Business

SME Landscape in India – Growth, Challenges and Opportunities

We as a whole know representatives really must figure out their organization’s vision. That is the means by which they get adjusted and drawn in, know how their work fits in to the master plan, and settle on better choices with less management.

But, a regular issue with the Chiefs is that disappointment — that their representatives say they don’t figure out the vision, while they accept they articulate the vision constantly.

What’s happening?

YOU Believe YOU’RE CONVEYING THE VISION, However YOU’RE NOT

You might be shocked to hear that your workers aren’t hearing the vision from you, yet the principal thing to consider is that they might be correct.

At the point when you’re a pioneer, you convey a great deal of setting in your mind. You contemplate the organization a ton, and that implies that the vision and other more significant level subjects may be so clear in your mind that you basically neglect to express them. Thus, the main thing you ought to check is whether the words that you believe you’re saying really emerge from your mouth.

Maybe you know beyond all doubt that you discuss the vision. You should check assuming you’re doing that oftentimes enough and in the right scenes. A large portion of them pass the vision on again and again.

Recollect that, for individuals to truly take in what you’re talking about, they need to get it from you in enormous gatherings, in little gatherings, in one to ones, and recorded as a hard copy. Also, they need to hear your authority group around you articulating similar focuses. That is the way individuals will truly ingest it.

THEY DON’T HAVE CLEAR Objectives OR Grasp THEIR Jobs

At times, individuals experience difficulty articulating what’s going on. They get down on the vision as the issue, when they basically don’t have the foggiest idea what their job is, or the way that their work squeezes into the master plan. Essentially, they’re recently confounded, and on second thought of accomplishing the work to sort out what’s irritating them, they knot their grievance into not figuring out the vision.

Your representatives’ disarray about their jobs as a rule comes from a couple of reasons. They might not have clear objectives or ways of knowing how to characterize progress in their job. This is frequently connected to directors who don’t accomplish crafted by assisting them with making measurements and afterward accomplish them, and afterward assist them with perceiving how their objectives bind to the master plan.

As the pioneer, your responsibility is to ensure your chiefs realize that a vital piece of their job is ensuring their understand what they’re going for and how it connects with the north star of the organization.

A few inquiries you can utilize and urge your chiefs to ask their representatives are

Do you have any idea where we’re going as an organization?

Do you have at least some idea what your reasonable objectives are for this quarter/year?

Do you perceive how your objectives tie into the master plan. Is there anything hindering you?

Might it be said that you are getting sufficient course from me or your director?

THEY DON’T Have the foggiest idea HOW THE Organization WILL Arrive

As the CEO or significant level pioneer, you could think an optimistic vision will assist with inspiring your representatives. Yet, this explosions when it appears up to this point arriving at that they have no clue about how you’ll arrive as an organization. For this situation, they might comprehend their objectives and they might see the value in the vision, yet they have no clue about how they’ll connect from here to there.

The representatives love the organization culture and what they were attempting to do, which was genuinely groundbreaking. In any case, the vision proclamation was at such a grand level that workers were passed on to their own creative mind to sort out how it connected with them. Most representatives would have rather not accomplished this work, and the individuals who did arrived on various understandings, and that implies instead of adjusting the group it kept them unpretentiously somewhat off.

You can determine this by ensuring you and your group ponder how each collective endeavors’ convert into gaining ground toward the vision. You could request that your chiefs concoct an infectious expression that exhibits their groups’ commitments to the master plan. Then, at that point, ensure they’re utilizing these expressions with their groups and working with them to make an interpretation of those slogans into much more limited pieces so individuals comprehend how to contribute their thoughts and activities towards the vision.

The vision of an organization should be a grand explanation about contacting lives, and they did this through their concurrences with different accomplices. Each gathering took that vision and procedure and associated it to their groups with a motto, so that even groups without direct client contact felt engaged with the master plan. The innovation group, for instance, lifted up “consistent association” and the money group combine on “make it simple for accomplices after they say OK.” These slogans assisted everybody with being associated with the organization’s general north star while directing them in their everyday.

THERE’S SOMETHING Different WRONG

It’s disturbing to hear that your representatives don’t figure out the vision, until you dig further and figure out that what they truly mean is a more regrettable thing: like your way of life is harmful, or they’re angry at you or the initiative group by and by. At the point when individuals are battling, and they don’t have a real sense of reassurance to discuss double-crossing, terrible administration, or different issues in a useless culture that is harmful; they might go to a more secure grumbling of not grasping the vision. Yet, a large portion of the times the leaders are unyielding that they don’t grasp the vision. It is then truly confusing what’s happening, so it’s best for a retreat to get everybody in total agreement about the vision.

The issue is the CEO. They will be irate that he is so outer confronting and hadn’t requested that anybody manage functional issues. They will be annoyed about his absence of the board of the chief group. Furthermore, the rundown of their complaints continued endlessly. They got the vision, however they had no alternate method for communicating their disappointment — until you make a place of refuge in your worked with meeting.

