When you think about raising capital, you probably have a lot of things in mind that you want to purchase to improve and grow your business—time from high-quality talent, new tech or equipment, new locations. What you probably don't  spend time dreaming about is handing over a 3-7% of your raise (plus equity!) for a broker-dealer to guide you through the fundraising process. (At a middle-range 5% success fee, that's $167k/mo on a 90-day $10M raise! Again, plus equity!)

Working with a fundraising coach can be of great benefit, as long as you get one who is knowledgeable (like Matthew here at FundHustle!). You also want a fundraising consultant who can do more than just spam a list of potential investors. Oh, and if you're thinking about paying a consultant a success fee instead, don't. In the US, paying a consultant a success fee can result in founders having to give all of the money back to their investors plus interest and can even lead to lawsuits, fines, and jail time. (yikes!)

Fundraising consultants range from around $60/hr for newbies up to $200+/hr for accomplished consultants. Assuming you want a seasoned consultant for $200/hr, you're looking at $16K/mo flat rate for a 20 hours per week retainer.