Separate investment and business expenses from government charges, professional services and family costs. Identify which costs depend on a customer proceeding.
Review financial exposure independently
Ask what commitments remain if a contract ends. Obtain appropriate commercial advice alongside immigration review. A cost incurred for the business does not automatically count as qualifying investment, and current official filing charges must be checked separately.
Prepare a post-closing cash schedule that separates purchase consideration, inventory, lease deposits, payroll reserve, legal fees, immigration costs and money still under the investor's control. Build the number from the transaction itself - purchase price, inventory and equipment, deposit and lease costs, licensing, fit-out, insurance, and enough working capital to carry the business through its first slow months rather than only to the day of closing. Count only what is irrevocable: equipment and computing hardware bought, prepaid rent and deposits that cannot be recovered, software and infrastructure contracts entered, incorporation and professional fees paid, insurance premiums, marketing expenditure and wages committed under employment agreements. Beyond closing, the business needs enough working capital to trade through a first season, and an investment that consumes every available dollar leaves nothing to answer the question of whether the enterprise can operate as more than a marginal one.