Since the middle of the 80s, the author has participated in developing several dozen business plans and investment projects which have varied in complexity and investment requirements. A series of investment projects developed for Tomsk businesses resulted in joint ventures creating. Another projects based on employing new technologies of local companies and several projects used leasing of foreign companies' equipment. Although each project had its own unique features and problems, these projects did have common characteristics which are reflected in the article. So the author listed the key factors that make a project successful. Among them: examining competence of potential business partners, attracting Russian experts to analyze the internal market, tracking inflation trends scrupulously, and finding a guarantor, such as a trustworthy Russian bank, a large efficient local enterprise, or the municipal or regional Administration, for the project.