How to Maximize Your Company’s Value before Meeting with a Venture Capitalist

Guest writer:    Tim McEneny

By: Tim McEneny (Former Chairman and CEO of PurchasingNet, Inc.)

Note: This is the first of a three part series describing how entrepreneurs can get the most out of a meeting with a Venture Capitalist (VC).

Part 1- How to maximize your company’s value before meeting with a Venture Capitalist

Part 2-Understanding Venture Capitalists and other potential investors

Part 3-Making a Presentation to a VC…..Do’s and Don’ts

Months before thinking about meeting with a Venture Capitalist (or any potential investor), you’ll want to focus on ways to increase the value of your business. The greater the value of the business, the more likely you’ll be to draw interest from the VC community.

How do you determine the value of your business today? How do you start to increase its value? To answer these questions, you’ll need to look at it thru the eyes of the VC. Today you may be concentrating on improving customer satisfaction, but this may not be an “A item” for a VC. Let’s examine the “Value Drivers” most important to VC’s.

In the case of our internet software company, the main “Value Drivers” were:…

“Read to succeed, write to teach”

By: Skyler Johnstone- @el101skyler

I recently came up with this quote last quarter while trying to read and study for a midterm in my economics class but never really dove to far into its meaning for me and how I can explain it to others so here is a formal explanation with detailed how-to step by step guides to become a more proficient reader and how to retain the information you are learning.

READ TO SUCCEED

1. By picking up a book or scrolling through the endless pages of news available to us on a daily basis we are not only…

The best investment

What is the best investment that you could ever invest into? Yourself! By starting your own business you invest more than money into your business but the most valuable resource known to man, your time.

No matter what it is you decide to invest into, the best investment is always yourself because in the end it is your money, your precious time, and your confidence level. There are great salesman out there that can sell you anything but DO NOT BE SOLD!! This is not the 1920’s, we no longer have slavery or indentured servants, so don’t be all gung ho to sign a contract you know absolutely nothing about because the salesman did his job. Invest into whatever you like but have confidence in that product and a firm knowledge in the product as well. Too many times we hear about these “great” multi-level marketing schemes, which really means “legal pyramid”. If you feel you can be successful within a pyramid have at it, but don’t say I didn’t warn you!!

My perspective is this, who makes money off a pyramid? It is not you or me that’s for damn sure! The people at the top are the one’s really flourishing aren’t they? By starting your own business and investing into your product, your idea and your business YOU are at the top of command, you don’t have to peddle for 2 weeks before you see a return. With your own business you can see every cent and how it’s redistributed back into the business. You know within the first hour at times whether you have a good business concept or not. My window washing business was just that way, within the first hour I had already recouped all of my initial investment, and in the second hour I was already in the black (profit)! It is as easy at that, make an investment, put in the work, and receive the rich rewards. Not too mention how  awesome I felt after that too!

I say that the best investment is in yourself not because every single one of my readers will create and run their own business because I know that is not the case. Everyone makes investments everyday. By knowing ourselves and our purchasing power we can reconsider some of the offers on the table and better invest how we spend our money and time because by confident in your product your customer will recognize the value your product has to them as well and it is at that point when you make the sale.

So, get out there and search for your best investment but remember to have confidence in that product or you will never make a single sale. If it seems too good to be true it probably is.

I haven’t been getting too many comments, which makes me sad. I want to know if my information is useful for you guys or not. I am a big boy I can take some constructive criticism. Please comment and let me know what you think and why you like or dislike my blog. Thanks!!

Entrepreneurial useful quotes

• It’s better to try and fail then to have never tried at all.
• If you look at everything as an investment your time will be better spent searching for better investments.
  
• Money doesn’t come easy but time and ingenuity can.
• After falling off the horse, inspect the financial dynamics and hop right back on.
• Invest into only the things you believe in. 
• If it seems to be too good to be true it probably is.
• Life is about making connections, the more outgoing you are the more connections you will make.

