With the lemonade stand analogy firmly ingrained in many entrepreneurial spirits, it can be easy to think that any startup business can thrive in today’s competitive marketplace with ‘just the right’ business plan, or ‘just enough’ funding. With today’s advances in technology, the reality is that many conventional startup ideas are simply disappearing from view as online retail stores and services offer efficient distribution of some of the world’s most basic products.
Think of how quickly the rise of Netflix has almost removed demand for video store rentals, or the rise of travel sites such as Travelocity and Expedia have almost eliminated travel agent services. While travel agents can offer ‘specialized’ service and customized packages that a computer might not be able to tackle, the shift in consumer’s perspectives on how to get what they want, when they want it, has led to the downfall of many traditional businesses that were once the basis of many entrepreneurs and startup dreams. Here are just five startups that are no longer the in-demand business or shop that they once were:
The neighborhood bookstore. While antique shops and collectible books are still entities in themselves, a trip to the local bookstore—even if it’s a corporate chain such as Borders or Barnes & Noble—is slowly becoming less of a ‘need’ when customers can browse and explore almost every title online. Online bookstores are also starting to focus on hard-to-find titles and offering services where they can deliver used books from area bookstores. The need for another store in town rarely exists.
Photo development stores. With digital cameras, high-quality home printing, and digital photo sharing becoming a cultural norm, taking that roll of film to the neighborhood photo store just isn’t a part of life. Companies such as Kodak and Fuji are devising new ways to keep their customers with online services and touchscreen stations in stores where customers can upload and create their own CD albums.
The neighborhood pharmacy. With the growth of big-box chains taking over the pharmacy department, consumers are finding one-stop shopping much more convenient when they have a prescription to fill. Online services also help promote prescription refills, reordering, and even finding information on drugs and related health topics.
Video rental stores. DVDs and downloadable movies have quickly become the way of life for many, and a trip to the store simply isn’t convenient anymore. Netflix and Blockbuster offer additional options of getting the movies we want, when we want them.
The CD or music store. While it’s still fun to spend time at the listening station at the local CD store or music shop, finding mp3 clips online or paying for downloads is much more convenient and efficient. The growth in iPod owners and shareable music puts traditional music stores at a significant disadvantage.
What are some other industries or services that are being replaced by online equivalents?
Most of us understand the value of forging ahead with our plans to overcome challenges, setting higher goals to climb the ladder of success, and moving on with words of encouragement that demand ‘quitting is not an option.’ But it’s interesting to learn that there are some instances where quitting can actually work in your favor.
The book identifies ways to become smart at quitting; knowing when to put the brakes on an idea or moving ahead with a deal, and evaluating signs, signals, and situations with better judgment. Here are some other useful suggestions gleaned from The Dip:
Don’t settle for being a copy just to play it safe. If you’re not going to be the leader of your market or what you do, don’t bother doing it at all. This may sound like harsh advice, but successful companies such as Microsoft, Apple, and Google got to the top by providing something unique and not playing the ‘me-too’ game. They became market leaders, not copycats.
Use quitting as an empowerment strategy. When you’ve reached your limit at an average or mediocre level, know that this is one of the best times to change. Quitting to move ahead can help you move towards mastery and avoid leaving you ‘stuck in a rut’.
Learn how to ‘stick’ as much as you ‘quit.’ The art of sticking is covered in ‘The Dip’, identifying how important it is to get through the dip by sticking with what works, and casting aside what doesn’t. At this point, quitting really isn’t an option; the Dip is the long climb (or valley in this case) towards the pinnacle of your industry.
Don’t be afraid to change course. Successful companies have changed their strategy and moved along as aggressively as ever; don’t be afraid to move ahead into new terrain and think you’ll lose your way. Having a solid reason for changing course is key, but once you decide to go, just go.
Create your own territory. As an entrepreneur, following your dream or vision gives you the freedom to take on new challenges and explore new territory as you see fit. If an obstacle or challenge presents itself, learn how to develop your own skills and strengths to overcome it, pursue it, or simply create a new market of your own.
When you refuse to settle for mediocrity, you can strategically plan a quitting schedule so you’ll know what you will settle for. This way, you’ll also know what you’re up against during every step of your success.
Browse through this powerful book and see what resonates with you; feel free to share your insight and comments below!
Now that you’ve settled on your entrepreneurial venture and are ready to take the steps to get started, the inevitable Business Plan anxiety has probably sunk in. Business schools and textbooks identify the business plan as an ‘essential’ element for any business, and there is an ounce or two of truth behind their suggestions. After all, a business plan can help you outline your mission statement, identify objectives and goals, and even hash out preliminary financials. Still, it can all seem like too much work when you’re anxious to just get started. You know you shouldn’t put it off, but can’t seem to buckle down and just finish it.
Here are four signs you’re procrastinating on making your business plan:
You’ve convinced yourself there just isn’t enough time. With your non-stop ‘to do’ list and action steps outlined in your notebook, who has time to look at the bigger picture?
Reality check: the business plan can help you identify some areas of business operations you may have missed, and actually guide you through your ‘to do’ list much more effectively—and efficiently, saving you time of back tracking your thoughts and decisions as you move ahead.
You’ve settled on a ‘working budget.’ This is the vague notion that when money starts coming in, then you’ll have time to start organizing and distributing it.
Reality check: a comprehensive business plan can help you identify how you will create revenue and distribute it for expenses. The more you define your objectives here, the easier it will be to see how much you really need to cover expenses, and how much you might need to get it from other resources. Consider the business plan a working guide that can help you strategize and forecast more easily.
You’ll get it done after the website is launched/first employee is hired/pigs start to fly. The excuses to put it off until a later date are endless, and there’s no reason why you should wait on getting some organization and structure in order for your venture.
Reality check: The sooner you get down a basic plan in writing, the easier it will be to grow and develop ideas with a solid foundation. Use your business plan as an informal guide that you can reference on a regular basis.
You already know how to raise capital, and have investors lined up. So what? Even though you have your funding lined up and in order, you never know what could happen 3-6 months down the road.
Reality check: You may need to convince other lenders and investors to set your sights on your business, especially if any of your initial candidates fall through; save time and energy of explaining your business and goals all over again, and create a definitive business plan that is readily available for your next presentation.
Getting your business plan done may require some motivation, but the payoff will be well worth it. Consider it a work-in-progress; it can always be tweaked, edited, and re-developed should you need it!
David Ponte of Operative recently told me about a new community that profiles startups. Killer Startups is a directory of startups where the community can vote on and discuss the potential of various startups, trying to locate the next big thing! On a weekday basis, Killer Startups profiles 30 startups.
The site is using a mock digg model of voting on the companies by adding a “killers” voting widget on the side of each startup entry. Obviously, nothing unique or special about that, but it’s cute nonetheless.
Bottom line, the site does around 1 million visits a month so from a marketing standpoint it would be nice to have your company profiled on the page. Go kill ‘em!
Now that your ‘Eureka!’ moment has come and gone, you’ve probably got some vague idea of a business plan in the works. Channeling that spark of creativity into a full-fledged business can be daunting, but thanks to marketing gurus such as Seth Godin,turning your innovative idea into a reality may be easier than you thought.
Still, thousands of creative, intelligent, and aspiring entrepreneurs come up with their million dollar idea, only to see it fizzle away at the overwhelming part of getting started. If you’re ready to crack the millionaire code and get started on your business launch, here are a few tips:
Get it down in writing.
While not every business needs a business plan, creating some form of organized plan will help you more often than not. Even if it’s just a simple brainstorming session with notes and references, take some time to put down the key elements of your business. You’ll see this evolve very quickly, and can always turn to it for touch ups and enhancements as needed.
Look around.
If you’re stuck on ways to find customers, solicit businesses, or just define your target market, take a look at the competition—and start taking notes. Learning more about who your competitors are already targeting is just one way to build upon a similar strategy. Alternatively, look for the community that will find your business the most valuable.
