Your Role In History As An Entrepreneur

F I N A N C I N G 

Adapted from the book 30 DAYS TO THE NEW ECONOMY written and published by Peggy Salvatore

We already explored the potential of the effect of the changing financial realities of the New Economy on your Internet business. Some of the old gatekeepers of investment capital have been supplanted by the ability to reach out directly to potential investors.

For small entrepreneurs, you may only need a few thousand dollars. With the amount of free and low-cost resources at your disposal, you can start a substantial business with little startup cash. That means many people can build their business out of pocket.

There are many benefits to funding your own enterprise. You have no debt except to yourself. You retain control of the business and you own it 100% outright. And you spend your time on your business, not court- ing potential investors. If you can do it, self-financing is the way to go.

If you need to attract investors for a larger idea, you can go directly to individuals. Wise investors (which is what you want) will vet you and help you by making sure your idea is viable and you are able to execute it professionally. Consider wise investors another advantage that you take into your venture.

You may be the person who imagines the concept, but you don’t want to go it alone. Wise investors will look at the credentials of your support system as well as your own ability to execute your ideas. The more advisors and team members you have in your corner, even those part-timers and professional friends, are very important to your success.

You want others to help you hone your ideas, promote your products and services, and be your cheerleaders on days when you need one. When you are looking to attract capital, that team will make or break your ability to do so.

Be strategic about your partnerships. A geek with sales skills might be able to sign up customers and design websites but not write content. A strategic partnership  with a content writer (who may even be in a different country!) who has no site design or sales skills, can accomplish more than either can working alone.

And there’s no legality (besides perhaps a dated, mutually-signed “letter of understanding” to set forth what’s agreed) involved, and no complicated financing involved. What there needs only to be is separate skilled businesses or individuals with mutual trust and ambition. It can work like barter with a split-fee arrangement.

Build bench strength where you have weaknesses

Make sure the human resources you have on board support your mission and can conduct all the internal business processes required to operate legally, ethically and with solid financial plans.

Finally, be realistic about the amount of financing that you need. If you overestimate, you will spend your time raising money for things you don’t need or could easily and more quickly do yourself. If you underestimate, you will get only partway to goal.

A great realistic plan is to start your business in small and manageable chunks with the resources and financing at your disposal, and when the marketplace responds with interest and orders, you can raise the stakes.

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C’mon back TOMORROW 10/9 for Day 24 —

Are you your own Department of Internal Revenue?

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For more information on Peggy Salvatore’s book: 30 Days to the New Economy [© Peggy Salvatore 2015. All Rights Reserved.] click on ENTREPRENEUR NEWS or visit ow.ly/RysnP for the E-book

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Hal@Businessworks.US      Peggy@Businessworks.US

Open Minds Open Doors

Thanks for your visit and make today a GREAT day for someone!

Your competition is in

summer slowdown mode

. . . so speed up!

Former New York Mets manager Willie Randolph professed that winning teams needed the attitude that when they were able to get ahead of an opponent in a game or series, was the time to “put your boot on their neck.” Merciless? Maybe. A winning formula? Maybe. (Though Willie was hardly a big-winning manager.) A philosophy with merit? Sure.

It’s always worth considering options for dealing effectively with your competitors. But –unless you’re a boxer– knockouts are rarely if ever the most effective method for your reputation and long-term growth. Many successful small businesses actually use a competitor’s summer slowdown period as a chance to collaborate and exchange supportive services.

As unlikely as it may seem on the surface, down-shifting summer and holiday gears from 3rd to 2nd can be done with less negative financial impact when good working relationships with competitors can be called into play. I’ve even heard of competitive retail firms alternating seasonal slow-down periods by arranging to cover for one another.

TURN DOWNTURNS UP!

And don’t many successful professionals do that routinely? Doctors, lawyers, accountants, and many creative and tech services will provide short-term coverage for one another in a spirit of teamwork, and to make the most of opportunities to spread out overhead costs, and keep clients/patients/customers who might otherwise stray.

“WIN-WIN” isn’t just a leadership/teamwork slogan. Any situation where bi-partisanship can enhance overall performance of competitive businesses is a win for customers as well. Bartering work hours for administrative or sales personnel, for instance, can be very effective when the business owners and managers are equally committed.

Barter can be especially beneficial

for business startups and overhauls!

The retail world is filled with great examples. Physically-clustered competitors can usually attract many more customers than those in isolated locations. Consider the drawing power of New York City’s Diamond and Garment Districts, San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, Houston’s Riverwalk, Delaware’s Outlet Centers . . . add your own here!

The point is that while you may be looking to throw a knockout punch at your competitor, consider the opposite. A cooperative arrangement can benefit you both, and even be there to support you if your business ever goes through a slowdown period. Examine the ways you do business before turning up the heat on your competition.

