Taft partner Howard Bobrow provided financial insights for the Crain’s Cleveland Business virtual roundtable “Finance Strategies for Privately-Held Companies,” which was published on Dec. 18, 2017.

As part of a four-panel team of finance industry professionals, Bobrow provided advice on questions concerning the following:

• I’m interested in financing my small business. How do I select my team of advisors?
• Do I need to prepare a forecast in order to obtain financing and, if so, for how long?
• When does it make sense to finance with a bank loan or raise money from investors?
• Apart from traditional lenders, alternative lenders and investors (including angel investors and venture capitalists), are there any other creative ways to finance a small business, and, if so, what are they?
• How are lenders approaching deals, and what factors are behind their decisions?
• When is a company a good candidate for private equity funding?
• Is it critical to understand your all-in cost of capital in terms of equity vs. debt? How do you evaluate your all-in cost of capital to get an accurate return?
• How do you measure return on invested capital? Furthermore, how do you measure your compounded rate of return over a full business cycle?
• When are leaseback transactions appropriate strategies to finance a business?
• What are some key considerations in a recapitalization versus an outright sale of a business?
• How long do you anticipate continued strength and stability in the financing markets?

Bobrow is chair of Taft’s Venture Capital practice and a trusted advisor to private equity funds, venture capital funds and emerging growth companies. He counsels private equity and venture capital funds and other institutional investors, as well as angel investors, on all aspects of acquisitions, dispositions, capital formation and private placements.