Get a mentor or coach.
Mentors can be very powerful motivators to keep you on track with your plan, and will help you bounce ideas, lead you to resources, and help you identify your strengths and weaknesses. Look online for local resources in your community—many small business administration offices offer coaching sessions and other valuable options for up-and-coming businesses in their district.
Build your team.
Not every entrepreneur needs to go at it alone; start recruiting talented entrepreneurs that have the skills you might not have, or don’t have time or resources to learn. The more you can share the workload (within budget), the easier it will be to make progress. Consider a deferred payment plan for solid candidates who are interested in jumping on board—just make sure everything is clearly written in writing, and settle on a fair and negotiable payment structure.
Get a second (and third, and fourth) opinion.
Sometimes your most novel idea is only the Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread for a party of one—you. Running your idea by some positive and trustworthy people is a great way to get some objective feedback. Even though your opinion about the idea matters in the end, it can help to get some open discussion going about the viability of your ideas before you plunge ahead.
Business Week is running its third annual Best Entrepreneurs 25 and Under contest this Fall, with nominations due by September 10. The five winners will be announced online in November, and the selection process involves identifying savvy and talented entrepreneurs who have launched or are operating their own companies. Passionate business leaders under the age of 25 are encouraged to have a mentor or colleague send in a nomination form, explaining why the nominee deserves the award, and what they have achieved thus far.
Business Week sponsors this contest each year to highlight America’s brightest, innovative, and talented leaders. A look at last year’s winners reveals the following key traits. Each entrepreneur is identified for:
Strengths in leveraging technology and tools to build their business
Making the most of their budget—shoestring, venture capital funds, or personal savings
How they created value in their industry
Any indications of innovation and leadership
How they managed their marketing plans and objectives
Long-term potential for sustainability and profits within their industry
BusinessWeek.com reports that a 2006 poll of 1,474 middle and high school students found that over 71% are interested in self-employment at some point in their lives. With extensive opportunities for launching businesses online, the dream of being self-employed is becoming a reality for many. Web-based businesses are becoming a stepping stone for those interested in launching a concept with minimal upfront investments; reduced overhead costs and building networks online make it easier than ever to bring an idea to fruition.
More and more colleges are offering entrepreneurship programs, and even MBA programs address the need for independent business building strategies and understanding the workings of a startup. Whether online or offline, businesses built enthusiastic entrepreneurs is becoming a trend in itself.
Is your entrepreneurial venture nomination-worthy? Send out the nomination link to friends, family, or mentors and encourage them to nominate you as the newest leader among Business Week’s best!
I have compared the first year of running a solo operation to the last few months of running things with a team, and let me tell you, having a solid team is definitely essential for any successful startup.
One of the hardest things that any entrepreneur will have to face is building the team. Finding the right people to be a part of your startup isn’t an easy task. It took me years to find the right niche to explore, then a few more years to begin finding the right people to be a part of the startup.
How have things changed from being solo to having a team?
Ideas that were good, become great when more minds are working on them
Having people to keep you from becoming too grandiose or passionate about something
Being able to have people by your side for extreme brainstorming sessions — priceless
Synergy: exponential brainpower!
Human Capital Trumps Ideas
When I think of a startup team, I think of “Human Capital.” Human Capital is all about mind power; what people can bring to the table with their intellect, insights, and ideas. That’s the real value in having a team.
You can have a poor product, but with the right team anything is possible. When you have a group of people working together on a project, magical things can happen.
It’s a cliché, but two minds really are better than one.
Never Stop Searching
If you’re serious about your service/product, then you should never stop looking for the killer team to complete your startup. Seriously, never stop searching no matter how tedious, hard, and aggravating it may become. It’ll be worth it!
“A great team is a team that will always beat a mediocre team, given the same market and product.”
With the freedom of web communications and low-cost web publishing, thousands of entrepreneurs are turning to self made websites and blogging away to launch their entrepreneurial ventures. The virtual business is no longer a dream; we’re in the era where a laptop in your backpack and setting up shop at the local café are all you need to call it a day’ at the office’.
Online startups can easily be run virtually, generating revenue faster than any brick-and-mortar counterpart. Could you be the next virtual business success story? Here are few quick tips on getting your niche idea onto the ‘on ramp’ for launch:
Develop and define—really define—your marketing strategy.
Every business needs a launch strategy, and your web business shouldn’t be any different. Outline exactly who you’re going to target, and where they may already be. Start social networking, join discussion forums, and just get social! Today’s Web 2.0-based networks are filled with opportunities to help you find out where your customers are. Identifying your niche market’s tastes, preferences, and even goals is easier than ever!
Do your SEO homework.
Even if you’ve outsourced your website creative and content writing, it’s a good idea to learn how to develop your site so that it is easily picked up by the search engines. Counting on an attractive Flash-based site, for example, may help you entertain your audience, but will limit your ability to be seen by search engine crawlers. Learn the ins and outs of search engine optimization and you’ll be off to a great start.
Think in the long-term.
The dot-bomb cycle need not be repeated, and the success of your business will require some long range planning. Build a business that can grow on itself, and develop at least three to four fundamental strategies that will help sustain your business for at least two years.
Power up with a blog.
More and more businesses are using blogs as a complement to their website, or simply as the online business itself. Get comfortable with using blog platforms such as SquareSpace and WordPress, and you’ll quickly see the potential of reaching out to today’s blog-savvy audience.
Create and stick with your mission statement.
Mission and purpose statements aren’t just for brick and mortar startups, they can really help you business succeed on the web as well. Developing a brand is a great way to make sure you stand out from other businesses in the competitive online world, and the more focused and purposeful your mission statement is, the easier it will be to make decisions and grow with your central purpose—consider it a ‘compass’ as you grow.
I was in the backseat of the car yesterday while on a trip with my Dad and Uncle. My Dad was speaking to my Uncle about his position as an Executive at a major stationary company and his experiences from the job. Little did my Dad know that I was getting a very valuable business lesson as I sat back and chimed in on their conversation. The premise of my Dad’s conversation was: “In business you have to be willing to work with people and wait things out. You give a little and get a little; over time, that ‘little’ will turn into a lot.”
Here are a few points that he brought up:
The Smart Sacrifice
In business you have to be willing to take a “smart sacrifice” sometimes. Say, for instance, you get a new client who only wants to pay you $25 per hour and you usually charge $50 per hour. The project is extremely interesting and you know that if you take the job that it’ll lay the foundation for plenty of work to come. If you are smart, you’ll take a small cut in pay, and do the job. Once your prove yourself to the client and show him that your skills are absolutely valuable to their organization, you’ll have them locked in. Once someone is locked in, you can bump up your price. Be smart and know when to strategically cut the price in your service.
Never Hide Your Value
If you know that the things that only “YOU” do produce certain awesome results then don’t — never — hide that. Never. Being humble is great and we should practice that, but there comes a time when you have to let your organization know (whether you’re an employee, partner, or founder) just how great of a job you’re doing. My Dad says: “if you don’t stand out, then you’re replaceable.” When my Dad crashed his car a few years back, he had no problem asking the founder of his company to purchase him a new car — on the company’s dollar — because he knew his value at the company. If “YOU” don’t know your own value at your company, then don’t expect anyone else to.
It’s Okay to Keep Secrets
As a Shipping Executive, it’s my Dad’s job to ship roughly $300,000 in products per day, everyday. For years he’s been able to do what other Shipping Executives have tried to do and failed. My Dad has perfected the method — mathematically and strategically — on how to accomplish this feat day after day. His founder always jokes and says “I’m going to hire a detective to find out how you’re doing this.” The point is, don’t feel that you always have to share every breakthrough with everyone else. Many people feel that if they’ve perfected a business technique, then they should write a blog post on it and give it away to the world. I say: ah… uhmm… no! Why do that? By sharing such a technique, you’ll be rendering it obsolete. You’ll no longer have an advantage. It’s no mystery that companies keep secrets — it’s a must. A great way to share company secrets across the entire organization is to create a Knowledge Base (KB).
