Investment in BAM: How to Get the Funds Flowing
When we asked veteran BAM leaders to identify some of the pressing issues that are facing the business as mission movement in the next decade, among the issues they identified were several areas that could broadly be categorized as ‘resource gaps for BAM companies’. These described a lack of the kinds of resources and inputs that BAM practitioners, and the enterprises they run, need to increase their chances of long-term viability and health. These resource gaps included:
1. Adequate financial capital flow.
2. Adequate human capital flow – both in terms of a) recruiting the right kind of people to begin and sustain a BAM company, and b) succession planning and the successful transition of a BAM company from one generation of owners to another.
3. Adequate support for BAM practitioners, especially mentoring, accountability and care.
We will be posting articles covering each of these issues during the month of June, beginning with the challenge of financial capital flow.
Financial Capital Flow – Where’s the block?
Two main issues were identified within the issue of financial capital flow:
1. A lack of investors ready to finance BAM companies
2. A lack of investable BAM businesses, or ‘deal flow’
What was agreed is that adequately financing BAM is an issue that must be addressed for the future, and to address it we are likely to need to work on both ends of this flow. Read more