We receive a lot of inquiries, but today one came through that I immediately replied to. First of all, I love it when women reach out to Lantern, and it warms my heart that it came from a high school student.Here is her note:

Hi my name is Vanessa XXX from XXX in XXX, and I'm in my senior year. One of the courses I chose to take was corporate financial advising, and I wanted to ask questions such as why was the career of advising chosen, how did it become a choice because it is not as known as business management or anything similar to that. Another thing to ask is if its worth hiring an advisor? If I could please get a response I would greatly be appreciate it giving me more information towards my research paper.

Thesis: The financial advising field has been growing from 20 years ago and forward, having advantages and a great demand whether it’s for individuals or big/small businesses. Hiring a corporate financial advisor can result in long term benefits when it comes to saving and increasing increments of money with investments and thought out plans, including merging or taking them out of debt.

Dear Vanessa,Thank you for reaching out to us, I hope my reply will help you.

Why was the career of advising chosen?

Lantern’s management team started is accountants working for Arthur Andersen in the audit and advisory services business division. Through career growth objectives, the founder took a job with a firm that helped growing companies raise capital as a consultant. After ten years with that firm, he decided to start his own consulting business and provide the same service, but relocated to Atlanta.

We see our service as a compliment to a corporate finance management team, but raising capital is a specialty that a lot of people don’t have experience doing. They hire us for specific projects and we come in, raise capital, and move on. Raising capital can be done to buy companies, allow extra cash to grow or open locations, or purchase equipment needed to provide services to customers. Our corporate finance services include business strategy/planning, acquisition finance, management buyouts and growth capital.

How did it become a choice because it is not as known as business management or anything similar to that. 

Exactly! We don’t manage the business of our clients. We work with the management team to develop their corporate business plan, document how/why the money is needed, and then identify investors that will loan them money to achieve their objectives. We have thousands of contacts/funds that have their own investment criteria and so we match our clients needs to funds interested in companies like them. Think of it as Match.com or looking for a mortgage that provides the best rate, but for businesses. 

Our practice doesn’t charge a percentage of the capital raised, we simply charge hours and rates for our time, similar to an attorney or accounting firm. CFOs and CEOs of companies are our customer. We serve as their “corporate finance expert” and help them plan for growth and identify when and how much capital is needed at a particular point in time.  

One of our specialties as a practice is executing management buyouts, where the management team purchases the company from the owner, typically retiring, but sometimes it is a spin off of a larger company.

Another thing to ask is if its worth hiring an advisor? 

I would say yes. Because we are experts at what we do, we can very quickly execute a transaction faster than a company could do it on their own, as well as faster than someone could hire someone to perform the deal internally. 
Hope that helps! 

Sincerely, Jennifer Mooney