The community must come first.Yogi Bhajan, who was the leader of the Kundalini Yoga movement in the United States and founder of over 27 companies, knew this simple, but unrecognized, fact a long time ago. Today, after more than 30 years of tirelessly expanding his teachings and philosophy unto countless students and followers, yoga and meditation have gained widespread acceptance in the West and continue to affect endless lives throughout the world.
Yogi Bhajan’s main aim wasn’t to build companies (Sikh Dharma, Akal Security, 3HO Foundation, Golden Temple, The Amar Infinity Foundation, Peace Cereal, etc.), most notably Yogi Tea Company, but to spread awareness of yoga and meditation and how these tools, if used correctly, can bring about happiness and peace. He focused, with all his might, to build a community of followers and practitioners who could gain — spiritually, mentally, and physically — from his teachings and even “surpass him” one day.
Once the community was in place, secure, and in auto-drive, you can essentially serve up anything (of value) into that community and it’ll flourish. Yogi’s tea company, Yogi Tea Company, was first introduced when Yogi began serving it to his students after class. From there, he began selling it through various vegetarian restaurants, now it is sold worldwide in thousands of health food stores. He needed the community. Without the community, there would have been no channel for the product.
A co-founder to one of Yogi’s companies stated: “there is no stigma in being financially successful,” Mr. Khalsa added. “Prosperity does not take away from spiritual net worth. You can have both.”
“The whole point of all these ventures is not for an individual to get rich, but to perpetuate the mission of the community,” said Avtar Hari Singh Khalsa, CEO of Yogi’s 3HO Foundation.
When you build a community that fosters and promotes positive change and peace, you are laying the foundation for explosive growth. Any community that seeks to bring about positive changes will find that constituents seem to popup all over the place — almost magically. It’s simple: people want to be a part of something good.
Look at Tom’s Shoes. This great company donates a pair of shoes to someone — usually in a developing country — who is without a pair of shoes. Every time you purchase a pair, someone gets a pair for free. The positive reaction that Blake Mycoskie, founder, receives for his contributions to society are overwhelming.
Oprah knows this all too well. Oprah built an amazing community of followers through her immensely powerful and influential show, Oprah. Through her donations, selfless contributions to starving nation such as Africa, and her ongoing efforts to spread awareness of life-altering topics, Oprah has amassed a large following.
Now through that following, she is able to offer her widely successful magazine, O, The Oprah Book Club, and even produce hit plays and movies. Without her community, she would not of have the channel to distribute. Her positive contributions paved the way for her successful businesses.
Most of us know of Mike Arrington, the most popular voice of “Web 2.0.” His empire began by building a loyal community of tech readers interested in getting the lasted updates on their favorite Web 2.0 companies. This is how he built his following. Now look at Tech Crunch: it’s has branched out with a series of sites, conferences, and events. And it all began with a tech blog that did everything it could to provide excellent information, almost 24/7, to its readers.
The most successful and widely acclaimed businesses will not be the ones with the strongest ideas, but the ones that think of the business as an afterthought. I know… I know… how can I be saying to think of your business as an afterthought? Blasphemy! I must be crazy!
Well, no, it’s not crazy. When you strive to build a community around your idea and make that your priority, the business aspect will basically build itself, in time. The business will harness the accumulated power, influence, and hunger from the community. But without a strong foundation — a strong following — there will be no support beams for your business, no channels.
Below is a contributed article from Jeff Williams, informing you — Mindpetalers! — how his company can help your startup. Seedco and NYC Business Solutions are not sponsors of Mind Petals.
Let me begin by acknowledging that if three years ago I had I been aware of New York’s Business Solutions Centers, right at the time when I was experiencing the terrible difficulties and cold loneliness of running a business in the world’s fastest-paced city, most, if not all, of my problems would have gone away.
Just like that—gone away. I was unsure how to structure my business for optimal performance within its industry, and often felt like I was playing trial-by-error, day in and out; I had a hard time appropriately connecting with the emerging digital world; I had no clue that someone with my credit score still had funding options for my business’ growth; I had no idea how extensive NYC’s resources were for small business support, guidance, benefits and incentives—a list which, now, seems inexhaustible. Bottom line, my business could have been saved from failure long before failure occurred. Now, I work with the Business Solutions Center to help many of NY’s small businesses avoid these and many other issues that plague their operational health.
After playing an integral role in the post-9/11 re-structuring of the business community in Lower Manhattan, Seedco, a non-profit economic development organization, was contracted by the NYC Department of Small Business Services to offer assistance to community entrepreneurs and small businesses city-wide through the Business Solutions Centers.
Now, dreamers can turn into start-up companies, and young businesses looking to expand or grow have a support system to help them operate effectively at the next level. With a Business Solutions Center in every borough, and two in Manhattan (Upper and Lower), thousands of small business owners have taken advantage of the one-on-one, pro-bono technical assistance, below-market-rate financing options, and business development professionals on staff.
As a former business owner, I know how much time, effort and money can be exhausted getting legal advice, putting together the dreaded financial plan and outlook, hiring employees, searching for permits, licenses and regulations relevant to your industry, and trying to find money to build or develop your business to match what you have envisioned. Well, I am here to spread the wealth, figuratively and literally.
My colleagues and I are each dedicated to the small businesses of New York. We have a constantly updating series of workshops: Starting a Business; How and Where to Get Financing; Restaurant Owners and Managers BootCamp; Marketing for Small Businesses; Business@Home, and more—much more. I
f you are looking to recruit new employees, the Workforce1 program with Seedco pre-screens jobseekers per your needs, and the EarnBenefits program can provide them with free benefits, including healthcare and life insurance. If your company needs start-up money, needs to move to a new location, has to purchase new equipment, or just needs funds for working capital, we most likely can provide you with the wampum you seek or, at the least, help you find where the wampum is.
For my fellow Mindpetalers, please feel free to call or email and set up an appointment, or find a Business Solution Center in your area and stop in. As a one-stop shop, we’re here for you—all you have to do is come.
Visit online at www.nyc.gov/smallbiz to find the Business Solution Center near you. Jeff Williams is an ArtBusiness Account Executive at the Lower Manhattan Business Solution Center, operated by Seedco. He can be contacted at 212.618.8820, or jjwilliams@seedco.org
I just signed up for Entrepreneur’s new tool, Entrepreneur Assist. Some of the features are pretty cool, actually. There is a “Documents” section that allows you to create slide presentations, notes, and tags. You can also create standard documents and spreadsheets. Think of Google Documents and that pretty much sums up their Document functionality. I think that the interface is actually cleaner that Google Docs. Their document software is provided by ZOHO.
There’s a bookmarking feature that allows you to save your favorite sites. This is a neat feature, especially for someone looking to specifically store entrepreneurship-related sites. I like netvibes bookmarking tool for this, but this works just as well.
The Forms and Templates area of the service is definitely the gold mine. This section allows you to add templates to your account and modify them to suit your needs. Business plans, marketing plan, customer satisfaction forms, etc., they have what you need. I think that this is extremely useful for young entrepreneurs. Being able to study a mock business plan or proposal is priceless. These forms and plans make for an excellent examples and, depending on the complexity of your business, it’ll be better than starting from scratch. There are hundreds of templates available.
Oh, and let’s not forget the library section. They are currently offering 11 business books that you can download (PDF) and read for free. They are: Project Management made Easy, 202 Ways to Supplement Your Retirement Income, Smart Negotiating, Advertising Without an Agency Made Easy, Six Sigma for Small Business, Mad Scam, Online Shopper’s Survival Guide, Millionaire Homeowner, This is Not Your, Parents’ Retirement, Niche and Get Rich, and The Entrepreneur Diet.
