How Not To Overload a Potential Joint Venture Partner
All would-be joint venture (JV) real estate investors do it: overwhelm our potential partners with paper and PowerPoint.
We know so much about our strategy and properties that we just can’t resist making sure our newfound potential investor really gets the picture. Statistics, charts, and reams of detail are thrown at someone who doesn’t have a clue about investment real estate and joint ventures.
Five minutes after you start your one-hour presentation, you can see their eyes glaze over. Uh oh, this isn’t going well… How about a different approach?
Your Proposal Must Fit Under Five Headings,
One Per Slide/Page
Have all the background detail you want for extra questions,
but keep the presentation simple and straightforward.
- Who are you?
Investors buy or buy into the person. It’s not how brilliant you are or how fabulous your presentation is, it’s you. They are buying you. This is probably the most important thing to understand when presenting a JV opportunity. Find a way to let your investor see who you are. There are many ways of doing this. One classic method is to make sure your investor does most of the talking when establishing your relationship. Somehow, them doing all the talking makes you look good. And, of course, you are good!! - What is your strategy?
What area are you specializing in? And, most important, how will your strategy solve their problem? (more cash flow now, a better retirement picture later…) - Why would your strategy work?
Here’s where you provide some evidence. It works especially well if you already own investment properties. Show why an investment in your already acquired properties or in similar new properties makes brilliant investment sense. - Is your strategy repeatable?
Most investors don’t want just one property because that won’t solve their problems. Show why, how, and in what time frame you can repeat your strategy. - What is the exit plan?
Investors want to know the time-frame for cashing out and achieving your collective JV objectives.
Summary
You can have a briefcase full of backup material. But, if you make your presentation around these five items, whether paper or PowerPoint, you have a much better chance of getting the cheque.
Need a Lawyer’s Help With Your JV Document? We Can Do That.
Note, I don’t comment on templates or individual clauses. My approach is to do the only job I know how to do. That is: a complete, thorough analysis of you and your situation. Next, I review those critical JV clauses (and there are lots of them!) Then, we create your custom JV based on a master template curated from my nearly fifty years of experience as a lawyer in Edmonton, Alberta. For more info, read this blog post about my approach to joint ventures.
If you’re planning a joint venture for Alberta real estate, contact Barry now.
“Business people shaking hands agreement” by rawpixel.com used under CC Attribution 2.0 Generic.