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P L E A S E   N O T E   N E W  D I R E C T   P H O N E   N U M B E R

HAL ALPIAR Writer/Consultant 302.933.0911 TheWriterWorks.com, LLC

National Award-Winning Author & Brand Marketer – Record Client Sales

Holiday Gloom and Other

Economic Bushes To Beat

     There comes for many business owners and managers a point in time — that inevitably seems to fall in the middle of holiday season — where you can no longer cut back business staffing or compensation, and other overhead expenses loom ominously over your head, like a guillotine, ready to drop.

      Uh, sorry for such a merciless graphic thought, but there ARE still options to exercise, and you ARE still reading, right? Use this “SQUEAKSMANSHIP”© checklist to prompt your brain to more closely consider your circumstances and determine some alternatives that can work for you now.

• Strategic Alliances. Even with or without exchanges of commissions or time, there are many ways to work together with allied businesses that can save money for all involved. Explore.
• Cooperative Advertsing and Marketing. Many manufacturers provide matching dollar and similar programs for retailers that represent their products. Many trade and professional associations and membership organizations provide discounted rate arrangements. Ask.    
• Shared PR. Jointly-issued news releases and cooperative events that promote participant businesses equally strengthen impact and minimize expenses. Poke around. 
• Barter. ANY combination of goods and / or services represent mutual benefit when traded. Local radio stations will often trade commercial air-time for products they can give away in listener contests. Make some calls.
• Shared Employees. Receptionists? Clerical? Contractors? IT? Programmers? Retail? Think. 
• Shared Services. Delivery? Maintenance? Bookkeeping? Look for what’s accessible.
• Shared Vehicles. Cars? Trucks? Construction equipment? Plows? Planes? If it moves…
• Shared Expenses. Mortgage? Rent? Insurance? Purchasing? Memberships? Hmmm…

YOU CAN ALSO…

     Put more marketing reliance on (less expensive than traditional media) Websites, Social Media, Email Campaigns (which don’t have to be spam, btw), News Releases, Captioned Photo Releases, Postcards, Business Card Distribution Displays, Newsletters.

     Put more sales reliance on commission + expenses and/or + advances (vs. salaries) … virtual sales force use … retail street performers.

     Put more emphasis on minimizing travel expense with less exotic, fewer frills regional and centralized meetings … minimizing energy use (Some major outlet stores are cutting back on lighting with customer explanations of fuel and community savings affected.

     Make this holiday season a half-full glass for YOUR business! Oh, and remind your people to NOT cut back on wishing customers and suppliers “Merry Christmas!” Merry Christmas!  

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Banking on your bank?

Don’t waste your time!

     The economy continues to hemorrhage.  Oh no, that’s just not true, I heard that it’s not true on the news today:  The federal government says “we’re seeing many signs of things turning around.”

     I can’t imagine  what’s in some one’s line of sight that would prompt THAT statement. Also in today’s news, Microsoft just laid off another 800 employees. You connect the dots.

     The point is that when the going gets tough,  the average hard-working business leader thinks: The BANK. The BANK will bail us out. The BANK will lend us what we need. The BANK is the answer.

     One leading national bank  says they’ll even give loans to illegal aliens. Another says it will help customers who need help. Don’t you believe either one of them, or any of the other sleazy branding line enticements being offered out there in medialand. 

     You cannot depend on The BANK.  Period. Banks are tripping over themselves trying to outdo hospitals and the US Postal Service in the stupidity and low trust departments.

     Banks are at least 50 years behind reality  and –just like the hospitals and US Postal Service– think that slick, clever slogans, spiels, and marketing devices coming from empty suits and empty heads are going to make up the difference, the decades of incompetence.

     Credit unions offer a bit more comfort,  because they answer to their “members” not a board of directors and stockholders (but can also be a bit more risky for businesses because loan percentages, for example, can end up being higher than credit card rates if you’re not careful and alert).

     You think BANK  because the BANK has convinced you that it is your good neighbor, that because it’s been doing business in your town for a zillion generations, that it’s honorable and will loan you the money you need when you need it for a ridiculously low rate because they’re your neighbor.

     Good Luck!  A lot of businesses are failing because they naively trusted The BANK would support them in hard times. Reality Check: The BANK supports itself in hard times.

     What else is there?  Investors. Great, but guess what? Today’s investors want immediate gratification ROI and enough proof and collateral to guarantee it. Not much help if you don’t already have the money you need! 

     “Angel” investors  are getting tainted with skepticism, and are also requiring more than you probably have cause if you had it you wouldn’t be looking for it! Hmmmm. Barter. Right. Well, barter is great up to a point, but it rarely if ever produces money. Stockpiled merchandise and services have increasingly marginal value. 

     So, that leaves (ta-ta-ta-ta-tah-tah!):  SALES. Innovative, value-added products and services = SALES. SALES ALWAYS BEAT The BANK. How to boost sales now must be your number one (and perhaps only) priority. There is no greater or more important issue for you or your business to be dealing with right now, unless of course you own or run The BANK. 

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