Overall, I think that this is a powerful tool for entrepreneurs to use. Sure, most of the features area already being offered by other services, but now you can have them all in one place and keep your entrepreneurial information stored with one site. Some of the links are still a bit buggy, but I’m sure that they’re being worked out. If anything, just signup for access to the free books.
My job as a Internet Media Sales executive entitles me the responsibility to scour the internet for online publishers who may need the services that my company Operative offers, which by the way is ad serving technology and outsourced ad trafficking While I am doing this, I am always thinking of my Mindpetals community members and what could potentially be a good resource for them in their quests to become successful entrepreneurs. I happened to come across a new startup that could enable the young, aspiring entrepreneur to get his/her word out to the right people, particularly those that have money and the capacity to share a vision.
The site is called Vator.tv, which is short for “innovator” or “elevator” (as in “elevator pitch”). It began as a little garage project that was started last year to help the owner of the site, Bambi Francisco, vet startups’ pitches and to give exposure to those she would invariably overlook as a columnist at MarketWatch.com. She then convinced Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, to invest some capital into her idea. Bambi says this in her last column that she wrote while employed at MarketWatch, the company she ended up leaving to work on Vator.tv full time, “I’m going to try my hand as an entrepreneur. I think I’m making the right decision. If I didn’t make this decision, I would always regret not trying” and isn’t that what drives every entrepreneur?
Essentially, it’s a unique video-centric environment for entrepreneurs to meet potential financial backers, strategic partners and vendors. Users have the ability to reach an audience that they typically would not reach. Like Youtube, all it takes is a video camera and internet connection and you can have your idea, concept, strategy, or business model in front of someone who might be able to take you and your idea to the next level. However, video pitches aren’t limited to just startups, investors explaining what they’re looking for in addition to individuals promoting their own skill-sets. Videos can then be commented, rated, and viewed by anyone, so make sure that you have that patent pending.
I feel that the biggest obstacle many entrepreneurs face is that they don’t have the platform for their ideas to be heard. This site allows them to reach their target audience quickly and easily. My last name in Italian translates to the word “bridge”, so if I can help be the “bridge” for someone who is on their way to realizing their dream one day, then its worth it to me.
David Ponte is a freelance writer who also works for Operative in NYC and recently founded www.nysportspace.com (for all you New York sports fans). He can be reached at dponte@operative.com
One of the biggest problems that partners face when starting a company are the “expectations” that each person has for the company. Your partner may expect the company to be making $500,000 in revenue the first year. And you may expect the company to do $25,000 the first year.
Expectations come in many forms when you’re starting a company. Expectations for revenue, expectations for how the workload will be split, expectations on the products and services, and the list goes on….
You each have your own definition of what “success” means. The problem arises when you and your partner don’t “understand” each other’s expectations. So what happens? You fight a lot. You argue all the time. And most of all — TIME IS WASTED!
It’s normal that you and your partner to have different expectations, but the key to a successful partnership is for both of you to fully understand your partner’s expectations. And that can only happen when you each write down your own expectations on a piece of paper and actually sit down and discuss them with your partner. You need to hash everything out during this critical meeting.
You each have to be on the same page. Most young entrepreneurs make the mistake of having this necessary “expectations meeting” after the company / partnership was formed.
No, not cool. You have to do is “before” you form the partnership and push forward with starting a company. Would you marry someone before dating them? Would you say that someone’s pasta was amazing without tasting it? No, you wouldn’t.
So don’t form a partnership with someone without fully understanding their expectations and without them fully understanding yours. Please, save yourself the headaches, expenses, and drama.
Last week we offered you some pointers on how to determine which lawyer is best for you, but what about actually finding a lawyer. If there’s one thing that entrepreneurs aren’t short of, it’s lawyers.
Legal advice is absolutely essential to the entrepreneur’s long-term success. We’d be kidding ourselves if we thought we could get by without a solid lawyer in our corner. Entrepreneurs have a tendency to want to do everything and be everyone, but do yourself a favor and leave to technical legal aspects of your business to a lawyer.
Of course, learn as much as you can about the law and how it affects your business, do doubt! You should always do your own research into that. Being able to intelligent express what you need to your lawyer is key.
Many young entrepreneurs fail to hire a lawyer in the beginning stages of the business because, it’s simple, we’re broke! And guess what? Lawyers are expensive. For the first 2/3 years of my business I never consulted with a lawyer.
But as time goes by and legal issues begin to become more and more apparent, I know that investing funds into a reliable lawyer is a must. Sure, you can get by for a long time without a lawyer, but when things start to speed up and you’re expanding like no tomorrow, get ready to move forward with a lawyer. No excuses.
Here’s a site that I’ve used in the past to find a lawyer, Legal Match. This site is cool because it’ll match you up with a lawyer based upon how much you’re willing to spend, the type of lawyer you are seeking, and your location. Give them a shot. Also, check out this article for further information.
While it’s a good idea to be knowledgeable about rules and regulations for your business practices, finding the right legal help at the right time can be a little overwhelming. You’ll find plenty of lawyers ready to jump on board with your entrepreneurial venture, but overspending on legal assistance is an easy mistake. Finding a good lawyer will take time and possibly some interviewing; you’ll want to develop a detailed list of objectives to learn what information and assistance you really need.
The most common reasons to turn to a lawyer for a startup or new venture may include:
Defining your business structure
Assistance with negotiating a new lease or other legal contracts
Determining what is considered intellectual property
Assistance with copyright information and infringement clauses
Help with litigation services
The sale or negotiations with equity for your company
You may also need help raising capital, or working with international trade associations and governments. Whatever the case may be, outline exactly what you need to accomplish by consulting an attorney; any potential lawyers that can’t provide specific information will not let you make the most of your options. Look for a lawyer that can add value to your specific industry; don’t be afraid to ask for referrals and contact other businesses for advice.
A good lawyer will help you understand legal documents, prepare contracts or procedures, and may also assist with any hearings and trials. Just keep in mind that you don’t have to let your lawyer draft everything from scratch; save on their hourly rates by drafting material yourself first, then having them approve or edit the documents.
Fee structures can be complicated depending on the type of lawyer you’re hiring; it’s a good idea to request a formal billing contract so you know how much they are charging by the hour. Some lawyers can charge upward of $450 per hour; making sure you are getting true value for your requests is important, and you might be far better off turning to other resources.
Always keep in mind that there are many local resources available in your community. The local library, professional speakers, and consultants can all serve as mentors and guide you through many areas of business. Your local small business development center can also offer free services, and sometimes even legal advice. Learn about what’s available by contacting your area Chamber of Commerce, and get involved with local networking events to open up fresh opportunities!
A few years ago I was really into bodybuilding. Back then, to me, it was all about building muscle and getting bigger and bigger and bigger…. At one point, I was approaching 220 pounds. I was huge and I knew that the only way to get bigger was to continue to overload my muscles with more resistance. As my muscles became accustomed to a certain weight, I would add more.
The same holds true with our businesses: In order for us to make advances, we must continue to challenge our companies (ourselves). And that can be done in many ways.
Continue to improve your quality of service.
There will never be a limit when it comes to quality. We can always improve our offerings in some way or another. Especially when it comes to customer service, we should always strive to make enhancements in order to best serve our clients on an ongoing basis.
Continue to innovate.
Okay, so you have a great idea and you have turned it into a business. Swell! But you need to keep on going. You need to keep on innovating and breaking through barriers. Your ideas should never stop growing. An idea is a root that continues to grow deeper and deeper into the earth. Your company should be a reflection of that constant growth — that continued evolution of your mind.
Continue to disrupt.