THEY LIKE TO Grumble

It’s not possible to satisfy each individuals constantly. Furthermore, a portion of individuals you can’t at any point please. They’d just prefer grumble as opposed to accomplish the difficult work of really going about their responsibilities.

Why Traditional Career Advice Isn’t Relevant in the 21st Century

India is one of the fastest growing economies of the world. In the last half-decade, the economic growth has steadily accelerated and most importantly, remained very stable. This growth has been driven by robust socio-economic policies of the government, an influx in the domestic and foreign capital and rise in disposable income and consumption among many other positive attributes. One other major factor that is being touted as the backbone of India’s economy is Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) sector.

Whether it is agriculture, manufacturing or service industry, SMEs are mushrooming in a myriad of sectors across the country. Statistics show that SME accounts for 45% of industrial output and 40% of the total exports in India. It generates employment for 60 million people and creates 1.3 million jobs every year. Given that a majority of India’s population lives in villages and Tier-1/Tier 2 cities, the SME sector has also emerged as a key factor to urbanize rural India.

However, in spite of its contribution to the socio-economic growth of India, SMEs face a number of challenges:

Lack of capital due to inadequate access to finance and credit

Inability to attract talented and tech-savvy manpower

Poor infrastructure and utilities resulting in low production capacity

Lack of innovation

Technology and digital knowledge gap

Lack of marketing know-how

Due to these challenges, the Indian SMEs are unable to scale to their full potential, rise up to the standards of their international peers and become self-sustainable. On the positive side, these challenges should be perceived as untapped opportunities for the SME sector. These challenges offer a broad scope to strengthen the foundation of SMEs in India.

The Indian government has been making commendable efforts to empower SMEs to overcome these hurdles. The National Manufacturing Competitiveness Programme encourages SMEs to adopt Information and Communication Technology tools and applications for their business processes. Then, there is Assistance to Training Institutions Scheme, which provides financial assistance to national level training institutions operating under the Ministry of MSME to strengthen SME infrastructure and create entrepreneurship skill development programs.

The SME sector has also gained recognition from the United Nations. According to the United Nations, these type of enterprises act as the first responders of the needs of the society, provide a safety net for inclusiveness and are a primary driver of poverty alleviation and development. Hence, the United Nations celebrates ‘Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day’ on 27th June every year to raise public awareness of this sector’s contribution to sustainable development.

There are immense opportunities for the Indian SME sector to grow and thrive. All it needs to do is to adapt to the changing trends and embrace digital skills.

These self-funded proprietary firms, private co-operatives, private self-help groups, Khadi, and Village and Coir industries, not only provide huge employment opportunities but also ensure regional balance by taking industrialisation to rural and backward areas (about 20% of MSMEs operate out of rural & backward areas – CII)

To communicate the importance of the SME sector, I’m going to share with you some key SME statistics, trends and reports. See for yourself what the numbers convey:

Number of SMEs in India: The number is estimated to be at 42.50 million, registered & unregistered together. A staggering 95% of the total industrial units in the country.

SME & Employment opportunity: Employs about 106 million, 40% of India’s workforce. Next only to the agricultural sector.

Products: produces more than 6000 products.

GDP Contribution: Currently around 6.11% of the manufacturing GDP and 24.63% of Service sector GDP.

SME Output: 45% of the total Indian manufacturing output.

SME Exports: 40% of the total exports.

Bank Lending: Accounts for 16% of bank lending.

Fixed Assets: Current fixed assets at INR 1,471,912.94 crore.

SME Growth Rate: Has maintained an average growth rate of over 10%.

Sources: msme.gov.in/KPMG/CRISIL/CII.

Comprehending the sector’s contribution towards employment numbers, towards GDP, innovation and entrepreneurship, the Government of India has launched numerous initiatives to further the cause of SMEs. Mentioned below, in a table form, are the performances of some of the key schemes:

Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro & Small Enterprises (CGTMSE).

Objective: To make available collateral free credit facility to new and existing Micro & small businesses subject to a limit of Rs.100 lakh per unit.

Performance during 2015-16 (up to 31/12/2015): 350056 Application approved with guarantee coverage of Rs.14,673 crore.

Performance since inception: 2160975 Application approved with coverage of Rs.103,864 crore.

Export Promotion of Capital Goods (EPCG).

Objective: To allow import of capital goods on zero duty subject to meeting export obligations.

Performance during 2015-16: Number of authorisation 22544 with FOB value of Rs.78,860 crore and duty savings of Rs.12619 crore.

Performance during 2016-17 (up to October 2016): Number of authorisation 13,585 with FOB value of Rs.50,359 crore and duty savings of Rs.8,668 crore.

Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme (CLCSS).

Objective: To facilitate technology up-gradation. To enable beneficiary enterprises to avail institutional credit towards the purchase of machinery and technologies.

Performance during 2015-16 (up to 31/12/2015): 3,142 benefited units with an expenditure of Rs.203.76 crore.

Performance since inception: 22,380 benefited units with an expenditure of Rs. 1349.63 crore.

Lean Manufacturing (National Manufacturing Competitiveness Programme).

Objective: To make accessible the use of various Lean Manufacturing techniques to SMEs and thus improve their manufacturing competitiveness.