• Most importantly: Don’t give up!!!

Can you think of any other inspirational quotes I left out? Leave them in the comments section below.

Your face is important!

Driving home the other day from swing dancing I noticed how the familiarity of someone’s face has a direct effect on the recognition of the product we are offering. Even if that is us merely trying to have a good time. But in a business aspect we can see that the people we hang out with have a direct correlation with our own personal success. If you truly want to be successful it may be a good idea for you to hang out with other successful people. Don’t get me wrong a person can be successful in many different genres and stereotypes but if wealth be your aim you may want to ditch the 9-5er’s who are happy conforming.

Ok I know I have already stressed most of you out by calling you a conformist by having a 9-5 but look at it from my perspective. Without an entrepreneur to create that 9-5 then there would be no hiring process for your job. So with that knowledge, think about what you are making now and with a few extra minutes of your time you can easily calculate many of the expenses and costs of business without doing much at all. I just want you and all the people whom enjoy my blog to know just how simple it is to diversify in your funds and not even break a sweat turning a profit on your money. I keep my money flow to a $100 minimum at all times. I always make sure to have at least $100 because I know I can invest that $100 into something that will give me a higher return than my investment. The trick is finding something I can get for $50 that will give me another crispy $100 to keep that flow going. Money is such a fluid non-real asset that once someone finally figures out that money isn’t everything they are well into their 70’s or 80’s. Well I am here to tell you that I have come to this realization and because I am never worried about making money new opportunities come naturally. Being my own boss and a fellow entrepreneur I don’t have to be confident in a product I am trying to sell I have to be confident in myself because I am the product.

On a more broad scale you are the product. We all sell ourselves in one way or another so be confident in your product by being confident in yourself. You are the key to your own success, nothing is impossible. So being a product we also can look into how we market ourselves, what the market research IE “our friends and acquaintances” would say if questioned about us or our work ethic. How do we stand up in court so to speak, what is our tract record?

Why is our face so important? It is because we each market ourselves, who we hang out with and associate with plays a major role as to the opportunities that are presented to you. If you go out to dinner you never know who you may meet at the restaurant or on the way there. If you go social dancing like myself you also may meet people of the opposite sex you may be interested in and that in itself provides opportunities to meet their friends and have someone to dance with too! At least initially until you decide to promote your product somewhere else ha ha. Keep up the good work building your brand and promoting your product with all the tools that are available to you and never forget the biggest most important tool, word of mouth. If people like you they will talk about you and if they don’t they will also like you. Emotional intelligence is just as important as your IQ because it decides which social bracket you fit into. Your social bracket is a key to your success so choose wisely and diversify often. Like my post? Tell me about what you liked and why.

Nothing ever sways my day so even if its not the best, I will lose no rest over it so you mind as well submit it any way. What the hay huh? Leave a comment if you’re cool that is.

Investing- Calculated vs Inexperienced

By: Skyler Johnstone

Most people invest nearly blind into their investments without doing any sort of research into their field before they support it. The world of investing is endless. You can invest into gold, stocks, tickets, businesses, personal ventures, the government or anything. There is so many ways to make money in the world it is almost funny how the blunt of our friends can’t even see past their front door step. If you gave me a $5 bill and an hour I can guarantee I could turn it into a $20 bill within at least an hour or less. How you might ask? Initiative. That’s how.  Taking the calculated time to weigh out all the possible $5 investments I have available to me and then line up a market in which I would like to advertise that product and try to find someone who either needs that product or convince someone they do.

BUT! You do not need seasoned sales experience to make a sale. The reason why is because their is always a buyer for any product. Most of the time the winner is in the negotiations, coming to a fair price that is agreeable to either party. Any item big or small or even a service has a priceless value until yourself and the buyer agree on a fair price or even trade. So realistically value can be created out of nothing but your time for any priced item or service the buyer spends on his product or service. For example, I have a buddy who traded web design for the repairs on his car to be fixed. No money changed hands yet his car was still able to be fixed. Personally I have even traded Disney Pins for Disneyland tickets!