If your company isn’t disrupting preexisting business models, then you are probably in the business of playing it safe. Your business should strive to transcend what’s already out there. It should make people think a different way and dispel old notions. Essentially, your business should strive to be so disruptive, that it invokes a paradigm shift in whatever sector your are in. In order to do that, you must think on levels that people have steered clear from.
Continue to set seemingly unfathomable goals for your business.
Spend some time and think about goals that seem to be unconquerable based upon your current situation with your business. Then set out to conquer them! What’s the saying: “Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star.” Always think big, never small. If you think small, then expect small results.
Continue to remain positive.
As a founder of a company it’s your responsibility to set the tone of the entire company. And that tone will be a reflection of your personal attitude and your thoughts. You have to be the shinning light that illuminates determination, ambition, and motivation upon your entire organization — every single day. It’s not an easy job, but someone has to do it. You have to do it.
For years I’ve been telling people to build a business around their passion and that will be the key to success. Well, that’s not exactly correct. Someone can be super passionate about, say, yoga — they practice yoga all day long, read yoga books, talk about yoga to their friends and family, eat, sleep, and drink yoga. But does that qualify them to start their own yoga studio and run a business? No way.
This comes back to the distinction between a businessperson, entrepreneur, and someone who has a passion and wants to make money through that passion. Phew… these semantics are confusing, eh?
Let’s try to work this out. Ok, the person who loves yoga and wants to start a business around yoga (opening a yoga studio) isn’t exactly an entrepreneur just because they want to start a business around their passion. However, if they team up with someone who can run the business allowing them to take care of the yoga lessons, and you are able to turn a profit, then I’d consider you a businessperson who is making money from your passion.
Now, if the dude who loves yoga has ideas to spread yoga all throughout the world, has an innate desire to start a business and then actually starts a studio either by themselves or putting together and running a team…I’d consider that person an entrepreneur who has materialized their plans.
Semantics and definitions aside, people have to understand that just because they are passionate about something, that doesn’t automatically mean that they can build a business around it. Just as most musicians aren’t exactly qualified to promote and sell their own records.
The small group of special people who are usually able to handle the creative / business aspects of running a company are the “entrepreneurs.” Entrepreneurs are the people who can wear many — pretty much all — hats of running a business (from idea to implementation.)
The bottom line: if you have a passion and want to build a business around it, then do that! But understand that not everyone is going to be born an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs, I believe, aren’t made. Businessmen are made. Realize who you from the start. If you have the passion, then find the entrepreneur to help you realize your dreams.
If you aren’t down with VoIP yet, where have you been hiding out? With Vonage expect to pay $30 per month (actually mine comes out to $32.50) and relax with unlimited calls in the US. Get rid of that outdated land-line and upgrade to an Internet phone connection. It’s faster, clearer, and cheaper.
One of the best online invoice systems on the market would have to be Blinksale. With their user-friendly and intuitive design / functionality, you can easily send professional invoices to all your clients. And when it comes time for taxes, just print out an excel sheet that the system can produce for you.
I’ve used a lot of hosting companies over the years — most of them have been very disappointing and unreliable. But Media Temple has never let me down (well, at least not with their dv (dedicated virtual) servers.) Their customer service absolutely rocks! 24/7 I can give them a call and they’re always up for helping me out with anything. I highly recommend them as your hosting provider. [*** If you only have one small site and don't expect a ton of traffic, then go with Godaddy basic hosting package.]
From newsletters to surveys, IConact makes it super easy to build a list of subscribers for any sort of content that you wish to share. I use them for my monthly magazine and their service has been on point. Packages start at $9.95 and scale up from there. If you’re thinking about starting a newsletter or online mag, then give iContact a shot.
For $29.95 use Skype to make unlimited outbound calls from your computer. I like to use this service in conjunction with my Vonage because there are times when I don’t have my business phone with me — like in a café or on the road. All I need is an Internet connection and I can use my SkypeOut to make unlimited calls. Also, I can use an app called Audio Hijack Pro to record any Skype call. (podcasts, conference calls, etc). If you run windows, use Hot Recorder to record.
HOT or NOT, as I’m sure that you can guess, is that site that allows you to rate people by their hotness. It’s simple: if someone is hot, you rate them high and if they are butt ugly, you give ‘em a low rating.
The founders of this company have scaled it to a level where they are pulling 4 million + a year in revenue; not bad for such a simple site that, believe it or not, many people have never even heard of.
I was reading James Hong’s blog, one of the founders, and have focused in on a couple key points that may inspire you as an entrepreneur.
1.)
This doesn’t directly relate to the founder, but his friend, Albert did something that most entrepreneurs wouldn’t do in a lifetime. He sold his company, bubbleshare, and gave the proceeds to his parents so he would stay hungry.
Albert mentioned that he gave most of the money he made from selling his first company to his parents.. A noble thing to do, but then he surprised me by adding “I gave them the money because it was of course enough for me to never work again, but you know.. i wanted to stay hungry”.
Now that takes balls! Talk about staying hungry. This just goes to show you that not all entrepreneurs are in it for the money. The rush! The rush is what’s really exciting and keeps most of us in the game.
2.)
It’s going to take more than money to get motivated people to be devoted to your business. You have to provide a company culture that is really going to entice and keep your team enthusiastic about the company.
It never works. At least not here in Silicon Valley. Engineers at HOTorNOT last year were making 2-3x normal salaries, yet they were not happy… and we really couldn’t expect them to be. After all, the only people we trusted with our baby were people like us.. and god knows I wouldn’t have stayed here for a high salary. At their age (23), I wanted risk and potential reward, not a steady job. I make a big deal of telling people that when I finished my MBA at 25, I turned down a job that was gonna pay me about $180k in the first year.. despite the fact that I was $50k in debt.. to instead earn no paycheck and give entrepreneurship a go. These are the type of people you trust to continue running your site in “high profit margin” mode. Big company types won’t do.
Bottom line, if you have entrepreneurial-minded people working for your company, they aren’t going to be satisfied with the traditional “paycheck to paycheck.” They’ll need more than that to stick around. Offering them a piece of the pie — a stake in the company — is usually the best route.
3.)
Ok, so maybe your company is making some money. Sit back and relax now, right? Wrong! Never get complacent just because you “feel” secure with the current status of your company. You MUST continue to innovate, improve, modify, and perfect. Don’t let money make you lazy. Do whatever you have to do in order to keep that drive to excel. These guys took some serious measures to ensure that they wouldn’t get lazy:
The downside of running a cashcow is that you don’t want to do anything substantially different to make it better. The idea is that you milk the cow until it is dead, and hopefully invest that money into new things. Changing anything could screw the money machine up, so you tend not to take any risks. But it almost physically hurts to see the thing you worked so hard on be put into this mode, because you know that in this mode, death is inevitable. Nothing last forever without changing with the times. (Actually, nothing last forever, period. But doing nothing surely accelerates that process.)
So late last year, Jim and I took a look at our situation:
Converted the company from an S corporation to a C corporation. This is not reversible any time in the near future, and changes the dynamics of how willing we are to spend the money we are making.
We stopped all dividending of profits. This money is now better used being reinvested into the company. What this basically means is that my income for the year just dropped from “x million” to “ZERO”. Talk about taking a paycut! Additionally, since I am working here again, I took a salary of $24 a year. (I wanted it to be $1, but apparently that created a problem for our payroll vendor, so it became $1 per pay period)
We created a stock option plan and have started giving options to employees.. to make THEM hungry too. As part of this, our engineers took a paycut back to market rates. The fascinating thing about this is that THEY ASKED FOR THE PAY CUT. They understood that in order to deserve the reward, and in order for them to feel the need to work smarter/harder, they needed to take some risk. For guys that just turned 23, I found this to be incredibly mature.
I admire the actions that these founders are taking to ensure a future for their company. They are continuing to take risks, improve the business model, and implementing ways to turn employees into partners. These initiatives are things that all entrepreneurs should take into consideration when running a company. Stay hungry, and keep the ball rolling!