Performance during 2015-16 (up to 31/12/2015): Benefits to 670 units with an expenditure of Rs.11.26 crore.

Performance since inception: Benefits to 3041 units with an expenditure of Rs.45.26 crore.

Intellectual Property Rights.

Objective: To enhance competitiveness through increased awareness of IPR.

Performance during 2015-16 (up to 31/12/2015): Awareness programs held-26, Workshops-05, and IPR Facilitation Centre-03. Expenditure Rs.1.73 crore.

Performance since inception: Awareness programs held-308, Workshops-95, and IPR Facilitation Centre-31. Expenditure Rs.13.69 crore.

Marketing Development Assistance (MDA) Scheme.

Objective: To help & encourage SMEs to tap & develop overseas market.

Performance during 2015-16 (up to 31/12/2015): Units participated 233. Expenditure Rs.4.77crore.

Performance since inception: Units participated 1476. Expenditure Rs.28.76 crore.

Source: MSME at a glance.

Future Trends:

The future outlook looks very bullish for Indian SMEs, which are far more optimistic than their Asian counterparts in China, Japan and other dynamic and large economies. Consider what this survey result from American Express Global SME Pulse 2017 has to convey:

71% of the SME respondents hold an optimistic view about their domestic economy, followed by Japan with 62% and Japan with 54%. IBEF.

The year 2017 has all the makings of an interesting year with GST following close on the heels of demonetisation. Those who have survived the effects of demonetisation are more likely to see sunnier days ahead.

The implementation of GST is generally expected to bring good tidings to this sector. Some key points in favour of SMEs are:

Market Base: Set to grow as interstate sales complexities are a thing of the past. Since there is no longer any tax burden on interstate sales, big corporates and manufacturers can procure materials & components from small players from across any state borders.

Increased Competitiveness: Low-cost imports are no longer a cause for worry since tax levied on imports goods and local manufacturers will be the same.

Freight Cost: Expected to come down by 1 to 2%, thus bringing down the cost of raw material and finished products.

Cost of Raw Materials: Expected to come down with the disappearance of 2% CST on interstate sales.

Sales & Service: Treatment of sales & services will be the same under GST means no additional tax burden on SMEs with a business model of sales and service.

Transparency and Ease of Doing Business: The new indirect tax regime replaces multiple tax rules. Physical interface of bureaucracy expected to be nonexistent or minimal since registration, tax payment, input tax credit & tax liability adjustment, tax returns, and refunds will all happen online electronically.

The same American Express Global SME Pulse 2017 was found stating that 37% of Indian SMEs considered flexible lending and repayment and 49% high-interest rates as important factors affecting business. Addressing these pain points will definitely make the road ahead much smoother.

With the Indian economy expected to touch $5 trillion by 2025, and with groundbreaking economic reforms kicking in, SMEs are expected and bound to play a much more important role. B2B e-commerce, food processing, pharma, and homeland security and defence are the areas to watch out for.

What Tech Companies Are Doing To Foster Technology Adoption In SME Sector

Elaborating how different companies are focusing on the SME sector, we see many examples. One of the most prominent is telecom giant Reliance Jio announced that it wanted to expand the digital benefits and make them more inclusive for small and medium sized businesses. The company said SMEs will be given cheap digital services, from compute to storage, to connectivity. Jio’s partnership with tech giant Microsoft will help provide the cloud services Jio would need to scale the infrastructure to millions of SMEs across India.

Reliance is not the only one working to bring digitisation to Indian SMEs. Recently, large tech companies like Dell, HP, Intel, Vodafone Idea and WhatsApp came together under the guidance of industry body Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for project called Tech-Saksham. The project plans to reach out to over 10,000 MSMEs. The tech companies will work with SMEs overcome challenges in adopting technology, proving resources and expertise to make sure India’s large SME base gets the digital assistance it needs badly. Shreekant Somany, Chairman, CII National MSME Council stated the direct benefit of the project involving the technology players will be made available through training programmes and workshops on the latest technological solutions such as cloud computing, and market access for trade and exports.

Even Facebook announced an initiative under which it is collaborating with Venture Capital (VC) funds to accelerate the growth of the small and medium businesses (SMEs). Facebook’s VC Brand Incubator Program will be the first in a series of programs by Facebook that will be focused on helping SMEs achieve growth in India by providing them with technology skilling and support.

SMEs have also found its place in the technology world. Recently the founder of WLS engaged in a live session with Neil Lesher who is the founder of Lesher Technologies and how he designed a hands free communication phone cover. A software allows the owner to control the phone from a distance.

It’s a hovering smartphone case which even allows drone technology to function. It allows voice commands which can be used with ear pods. This technology will also help people with less balance to keep lighter and the phone won’t fall down according to Sumit Agarwal who is a young entrepreneur. People with diseases like cerebral palsy will surely be benefitted from this technology as it will free them from the burden of carrying stuff which is helpful because generally these kind of people have less balance in their body. Secondly, people with visual impairments will also get benefitted from the voice commands as seeing on the screen can be difficult for them to understand. People with disabilities will also be benefitted by the upcoming PhoneQuad technology. There is a need to create such a community who will actually be benefitted from such products so that the products do not only remain as a social media flaunting device. It should reach out to people who are in real need of it specially developing countries like India where economic status and language barrier acts as a major problem in the launching of these kind of products. It also has the follow me technology in the PhoneQuad which allows it to hover along with the owner which makes it feel like a hands free selfie stick. The proprietary software allows voice recognition and makes use of excellent physics to create such a technology. This technology will certainly impact the lives of many and give the world a new way to think and look into the future.