Even the most inexperienced investor can become very successful with the smallest investment of time, money or a service. That small allotment of time, money or a service can be then traded for anything that you feel will make you a quick buck or even a longer term investment. So no matter how inexperienced you may feel as an investor just look at the risk and potential return and calculate whether the investment will be worth your time. If all it is is your time you are investing into an idea you mind as well see it through because even if you try and fail there is no way to succeed without first trying.

This brings me back to the main point it seems of my entire blog in which most people still have to be told daily. If you can not find a job then create one. Value can be created from completely nothing if you put the work in to sell yourself or product to any buyer who puts trust into the value of your product or service. Just like blogging people want good content for the best price. Previously I wrote about how people need to be entertained and free is a key ticket item when it comes to entertaining on the internet. People want something that will engage their senses and or fulfill their physical needs and desires. So if you can create a product or idea that fulfills a desire, need or engage peoples senses with your service then you are in the money so to speak. Being 21 I obviously play video games and not to quote Black Ops with the in the money quote but if you do just what the game has been designed to do then you are in the money physically. You have created a service that enthralls players or users and takes up their time. Anyone who has seen the movie “In Time” can recognize how realistic their major dilemma has been. Never have enough time. Today as a society we recognize that we are always busy with one thing or another and have the excuse that we don’t have enough time to get things done. Well I call the BS card on that notion. You are only as busy as you keep yourself and if you say you don’t have time, make time. Some things in life are more important than saving up for that new Xbox game or controller.

The truest most successful entrepreneurs are the ones who view their TIME as an investment. Like for example, the time it takes to volunteer for $100 owed to the Pierce County Court is 11 hours community service. Thus you are working 11 hours at close to $9 per hour. Now don’t get me wrong $9 an hour is fair but not enough to do much with. Not too mention the type or hard labor you would be doing at close to minimum wage. Now I don’t know about all of you guys but I sure wouldn’t want to work hard labor for only $9 an hour. I would find the same hard labor job on my own time, make the going rate of $13-15 per hour and then just pay the $100 ticket and have between $43-65 left over at the end of the day from the same 11 hours and be able to afford a meal and gas it took to get there in a work environment full of people who don’t dread being at their job. Not to mention that 11 hours of work at a hard labor job would also mean you are associating with a completely different crowd with which if manipulated correctly can be a great networking opportunity as well. In the end it is better to just take a court fee like a band aid and clean up your act. The main idea though is to never see an obstacle as really an obstacle at all. Just see a bill as a task and finances as a goal. You will either reach your future goals or you won’t. You will only reach your goals if you apply yourself and if you don’t apply yourself then you are relying on someone else and no one likes a sponge. Unless he lives in a pineapple under the sea, because we all like that guy!

What did you think of this article? Don’t be afraid, I am too optimistic to let any comment sway my day so leave one anyway!

Understanding the World Around You!

What possibly could understanding the world around you have anything to do with Entrepreneur Life 101?

Recently a comment was posted on my blog about the business world around us and its ever so changing effects on society. We live in an internet crazed society that still has yet to distinguish the real problems going on in the world. How can that be? (PR) That’s how. Public Relations. Fortune 500 companies pay off and sort out every type of bad word spoken about them in the news or online via hired employees and entire teams of people keeping negative chatter to a bare minimum.