Some people are just so damn creative. They can come up with brilliant concepts, figure out such elegant and simple solutions to the weirdest problems, and brainstorming with them is analogous to sitting down with Jobs, Branson, and Gates….well, at least it feels that way.
Now on the other side of the coin, some people are so damn sharp when it comes to business and making money. They may not be the most creative people, but they sure know how to do the math, run the figures, and get the money flowing into the business. These people are fighters, not big thinkers.
I am convinced that each startup needs minds from both of these types of people: the creative thinkers and the business thinkers. When you put someone who is brilliant at coming up with ideas in a room with someone who is amazing at making money and refining businesses models, you have a rockstar team.
Let’s be real, many of us young entrepreneur are super — duper duper — creative. In fact, many of us are downright brilliant, if I may say. BUT… in many cases, our brilliance isn’t matched with business acumen.
Sure, I have no doubt that many us of can hold our own or even be brilliant at making money as well… but the founding entrepreneur — the visionary — is the big idea person who is the creative fuel behind the startup, NOT the financial wizard coming up with all the magnificent marketing, perusing balance sheets, and creating spreadsheets of the financials.
Bottom-line: make sure that your business isn’t only focused on being creative and innovative. At the end of the day, you want to make money with your business as well, right? If so, find someone to focus on the money and you focus on maintaining your brilliance and creativity.
I’ve seen the links and heard the buzz about Justin.tv all over the net. But today, while reading about it in the May issue of Business 2.0, I finally decided to find out what all the hype was about.
Simply put, Justin is a young entrepreneur living in San Francisco and rocking a video camera on his baseball cap to record his life, all day long. Justin also provides a live chat room on the site for viewers to connect. I love the concept.
While browsing through his site, I spent some time watching some archived clips of Justin’s life. I saw a movie of a bunch of people drinking beers and singing a tune, what appeared to be a Justin.tv theme song.
Then I flipped over to the live recording session: Justin is actually eating lunch with his parents right now. Mmm…Mmm… and it’s making me hungry.
Though this may seem corny or a waste of time to many people, I really don’t think so. I think Justin is providing a useful service to entrepreneurs across the world by giving them a glimpse (actually, the whole thing) into the real life of a real entrepreneur. It’s amusing, funny, and education all at the same time.
I think that all entrepreneurs should do something like this and share their lives with the world. I would certainly subscribe to other young entrepreneurs video feeds and watch.
If you couldn’t swim, would you jump into a pool of water without knowing just how deep it was? Umm, I doubt it! This would be a potential death risk.
You would want a clear idea as to just how deep that water was, because if it’s too deep, you’re going to keep your butt on shore.
So if this simple idea is easily understood, why do so many young entrepreneurs jump into the deep end when it comes to creating business ventures, without having the ability to swim, and without any knowledge about just how deep the “commerce waters” are that they are diving into?
In essence these young entrepreneurs are really just jumping in, “hoping” that the waters are not too deep, and praying that they don’t drown to death and go belly up.
I’ve been in this position; I created my first venture without proper knowledge about the operation, the market for my service, my targeted demographic, or the geographic market that I was hoping to operate in.
Some research efforts can become extremely complex, and there are many large marketing research firms that make billions of dollars a year in revenue by providing in-depth marketing analysis reports for large firms.
Obviously you might not be in a position to seek professional consultations from marketing research analysts, especially as a young start-up; so like everything else you may find yourself having to wear the hat of a research analyst.
The main thing to remember is just to touch on the basics, the most important aspects of what you need to know to make a decision as to whether you should enter a particular market, how you should enter that market, and what you plan to bring to the market.
These questions are definitely awesome starting points. With the advances of the Internet, researching markets and performing analysis has never been easier, because most of the information that you need will almost always be somewhere on the “Net.”
Also remember to use large firms to your benefit. If you are planning on entering a market selling sneakers online, why not study the buying habits of Nike’s customers, Reebok and all the others.
Even though you may plan to take a totally different approach, you still may be able to pick up on some very important knowledge by studying others who are in much larger markets.
These types of reports and case studies are usually available online with many different journals, and if you’re a college student these research journals are usually free through your campus library.
Just remember when you’re on the verge of creating a new venture or even expanding your current firm, always do your background checks and research to make sure you’re making the best decisions.
We’re always talking about teamwork and how everyone a part of a startup — the team — has to have 100% of their hearts and minds devoted to the business in order for it to succeed. Well, I don’t believe that.
I don’t think that all the partners of your business will ever be as passionate about the startup as the person who came up with the vision — the founder. Sure, there will be many cases were an entrepreneur builds a team of super-enthusiastic partners who want to see the business succeed just as much as they do.
But, that doesn’t mean that their passion will be on the level of yours. That’s why it’s so important for the founder — the dreamer of the company — to constantly evangelize the team with the company vision. To constantly reiterate the idea over and over again. To constantly share the vision and the dream of the company as if it was the first time you were sharing it.
That, my friends, is the single most important function of the company founder. The founder must be the guardian and keeper of the vision at all times. The vision is your baby and you have to hold onto it, nourish it, and nurture it every step of the way.
When zeal and passion begins to diminish among the team, it’s your job to rekindle the spark and reignite the team with a fire to see the vision through. It’s a tough job, but it’s yours. The founder’s role in the startup is absolutely critical to the success of the company.
Having an idea and building a team is just putting your foot in the door. One you’ve done that, the real work beings. People are going to look to you to provide that surge of positive energy, never-ending enthusiasm, and constant flow of passion that seems to go on and on like the energizer bunny.
You, the founder, are the head of the boat. You need your team to row and they need you to navigate — neither of you can function without the other. Take control, instill passion, and navigate your team into the open waters of success, prosperity, and brilliance.
Free food, ping pong tables, pool tables, rock climbing, free doctor checkups, oil changes, car washes, free haircuts, swimming pools, and even a shuttle service fully equipped with wireless internet access that’ll pick you up and drop you back home after work.
That’s it, I’m quitting being an entrepreneur and going to work for Google! Yeah, the above luxuries are all a part of the Google experience for each and every employee.
Ok, I kid… I kid… I’m staying an entrepreneur and not going to work for Google, but talk about benefits, eh? These are the types of benefits that make people — the rest of corporate Americans — feel live they’re in slavery.
People working at Google truly appreciate these benefits. In fact, for some employees, it was the reason that they took the job. This 23 year-old programmer’s decision to work at Google was partly based upon their shuttle service:
Michael Gaiman, a 23-year-old Web applications engineer who lives in San Francisco and was recently hired, said he turned down an offer from Apple before accepting the job at Google. “It definitely was a factor,” Gaiman said of the shuttle.
What can we learn from Google? We can learn to make our work environments fun, relaxed, and chill. When employees — or partners in most of our cases — are happy where they work, then productivity and overall mood enhances. Days seem brighter and work seems lighter.
Here are some ideas that you may want to consider:
Games, Toys, and Fun
Liven things up and install a pool table or pong table in your office. Something to have fun with and take a break from things. Clear your head. Have some fun. Relax those muscles. You may want to install a Wii and play some tennis. Oh, and on the weekends, have a beer pong tournament – who doesn’t like beer pong?
Food! Food! Food!
Provide some free food every once in a while. Order a pizza. Get some takeout. Take everyone out to lunch. People always appreciate a meal and will love the person — or company — that feeds them. Even if it’s as small as brining in some candy or snacks to munch on, it’ll pull a smile on their faces.
Events, Parties, Gatherings
Round up the team and get the hell out of the office. Take a day or an entire weekend and go to an event, have a party, go clubbing, drink some wine, go to Six Flags, whatever. It doesn’t matter. Just get out and do something together. Have the company cover the expenses. When you do things together, you’ll become a tighter team.
Have any ideas to share about making the work environment fun and a better place to work? Share your stories with the Mind Petals Community.