The 6 Things You Need to Know to be Great in Business

In an age where skill sets can become obsolete in just a few years, many workers are scrambling just to stay current. How can organizations encourage continuous learning, improve individual mobility, and foster a growth mind-set in every employee, year after year?

Amidst all confusion, searching for career guidance wherever possible seemed like the only way to find any answers.

It seemed to most of us that we were playing a game of dodgeball, where we tried to avoid being hit by his sharp questions and words, struggling to keep the conversation flowing.

Here are four reasons why traditional career advice isn’t relevant in the 21st century and what can be more resourceful instead.

At the End of the Day, Experience Will Be the Only Determinant.

You had never wanted to escape a room so much as did that day. Every inch of you was laced with fear. You couldn’t imagine doing one thing for a decade. You didn’t know how to put all of your abilities and interests in a box- there wasn’t a thing that could check all of your wishes at once.

In a study, recent trends have been highlighted such as technological change, globalization, demographic change, etc that will play a major role in affecting the career of a present-day student.

The only thing that will give clarity is a true experience. Working as interns with head-on reality in our faces will give us the time and ability to tell what we really want to do. Little hints will nudge us in the right direction.

A subtle truth is that none of us have the whole picture in our heads. Most of us go forward with a vague idea in our head- based on the movies we watch, articles we read, or the environment we are raised in. All of these factors add up to give us a limited idea of what we want in life.

Most of us fear being jobless in a world dictated by automation. However, this research also shows that automation will create more jobs than it will take. Automation is simply one of the important aspects of the future. Many others aspects will contribute towards the future as well.

Skills Matter Much More in an Unstable World.

Young people are told to pick one option- because you can’t have it all.

We are told to work harder and be consistent with our goals- but when the time comes to choose, our careers must magically fit with what society deems as success.

The only thing that you knew is that you had won an essay writing competition in fourth grade- and writing was the only thing that made a little bit of sense. You decided to improve your creativity instead of panicking.

The future holds abundance for us. While fear for the future has always existed, technological innovation may bring more to us than we can imagine. The digital age will provide access to resources and opportunities that we may have never dreamt about.

Now, people with no access to traditional educational institutions can develop their skills through the internet. This can be a huge asset to the underprivileged, who can reach their potentials.

It shows in its research about six different hypothetical workers of the future- with a combination of different skills required for their individual role. Each one of them differs vastly but they contribute deeply to society. For example- the skill of being an active listener is very important not only for a counselor but also for a teacher.

Of course, you have to start somewhere. In an unstable world dictated by new and changing norms, skills will be the new deciding element of careers.

We Don’t Know What the Future Looks like Career-Wise.

If you told anyone ten years ago that you could record your life casually and get paid for it, he’d probably spit his coffee at you and tell you to jog on. Who knew that you could be a vlogger or a social media manager and get paid for it?

There is still hope for all of the people like me who never thought of a defined action plan. This might sound optimistic, but if we leap back in time, opportunities weren’t as endless as they are today. With the digital age rising and paving its way, new paths are being written and old ones are being replaced.

The paths that were defined for older generations are no longer valid anymore. Here lies a generation that is much more privileged with its options- hence we have the choice to select from things that weren’t available years ago.

Multipotentialites, therefore have the opportunity to combine all of their interests in a way that fends for them.

The future might be unpredictable- but that doesn’t mean we have to leave all of our skills and narrow it down to one.

Experimenting Is the Whole Game.

Not everyone comes out of the womb with a plan. Some of us scramble with choices, going from place to place, trying to figure out what suits us best. If we were stubborn with our choices, we would never know what could potentially be a better fit for us and our lifestyle. The past and the future will not only differ in time but also in the kind of opportunities. Emotional Intelligence and cognitive skills will be required for success in the professional world.

If you could salute the people who go on with their choices without a doubt, you would. But after all, the doubt is an incentive to reach for better opportunities. What makes us leave is what makes us grow.

Unlike the cliched advice that talks about ‘following your passion’ or ‘doing what we are best at’, maybe a better approach would be realizing that we’re going to be bored anyway.

As humans, boredom is a constant — we can get bored of anything. Research shows that boredom is beneficial to us. The struggles that we are willing to overcome are the struggles that are worth it. Hence, when we break through phases of boredom, the skillset required to go through adversity and challenges will be formed.

Final Thoughts

You found something much more resourceful to you. You would be challenged to think for yourself. Your fear was an incentive to search and explore the potential. These days, there isn’t any formula for a successful career. That’s what makes it all the more interesting.

