisor for companies seeking capital, as well as a corporate strategy expert, lecturer, and writer with three published books. the latest is Money Magnet: How to attract investors to your business.

December 12, 2008

How to Get the VC to Call

There are certain things, such as resumes, that catch the eye of seasoned pros and get them to pick up the phone and call you.
VCs don’t invest in technology or markets, they invest in people.
If the people stuff goes wrong, it’s hell. They put you through due diligence while at the same time trying to find out what kind of person you are.
When you pitch in, it’s a sociological experiment to see what makes you tick and whether you will be co-operative or will crack.
Probably the most powerful action you can take is to find a referral to a partner in the business. It’s a bit like dating. If someone they trust refers you to a VC, they will take your call. "The question I get asked the most is how to find investors," says Jacoline Loewen, author of Money Magnet. "Owners are better of having a company like Loewen & Partners find them a suitable investor."
Warning: Bad phone manners are an immediate red flag. The VC knows they are entering into a seven-year relationship and they will not waste time with someone who rankles. If they can’t see themselves married to you, it’s a quick, “thank you but no thanks.”

December 11, 2008

How do you define value?

"Your conversation around the valuation of your business may begin with the investor asking for a quick snapshot of your financial picture, but a weak EBITDA (see glossary) will by no means end the chat" says Jacoline Loewen. "Valuation of a business comes from the fund itself and the type of companies they already have in their portfolio."
“Often companies we like do not have EBIDTA or revenues, so we cannot use these tools as value markers.” Instead, Peter Carrescia of VenGrowth Capital Management Inc. says, his team values businesses with:
• High barriers to entry;
• The capability of rapid revenue growth;
• An analysis of what will happen in the market over the next three years;
• Identification of the Number One Issue to overcome;
• The perfect intersection of company, services/products and cycle in the market.
The whole business of investing is complex and wrought with chaos. A very big difference when investing in IT compared to other businesses is that the VCs know that eventually it all comes down to the team involved. Tech VCs can perform the complex science of due diligence, research the market and call past clients, but the only valid metadata worth drilling into is the people. The art of predicting winning people is much harder. Investing in a practiced team is a good indicator of success, but it is still an art.

Deal dead and buried

Private equity and debt deal of the century ends. See the full story here.

The key reason why the biggest leveraged buyout ever was killed was that it
didn't live up to a "solvency opinion" -- a declaration by auditor KPMG that the
company would have been solvent after the takeover loaded it with billions in
fresh debt.

Posted by Anastassia Kobeleva

December 10, 2008

Raising Capital for SMEs

I had to cancel a meeting today with a Bay Street lawyer. He commented to me that if you have a client deal to do, treasure it because these are dark days.
Last night I was at the RBC Women Entrepreneur of the Year awards and Diane Francis of The National Post was there and also commented frequently on the tough days we are facing. There was a ripple of agreement through the room of 2,000 female entrepreneurs. The Publisher of Profit magazine brought some light to all this gloom and doom telling us about research that recessions and depressions first begin to lift in the SME sector. Our target market - Loewen & Partners, that is - is the SME with revenues of $10M+ and it’s true that there is private equity investment dollars available.
Quite heartening.