In the spring of my junior year of college I spent some time working for a local tech startup. It was a neat opportunity to gain some entrepreneurial experience while making some money and “learning by doing.”
The company was developing social computing software with a mobile spin, and was readying for its first (gated) release to the local college community.
I entered the firm at a stage when the only guys involved were its founder and the software architect, so there was plenty of opportunity to get my hands dirty.
I share the Top 10 lessons I took from that experience here:
Brevity counts:
People are busy. They only listen when they know you’ll respect their time.
Be proactive:
The launch was released to about 200 users, but not one of them would have logged on had they not been recruited by someone.
Take feedback seriously:
I remember when a group of students was solicited for its thoughts on a set of possible names for the company’s product. Interestingly, the name that was adopted didn’t win the kind of support you would expect for the name of a company’s flagship product.
Your market will tell you what it wants – or doesn’t want – from your product:
There are exceptions, but generally the market knows more about its wants than you do. Your product must conform to its needs, wants, and expectations. Ask what they are, then conform.
Assigning “big” titles is a two-edged sword:
People see through it. If an employee – especially an entrepreneur-employee – is given a big title without big authority and responsibility to match, s/he will resent you.
College students will work for less than you think:
I was amazed – The project had eight student-leaders – people who met and planned and invested real time into the product launch – and I was the only one on the company books as an employee.
…but their work won’t be the quality you expect:
There’s a difference – a big difference – between brainpower and performance potential.
Some employees weren’t meant for entrepreneurial work:
After an interval with the firm I was able to recruit an employee who would report to me. I selected a female colleague from my school’s business program because I knew she was a hard worker, and because I saw a good fit. And she would have been, had the firm been more mechanistic, more bureaucratic (read: less entrepreneurial). I selected her based on the wrong criteria and later paid for the decision in the form of an ugly break-up.
Appreciate informed dissent:
I made a terrible call about the product’s release date: I wanted to launch on a Friday night, which seemed to me like that time when people are most looking for something fun and relaxing to do on the Internet. When my group of peers disagreed with me, a part of me resented them. Then I realized how right they were – that no one wants to spend their Friday night networking on a computer. They got their way. I got over myself. And the product launch – thanks to their dissent – was saved.
Inauthentic delegation is ineffective:
The owner disagreed with me about the tone of an e-mail I wanted to send. He re-wrote my message and forwarded it to me so I could see the changes. When I explained that I had reservations taking his approach he said, “Well this is the one I’m sending.” I left the firm shortly thereafter.
Brian Lash is founder of The Tipping Blog and writes about the entrepreneurial experience at BrianLash.com
Ben and Jerry. Goldman and Sachs. Page and Brin. Ogilvy and Mather. And those guys working in a garage at the end of your street.
History provides plenty of examples of wildly successful entrepreneur-partners. And each example provides a case for the collaborative effort. Perhaps that’s why so many of us consider the process of finding a partner a mission-critical component in the creation of new ventures.
Remember the “How to build a bulletproof startup” article from the May 2006 issue of Business 2.0? Writers Michael Copeland and Om Malik itemized a 16-step route to startup success, and “Build your founding team” landed at step 2. “The ideal founding team is a triumvirate,” they wrote, “that includes an ace technologist, a big strategic thinker, and a dealmaker who focuses on sales and marketing.”
To be sure, partners can introduce plenty of benefits to a project: Fresh ideas and new perspectives. Specialized industry knowledge. Uncommon skills. Useful contacts. Increased productivity. And they can give new ventures tons of credibility, because the ability to find someone who will not only stand by your ideas, but who will also “put her money where her mouths is” by investing time into their development speaks volumes to outsiders about the venture’s potential viability.
But those benefits make partnering remarkably seductive. So much so, in fact, that we often abuse it.
I mean that we entrepreneurs abandon our costs-versus-benefits instincts in the face of promising partnership arrangements. The outcome? A series of mismatches between founders’ personal and financial goals. Between their work ethics. Between their personal interests and inter-personal expectations. And between their levels of dedication to the new venture.
Consider the words of Seth Godin, who writes in The Bootstrapper’s Bible, “It’s almost impossible to find a situation in which two people contribute equal amounts, have equal needs, have mutually consistent expectations, and will stay in the business the same amount of time.”
The lesson: Be open to partnering, but never to the exclusion of moving forward independently. Because while collaborating with other talented entrepreneurs can pay off handsomely, it can also impose unnecessary burdens on a new venture during its most critical development stages.
Review the benefits of partnering in light of its potential costs.
And don’t be afraid to go it alone.
Brian Lash is founder of TheTippingBlog.com and writes about the entrepreneurial experience at BrianLash.com.
It’s so difficult these days to find a platform in which a person can convey their thoughts without ridicule or chastisement. You see my fellow entrepreneurs, I spent countless hours scouring the Internet for a place in which I could house my weekly article; an article that would address the concerns of my clients, peers, and the general public.
Many of the websites I came across lacked creativity or the ability inspire the reader. Other sites held off on innovation or sincerity, like these aspects weren’t a necessity. It wasn’t until my brother, David, sent me an update for Mindpetals, did I truly take the time to fully absorb the literature and concepts of this cutting edge phenomenon…young people, entrepreneurship, and cooperation. This site was alive…MindPetals…infinite ideas to bloom. This is the place I could call home.
Please excuse me, for not informally introducing myself. My name is Darius Askaripour, but please call me Dari; think of me as a neighbor. I own a company called Vitruvian Lending, which is a home finance and credit repair firm. We fight for the little guy, the oppressed, and the ones who dare to dream but just need a little helping hand.
Some time ago, and it truly seems like decades, I worked for a small finance firm, which was owned by two misguided men. The company was very small, only about 10 employees, which soon turned to just one. There was no support system, organization, or direction, which drove all hopeful loan officers right out the same door they walked in through. Yes, I was the last man standing. Yes, I was new to the finance field and naïve. I was swollen with hopes of success and motivated by the possibility of what could be.
There were so many clients looking to do business with me that I had to work 12 hour days. The funny thing is though, all of these deals were dieing before they closed because I was inexperienced and the men responsible for my finance education were lacking themselves.
After months of relying on the owners for guidance I realized that they knew less than I did, so I taught myself everything. I began to capitalize on my errors. Everyday was trial by fire. I learned from every mistake I made, from every moment of doubt I found success, from my defeats came triumphs. The first 4 months were painful because I drove 50 minutes to work in rush hour traffic, each way, and never made a penny! Can you believe that I was actually in debt, from going to work?!
Months passed by and as winter began to give way to spring; I began to feel like a few of my deals were going to sprout. I remember my mother used to say, “You sow what you reap”. Well I was sowing so much and reaping so little I began to question her sanity. Things were so rough that I actually went to my employer to ask for a $300 advance so I could make ends meet. Luckily I was fresh out of college and still living at home or else I would have been out on the street.
Around the 4th month a miracle happened and I actually closed a very small deal. There was $900 coming into the company and my split was 33%…I was going to get $300!!! Or so I thought, I remembered that I borrowed $300 and was actually not going to get a penny. I worked so hard on that file and even though I didn’t walk away with anything at that moment I received confirmation from the powers that be, that I actually could make money in this business.
Throughout the next few months I began to close deals and my paychecks were beginning to increase and become more frequent. Things were looking up but to no avail, the owners of the company made some huge mistakes. You see they hired without any regard for quality control; all they cared about was quantity. Any and everyone that came to the office looking for a job was hired on the spot. The place was a mad house and the leads I was getting began to dwindle. The bosses lost control of employees; there were no set hours so people were coming and going as they pleased.
After doing some extensive research I learned that the only way to truly surpass mediocrity in this business was to have officers below me. So, I approached my bosses and asked them if I could recruit employees myself, train them, and obviously retain a small percentage of what they brought into the company. Well the bosses, who lacked foresight, and were bleeding thousands of dollars a month, said I wasn’t ready for something like this. Oh how wrong they were!