Upgrading your skills, instead- is the right thing to do at an age where everything seems cloudy and distant. With the plethora of options, the dilemma of right and wrong shouldn’t be a problem anymore.

The Most Important Thing to Do Before Building Your Startup

Starting your own business is a difficult but rewarding process. A startup can be very fragile, and you may face any number of challenges and obstacles as you build your business. While many of these issues may be completely out of your control, you will always have the ability to control how you react to them.

Here are six tips to help you avoid a few common mistakes that many entrepreneurs make:

1. PROPER PLANNING.
This may seem like an obvious recommendation, but having a plan makes all the difference. A business plan provides your business with a clear purpose and direction. In fact, you will find that the remaining steps will fall into place naturally as you develop your plan. The entire planning process should be thorough and include steps such as:

Planning the entire customer experience. It’s vitally important to plan for customer experience as you develop your business goals. Planning the entire customer experience enables you to build strategies that will help you reach your customer service objectives and create a service culture.

Creating a financial plan.

Financial projections will help you determine whether your business will be viable or whether more planning is necessary. These projections are also critical if you are seeking outside funding, as they make it possible for investors and lenders to evaluate your potential for success.
Conducting a break-even analysis. Your break-even analysis will help you identify what you will need to accomplish in order for your business to be profitable. A break-even analysis allows you to compare different cost structures and prices.

2. REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS.
It takes drive and enthusiasm to start your own business, but many entrepreneurs can be blinded by their own enthusiasm. It’s common for startups to overestimate sales volume, and find themselves in a tricky situation when things don’t go as planned. Unlike a more established business, you don’t have a sales history to draw from to make projections. So, how do you set realistic expectations when you’re starting with a blank slate? Take your optimistic one year sales goals, and cut that by 60%. Can you still operate at this revenue? It’s always better to plan for the worst but strive for the best. When in doubt, talk to other established business owners to see if your sales expectations are practical.

3. THE RIGHT ADVICE.
While it’s beneficial to seek out advice as you define your goals, make sure you are getting the right advice and not taking everything you hear at face value. While trying to start my first business at 22 years old, I tried to get a $10,000 SBA loan. Any business at the time, can only have three things: an idea, a computer, and a car. No money, no collateral, and no business experience. The loan officer took one look at business plan and would perhaps laugh at you out of the bank. He would tell you that your goal of $1 million in sales by end of year one was outrageous and impossible, and only made your lack of experience more apparent.

4. CASH FLOW.
Projecting your cash flow is another crucial step in the planning process. Cash flow is important in any business, but it is especially critical for startups. Things like loan payments, inventory, capital investment, customer receivables, and other startup costs can quickly cash-crunch a small business. In order for your business to succeed, you will need to manage your accounts payable, accounts receivable, and be prepared to handle any shortfalls. While all business owners hope to avoid shortfalls, they do happen. Make sure you are keeping 2-3 months of operating expenses in the bank at all times.

For better management of your cash flow, you may want to provide electronic invoicing and online payment options. The quicker your customers pay, the better your cash flow becomes.

5. CONTINGENCY PLAN.
Things don’t always go as planned. A contingency plan gives you something to fall back on and keeps you from panicking. Your contingency plan should account for any potential threats or emergencies, and outline how your business will respond to each one. Should something go wrong, you’ll have the resources you need to make level-headed decisions and address the issue quickly.

Contingency planning isn’t just for potential poor performance. You should also be planning for your possible successes. Failing to plan for success can harm your business just as easily as failing to plan for underperformance. Make sure you have a plan in place in the event that you exceed your expectations and are able to react appropriately to quick success.

6. MARKETING PLAN.
For most startups, finding a customer at the lowest cost per acquisition is extremely important. Digital marketing will typically give you the best ROI because it’s generally cost-effective and easy to measure. However, with a smaller startup budget, some of these items can be done yourself to start:

Website. Your website should do more than simply look good. The site should provide a high quality user experience and be designed to convert traffic into leads.

Pay-Per-Click Ads. With pay-per-click advertising on Google AdWords, you can reach people who are searching for your specific services online.
Social Media. Building a social media presence can help you connect with your target audience and increase brand awareness.

Email Marketing. Email marketing campaigns enable you to stay connected with your customers and drive repeat business.

Building a business is never an easy thing, but it is an incredibly rewarding thing. Be realistic with your planning and resilient as you take on challenges, and you’ll find yourself on a much clearer path to success.

Interview of Grace Tolentino from Philippines

Understanding the work involved in starting a business is necessary for a successful launch

The importance of proper planning cannot be understated, as these decisions are core to how your business takes shape

Making good decisions early in can help ensure continued growth

Starting a business can be stressful. It often feels like there are 1,000 things to work on all at the same time. There’s no avoiding this reality for new small business owners, but with a little planning, it’s possible to manage expectations and take actions with a sense of purpose toward building your business.

Beyond giving it your all, it’s important to direct your energy to the right tasks – especially at first. Experts say some good first steps in starting a business are researching competitors, assessing the legal aspects of your industry, considering your personal and business finances, getting realistic about the risk involved, understanding timing, and hiring help.