I am definitely not here to bash or talk down upon any fortune 500 company but I would like to make the facts known to the public through my blog. Here are the facts:

1. No business should be large enough to not be able to fail.
2. The same companies who drive down prices also drive out small businesses.
3. Not all low prices carry out throughout the store.
4. Even after a large retail store has been built the business doesn’t always stick around. Which leaves you with a small town with small business owners out of work and if the large retailer leaves you are left with an empty town.
5. Low priced food comes at a high cost to a community.
6. Small businesses employ more than half of all Americans (sba.gov)
7. Small businesses hire about 43% high tech workers(Web designers, Scientists, Engineers ect)

I am by no means against big business but I do want you to know the facts before you make a purchase or decision to incorporate or become a larger business. Just from the facts alone we see that small business is good business if it is employing people, creating new jobs and supporting American families.

If you decide to start your own business remember your grass roots per say and keep things simple and humble. The more simple your product or design meets your customers needs the more sales you are bound to receive. If you are humble with your business people will also be able to tell that you care about your customers and employees by off

What is really important to you?

This is a post for any and all readers to respond. I am looking for ideas on a new article. If you have a opinion at all click the comment button below and let me know what that opinion is!

 I look forward to reading all of your responses! The best important topic will have an entire article written about it and even your name or link if you so choose.

• What is really important to you?

Why is solitude a good thing?

How many strikes of genius have you had while you were distracted with your friends company and association? Realistically I answered the own question within another question but the point is none the less important.

If you are good at one thing or enjoy another the only time you can release your innovations is by allowing yourself time to think about that niche. A prime example of innovation in solitude is any and all writers. If you are a writer you know full well what I mean about needing to be alone to think and meditate on your thoughts. The only way humanity can teach each other new things is by communication. Whether that be in the form of a book, blog, article or personal conversation. We all took at least 10-15 years of schooling and how did we learn? Books, studying, performance and teacher instruction. We also learned a lot faster when we were alone as well didn’t we? Able to knuckle down and focus more maybe? Many people distract themselves daily with one form of communication or another but we are always learning. Constantly reading something different and new everyday that teaches us one thing or another on the daily.

How important is blogging? Pretty damn if you are actually learning something from it! The best thing to do if you want to enjoy solitude to the fullest extent possible is to use your free time teaching. Whether it is an article as long as this one or longer, people around the world enjoy good content. They want something that will either entertain or teach. It almost seems that there really is only 2 types of careers in the world. You are either a follower or a leader. Maybe even a teacher or an entertainer.

Let yourself be alone as much as you can handle and enjoy it to the fullest by sharing something new with a stranger.

Like this post? Well keep scrolling, there are plenty more that will do both, teach and entertain!!

Comments make me happy!

The Employee’s Business Problem (and the solution)

Very pleased to announce a new guest writer Jan Simson! What a great piece this is too! Hope you all enjoy it as much as I did!

By:Jan Simson

Many people in this world work for other people whom they don’t like. In colloquial English, such workers are called “employees” and the people nobody really likes are called “bosses.” Eventually, the employee will think, “Hey, I’m pretty good at this whole programming stuff. I’m gonna start my own programming business, so that I don’t have to work for Mr. Dothisformerightnow anymore!”

So, after gathering a good amount of courage, the employee (let’s call him Hans) quits his current programming job and starts his own programming business. But Hans doesn’t have the experience needed to manage the new business. So Hans hires other workers he can’t depend upon because those workers never show up on time, they forget to finish certain jobs, and they don’t flush the toilet. So Hans gets frustrated, because he didn’t really create his own business. He just created another job for himself. And it’s worse, because Hans doesn’t know how to manage, delegate, or supervise anything. He just knows how to write code in Java (which is a pretty damn awesome skill to have).

So what does Hans need to do? He needs to find people who know how to manage, delegate, and supervise the stuff that goes on in Hans’ Awesome Programming Shop. The trick here is to employ people who are actually smarter than you. That’s right. Hans just knows how to write code, but he doesn’t have a clue about accounting. Employ people who really know how to do their job, so that you don’t spend unnecessary hours of your precious time teaching them exactly how to flush the toilet.

Check out Jan’s profile by clicking here —> http://jansimson.com/2012/03/13/my-first-guest-post-blog-thing-that-i-did/