Within 3 weeks I left the company, started my own, and took 2 of their employees with me. They were left with just one loan officer two weeks after I was gone. That was some time ago and it feels like centuries have passed since that day I walked out those doors. No more splits, no misdirection, and no more shackles and unmotivated confused higher ups.
It’s funny because one of the bosses contacted me last week and told me that their company was failing, that they were in desperate need of loan officers and deals. This man who once led me astray actually asked me if I could throw him some business…like it was going to benefit me in some way. It was a sorry sight to see. He still didn’t have a clue how to market, or how to truly educate a client. They were still unorganized. I would have thought that something would have clicked by now. I guess when you in a room full of darkness, it’s impossible to find the light switch.
Since the inception of my company, I have gone through many different phases. The initial vision I had has been altered along the way. In the beginning I had aspirations of having an office with hundreds of loan officers. I now will never have more than 20 employees at any of my offices. This is done so that each loan officer and processor is given enough support to do their job correctly, overhead is at a minimum, and this creates a family environment where we all strive for the same goals.
I thought I would cover every corner of this market, but I soon realized that spreading yourself too thin can be destructive, so I stuck to my niche, and I rarely leave it. I am a specialist and work primarily with clients who have “disrupted credit”, bankruptcies, divorcees, or serious debt issues. I am also a marketing consultant for loan officers and brokers within the industry.
You see at my old company, I experimented and spent months perfecting a formula that could raise credit scores rapidly, so previous clients that were constantly being turned down, now were given an opportunity to own a home. I guess starting out the way I did I was forced to learn more than the average mortgage broker. I had the luxury or misfortune to see how not to do things.
Today’s market is spiraling out of control and my company has actually thrived because we are small, mobile, manageable, and the quiet eye in the storm. We can do business in 38 states, are organized, efficient, and educate our clients about every aspect of their very personalized deal. In a world where honesty seems like a rare commodity, we not only do what we say, but we prove it to you. A client never gets lost in the vanity or pompous nature of large companies with us. It’s about the long term, ongoing relationship. It’s about making a dream or desire come in fruition.
So there you have it. That’s my story…my informal introduction to my readers. Every week I will post and address a question asked by one of my clients, a peer, employee, mortgage broker, loan officer, or Mind Petaler (you) interested in the loan/mortgage business. I hope this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship, one where we can both learn from each other.
Darius Askaripour is the founder of mortgage company, Vitruvian Lending.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been setting up corporations online for a few years now. I have never once hired an attorney to set up a corporation for me because with services such as BizFilings and the army of similar companies, I’ve never had a problem establishing a new company.
But this article has got me thinking: Is hiring an attorney to file and create a corporation better? I think that having an attorney is a must for all entrepreneurs, especially us young entrepreneurs just starting out. However, when it comes to filing corporations I feel that we can “get by” without any attorney but if we have the capital and time, I think we should go the extra yard and have an attorney oversee the process.
Imke Ratschko, New York City attorney states:
A real person with a law degree can help you draft an operating agreement or shareholder agreement. New York requires you to have an operating agreement for your LLC, and a shareholder agreement for your corporation is a very good idea.
Web services do not usually draft these agreements for you. If they do, you will get a “one size fits all” agreement that can be worse than not having one at all.
A real person with a law degree will remember you and your business and remind you of follow up legal issues in running a corporation or LLC, maybe even years later.
Spend some time researching your state filing requirements and don’t hesitate to go on a free consultation with a lawyer to review your options for incorporating. Taking these steps now can save you endless hours in time spent later. Not to mention how much potential money and assets you risk losing without the proper legal protection.
What have you done when it comes to filing a corporation? Lawyer or no lawyer? What web services have you found reliable?
What in the world does “corporatey” mean? Well, I define it as “Corporate America gone bad.” You know, the typical business that mostly (re:only) cares about making money, paying their employees dirt, sacrificing integrity for additional profits, runs the company like a dictatorship… yaddah…yaddah…yaddah…
You get my drift, right? Oh, and let’s not forget the number one thing that defines “corporatey” — Bureaucracy. I think that we’ve all had our fair share of bureaucracy, especially those of us who have
The community must come first. 
Oprah knows this all too well. Oprah built an amazing community of followers through her immensely powerful and influential show, Oprah. Through her donations, selfless contributions to starving nation such as Africa, and her ongoing efforts to spread awareness of life-altering topics, Oprah has amassed a large following. 
Most of us know of Mike Arrington, the most popular voice of “Web 2.0.” His empire began by building a loyal community of tech readers interested in getting the lasted updates on their favorite Web 2.0 companies. This is how he built his following. Now look at 
While I am doing this, I am always thinking of my Mindpetals community members and what could potentially be a good resource for them in their quests to become successful entrepreneurs. I happened to come across a new startup that could enable the young, aspiring entrepreneur to get his/her word out to the right people, particularly those that have money and the capacity to share a vision.
Last week we offered you 
While it’s a good idea to be knowledgeable about rules and regulations for your business practices, finding the right legal help at the right time can be a little overwhelming. You’ll find plenty of lawyers ready to jump on board with your entrepreneurial venture, but overspending on legal assistance is an easy mistake. Finding a good lawyer will take time and possibly some interviewing; you’ll want to develop a detailed list of objectives to learn what information and assistance you really need.
A few years ago I was really into bodybuilding. Back then, to me, it was all about building muscle and getting bigger and bigger and bigger…. At one point, I was approaching 220 pounds. I was huge and I knew that the only way to get bigger was to continue to overload my muscles with more resistance. As my muscles became accustomed to a certain weight, I would add more.
If you aren’t down with VoIP yet, where have you been hiding out? With Vonage expect to pay $30 per month (actually mine comes out to $32.50) and relax with unlimited calls in the US. Get rid of that outdated land-line and upgrade to an Internet phone connection. It’s faster, clearer, and cheaper.
One of the best online invoice systems on the market would have to be Blinksale. With their user-friendly and intuitive design / functionality, you can easily send professional invoices to all your clients. And when it comes time for taxes, just print out an excel sheet that the system can produce for you.
I’ve used a lot of hosting companies over the years — most of them have been very disappointing and unreliable. But Media Temple has never let me down (well, at least not with their dv (dedicated virtual) servers.) Their customer service absolutely rocks! 24/7 I can give them a call and they’re always up for helping me out with anything. I highly recommend them as your hosting provider. [*** If you only have one small site and don't expect a ton of traffic, then go with 
From newsletters to surveys, IConact makes it super easy to build a list of subscribers for any sort of content that you wish to share. I use them for my monthly magazine and their service has been on point. Packages start at $9.95 and scale up from there. If you’re thinking about starting a newsletter or online mag, then give iContact a shot.
For $29.95 use Skype to make unlimited outbound calls from your computer. I like to use this service in conjunction with my Vonage because there are times when I don’t have my business phone with me — like in a café or on the road. All I need is an Internet connection and I can use my SkypeOut to make unlimited calls. Also, I can use an app called 
Liven things up and install a pool table or pong table in your office. Something to have fun with and take a break from things. Clear your head. Have some fun. Relax those muscles. You may want to install a Wii and play some tennis. Oh, and on the weekends, have a beer pong tournament – who doesn’t like beer pong?
Provide some free food every once in a while. Order a pizza. Get some takeout. Take everyone out to lunch. People always appreciate a meal and will love the person — or company — that feeds them. Even if it’s as small as brining in some candy or snacks to munch on, it’ll pull a smile on their faces.
Round up the team and get the hell out of the office. Take a day or an entire weekend and go to an event, have a party, go clubbing, drink some wine, go to Six Flags, whatever. It doesn’t matter. Just get out and do something together. Have the company cover the expenses. When you do things together, you’ll become a tighter team.