1. Do your research.
You want to make sure you understand the industry you’ll be involved in so you can dominate. No matter how unique you might think your business idea is, you should be aware of competitors.

“Just because you have a brilliant idea does not mean other people haven’t also had the same idea. If you can’t offer something better and/or cheaper than your competitors, you might want to rethink starting a business in that area.”

Assess the market before opening your doors. Understand the industry you wish to enter, as well as its major players and your future competitors.

2. Determine your audience.
Spend time considering who your target demographic is. This audience will be the driving force in each decision you make. Understanding who needs your product or service can help fine-tune your offerings and ensure your marketing and sales strategies are reaching the right people. Part of this decision is understanding if you are a business-to-consumer (B2C) or business-to-business (B2B) enterprise. Within those parameters are multiple categories, including but certainly not limited to age, gender, income and profession. You can’t earn a profit without your customers, so understand who they are and make them your priority.

“It is crucial to make sure you are delivering what your customer wants, not what you want. This will give you insight into your customer’s buying decision and save you lots of experimenting down the road.”

Know who you’re talking to. A defined target market will help you better acquire new and repeat customers.

3. Have a strong mission.
Standing out is no easy feat, and no one magic formula guarantees results. However, knowing your business’s purpose is central to guiding these decisions. By recognizing your business’s strengths, differences, and purpose, you can make informed choices to expand your services and markets down the line in a way that is harmonious.

Knowing your purpose guides important decisions you’ll make along the way, so be sure that your mission is clearly defined.

4. Choose a structure.
A key initial step to take when starting your business is choosing its legal structure. It will dictate the taxes, paperwork, liability of the owner(s) [and] other legal aspects, as well as whether or not the company can have employees.

Additionally, you must acquire the proper local and state registration required to open your business.

“This means the entrepreneur will need to create the articles of incorporation, obtain an employer identification number and apply for necessary licenses, which will vary by state and industry.

Call on legal help to best advise you on the structure to take and the necessary paperwork that needs to be filed.

5. Map your finances.
Starting a business requires money that you likely won’t have right away. This is why you need to seek out ways to acquire capital.

“Most entrepreneurs start a business with a very limited amount of capital, which is a large hurdle to many. However, there are plenty of options available to a budding business owner. The first and most common place to seek capital is with friends and family. If that is not enough, expand the search to angel investors and venture capitalists. Should these options not provide the amount needed, then apply for business loans through banks and small business associations.”

Make a plan for how you will fund startup costs, whether that’s your own funds, asking friends and family for money or borrowing from a financial institution.

6. Understand your tax burden.
Entrepreneurs should be organized with taxes and fees. There are multiple payments to make, and filing any of them late could result in severe consequences.

“You have to figure out how much your payroll is going to be in order to make your tax payments timely. The timing can vary depending on your payroll. You also have to figure out other business taxes, such as city, county and state.

Understand when, how and to whom you pay taxes and fees.

7. Understand the risk.
Of course, there will always be a level of risk with launching a new business venture. Calculating, understanding and planning for risk is an important step to take before you start working on your business. This means assessing your industry’s risks before moving forward with a business plan.

“Entrepreneurs should know their industry’s risks before purchasing business insurance,” said Jeff Somers, president of Insureon. “For example, accountants will want to consider professional liability insurance in case a client files a lawsuit, claiming there was a costly error on their tax return. Restaurant owners are more likely to need general liability for slip-and-fall accidents and liquor liability insurance, which can pay for lawsuits.”

Be honest with yourself and business partners about the risk involved, as this can help you prepare by obtaining the right types of insurance that can protect your new business.

8. Put together a business plan.
A business plan outlines the steps you need to take for a successful launch and continued growth. This document is important for establishing a focus for your business, attracting C-level professionals to work for you, and seeking and retaining capital. A business plan ensures you put your best foot forward with other professionals who are evaluating your company, so be sure to have this document on the back burner and ready when requested.

Take the time to put together the main components, including:

Your mission statement
A description of your business
A list of your products or services
An analysis of the current market and opportunity
A list of decision-makers in the company, along with their bios
Your financial plan so those who review can understand the opportunity
Even if you don’t think you need it, put together a professional and polished business plan that’s ready to go when it comes time to recruit executives, fundraise or expand.

9. Time it right.
Timing is an important element of building a business. Sure, you want to start your business at a time when the economy is healthy and your prospective industry is expanding, but there’s also a flow to decision-making that’s important to be aware of.

Launching at the wrong time can make it challenging for your new business to succeed. Take the leap when the timing and circumstances suggest it’s right.

10. Look for a mentor or advisor.
Starting a business should not be an independent journey, no matter how tempting that sounds. Finding those who have made this journey before can help set you up for success. Network with other professionals in your industry, attend industry-specific workshops and events, and reach out to thought leaders in your industry to learn their approach. Alternatively, you may want to consider hiring a coach who can give you pointed advice.

Learn directly from someone else who has gone through the process to help you set up your new business for growth.

11. Bring in the professionals.
It’s impossible for entrepreneurs to know everything about running their new venture. Tapping into the experience of seasoned professionals can make sure you’re starting on the right foot.

