They need to be assessed for what they actually support within the whole business plan.
Distinguish interest from committed business
A potential customer’s enthusiasm is not necessarily a binding purchase. Explain the actual commitment and the basis of the operating forecast without treating every letter as guaranteed revenue.
Read each interest letter beside its conditions, expiration language, quantities, and the author’s authority, then reconcile it with contracts, market analysis, operating costs, and hiring projections. No letter guarantees nonmarginality. E-2 requires treaty-country nationality, qualifying enterprise ownership, funds irrevocably committed and at risk, an investment substantial relative to the business, and a real operating enterprise that is not marginal. The investor must develop and direct it, ordinarily through at least 50 percent ownership or operational control. A common error is projecting every expression of interest as firm first-year revenue while ignoring capacity and contingencies. Also decide whether the temporary E-2 route fits long-term goals, because it offers no direct path to a green card.
Hypothetical example: A cabinetmaker in L’Anse-Saint-Jean plans a custom-furniture showroom and receives three cordial emails from prospective U.S. designers. One asks for samples, another conditions interest on pricing, and none places an order. The investor should label them accurately, build conservative projections from supportable assumptions, and gather lease, equipment, supplier, staffing, ownership, nationality, and source-of-funds records. Demonstrating committed capital and a credible business path will matter more than rewriting tentative emails as sales. If forecasted activity supports only the investor’s household, the nonmarginality issue remains.