It’s especially important to have legal assistance to ensure you are protected and going about the process the right way.

“We often make the assumption that legal counsel is for when we get ourselves into trouble, but preventative and proactive legal preparation can be the very best way to set your business on the path to long-term success. “When you call on legal counsel after you’ve run into a problem, it’s often too late or could critically impact your business in both the short and long term. Investing in their insight at the start of your business can pay a huge return later on by keeping you out of trouble before you even get into it.”

Another smart hire is an accountant. It’s nearly impossible for one person to handle every aspect of a company, and above all, your finances should not be put at risk.

In talk with Marko Issever CEO, America EB5 Visa & CBP Invest

Tell us about yourself

I am Consul Major Grace Tolentino, Chairman and CEO of Boracay Beach Inc. and President of Akamai Holdings Inc. I’m in entrepreneurship, focusing in investments and finance. I’m based in the Philippines but I often travel throughout Asia.

I love building fruitful relationships with investors and clients. I value trust, transparency and consistency when I work with people. I constantly drive for efficiency in my organizations because I’m passionate about progress and results. I have managed to embrace who I am and see my worth. In life, we can impact more lives and make a difference every single day.

I am a Consul General and Chancellor General, United Nation

Intergovernmental Organization, Major and Chief Inspector of UN Police Intergovernmental Organization, Peace Mediator and Chancellor General, International Special Court of Arbitration and Human Rights, Major and Chief Inspector Philippines command, Member, Council of Europe; a Major and Superintendent for Women and Youth Welfare, ASEAN Command, US Federal Police Chaplain International. President, Philippines- India Business Council, Global Chamber of Commerce. Chairman of Finance of Grandeur Message for People Inc., Consultant for Investment and Tourism Royal House of Baloi- Federation of Royal and Noble House Philippines and ASEAN Royal, Senator of World Business Angels Investment Forum, Vice President Economic Relations Management of Apila Ng Bayan Inc. Chairman of Esports and Digital Sports Tourism Commission, Esports World Federation.

Knowing that we are at our best, we get to inspire others to be better everyday.

How many hours a day do you work on average?

I work around 80 hours a week to maintain the business and grow it rapidly.
3. Can you describe/outline your typical day?

I prefer to start my day with coffee, a nutritious meal, and supplements. I start work by responding to emails and messages. This usually takes up my mornings. My lunch is usually light and I take walks to clear my mind and improve my focus. I sometimes take meetings in the morning but usually schedule those in the afternoon.

Before the day ends, I make it a priority to do a daily round up with my team to track progress and updates. Its about making a positive and lasting impact on people’s lives and inspiring them to be best that they can be.

How has being an entrepreneur affected your family life?

I’m still single and I come from a close-knit family. I was actually able to get my family involved in what I do early on. In that sense, being an entrepreneur allows me to manage my time and take responsibility.

You are the only one who can use your ability. It is an awesome responsibility. It’s in your hands. Of all the gifts our Creator give us, surely the gift of choosing the way we are is one of the greatest.

What motivates you?

The lifestyle itself is my motivation. I like completing projects that make an impact. I’m passionate about my work, my team, and our partners. I enjoy the fact that I don’t work a 9 to 5. Though I work longer hours, I enjoy the flexibility and the freedom.

Committed people have goals. Any of us have are ordinary days and ordinary work but we have a choice about how we will do that work excellently. Private practice enhances public performance. Be prepared for change. Invest in yourself. Protect your passion points. You can succeed best and quickest if you help others succeed.

How do you generate new ideas?
I take inspiration from everyone I meet. I believe all people can share new ideas with you. I stay open minded when considering options and opportunities.

This mindset has opened many doors that resulted in successful ventures.
Pay attention to the things you can control, which areas you can influence. When you achieve the sense of balance, your platform will become more effective and influential.

What is your greatest fear, and how do you manage fear?

Be fearless. Nurture your ecosystem to influence your circles of concern. Concentrate on building quality over quantity. Always be prepared. Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEO’s of our own companies.

How did you come up with the name for your company?

I started in the tourism industry, promoting the island of Boracay. The island itself is already known worldwide and I really love the island. Since my professional identity was already associated with it, I decided to incorporate it as my brand for lifestyle and business.

I simply express my passion and share the reasons why you are who you are and what you do, this clearly make a difference.

How did you raise funding for your venture?

We grew overtime with each successful project. We sold products and services to our customers and slowly built up our capital. As we moved to investments and other ventures, capitals rapidly grow continuously. We continuously develop strategies to grow our market share.

Everyone has story to share. Develop a diverse network and build relationships. Actively seek out information. We focused on growth. We cannot become who we are and what we want to be by remaining what we are. We evolve, we innovate and adjust along the way.

How do you build a successful customer base?

We offer a good value proposition. As I mentioned, being open-minded is important and this allows us to cater and serve the needs of a broad range of possible investors and clients.

We put great effort in maintaining relationships and open communication with everyone even if were not actively working on a project. We enjoy the process. We do platform leverage is the development of our skill sets, competencies, ad experiences.

How does someone get you excited and willing to commit?

Anyone who is passionate about a venture or project also gets me excited. As an entrepreneur, I only commit my team once we have done our homework on the project viability and return on investments.

I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. The doers are enough and I love every time I see them.

As a serial entrepreneur, how do you see the market is growing in your country?

The Philippine government is promoting a “Build, Build, and Build” program and the country is known as an Asian Rising Tiger economy.

The Filipino workforce is much more resilient than most. Growth never really stopped. We just had setbacks because of the pandemic. Opportunities are up for the taking in real estate, financial services, and information technology. An investor only needs the right idea and the right people to become a strong global player starting from the Philippines.

How do you advertise your product/service?

With the global movement towards virtualization, adjusting our workflow has become more important. We were able to do this because of our team’s versatility. This allows us to not just continue, but to thrive in the changing times. We are now concentrating on virtual platforms to promote our brand. Adaptation of technology plays an important role in innovation.

We also get contacts through introductions. Many of our clients and investors promote our brand because of our good standing. We have built strong relationships with a lot of high quality investors and have a strong portfolio of successful projects and ventures to prove our capacity.

To what do you attribute your success?
Building our reputation and consistency is key. We value strong partnerships and relationships. We also strive for continuous improvement and innovation to stay ahead. It’s not enough to go with trends, but rather create the trends that others follow. Despite the changes, we maintain true to our vision; to be progressive and adapt to new ways of doing business.

Success on our own terms. Fire up your passion, ignite your career and create an interesting life.

What was the reason to start your company?

I simply enjoy what I do. I started the company in order to promote the products and services I learned from resources I gathered over the years.
Becoming a Chairman and CEO meant that I would be able to help even more people as I had a real desire to be better than I was yesterday. I make sure my life is my choice. I work full day and I have a long night and I am ready for more the very next morning. I make sure I craft opportunities in every given situation. This allowed me to develop my goals.

What do you look for in an employee? The most important thing to us is that they fit into our corporate culture!

I always look for a person who has a combination of competence and character. Since we are on the mindset of growth, it is important that this person can create and grow relationships not just with our team but also with clients. This person should also have the ability to quickly learn and adapt to the changing business environment.

What made you choose your current location?

Home is where the heart is and home is where you are strongest. Starting ventures should always be within your circle of competence and resources.
Our focused is in the Philippines at this time as we are very strong in the region and have global investors attracted to our way of doing business and unique value proposition, we make sure every landed transaction benefit the economy of the country and share our success through our corporate social responsibility around the globe.

What kind of Corporation is your business?

The company, Boracay Beach Inc., is strongly positioned in finance, real estate, finance technology, and investments. Years ago we were into travel and tourism.

The brand evolved, we were able to branch out into business centers, developing properties, and real estate investments. We also invest in other lucrative projects.

Akamai Holdings Inc. is a multinational company that is greatly involved in developing properties and have group combined experience in finance, real estate and PPE.

Do you work locally or internationally?

We have partnerships both domestic and international. We have investment partners and banking partnerships worldwide and our workforce is in Philippines and abroad.

What’s your company’s goals?

We want to be globally recognized as a brand that impacts investments, property developments and financial landscape.

We also want to make sure that our clients and investors are able to achieve their own goals. It’s not just about the company, but about our relationships and partnerships.

What are your responsibilities as the business owner?

I make tough decisions and make sure we are in the right path towards long-term success.

I make sure everyone on the team is not just doing their job but also learning and improving. This is all towards the goal of taking care of our clients and partners as we take care of the company.

Does your company help the community where it is located?

We work with local groups and even the government to make sure that our projects and property development is sustainable. We connect international organizations to our projects to showcase the ease of doing business, ease of finance and ease quality of living.

Have you ever turned down a client?

I exhaust all viable options and resources to make arrangements for every potential client that we encounter.

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

Be true to yourself and play to your strengths. There is no single way to become a success and everyone must find their own path. Learn your own abilities and leverage them.

The 10 Most Sought-after Trends in Entrepreneurship to Look Forward to in 2021

Marko is the CEO of America EB5 Visa, whose mission is to connect international investors with EB-5 issuers.
At Riverside Management Group and its wholly-owned subsidiary, BCW Securities LLC, he is in charge of EB-5 capital-related activities.
Marko is also the co-Founder of CBP Invest LLC, a global immigration company, advising clients in second country citizenship in countries like Grenada, Turkey, USA, Canada, to name a few.
As the founding partner of BH Capital Management (BHCM), a real estate investment company, Marko specializes in opportunities in development and investment as well.
Marko has been on Wall Street for over 30 years. Previously, Marko was a managing director at BNY Mellon, leading the firm’s financial institutions derivative sales business globally.

In talk with Marko

How many hours a day do you work on average?

Can you describe/outline your typical day?

Prayer, learning, work, leisure, indoor cycling

How has being an entrepreneur affected your family life?

Very positively. My family comes first, no matter what.

What motivates you?

Challenging situations. The more difficult a predicament I could be in, the more motivated I become.

How do you generate new ideas?

I read a lot. I follow attorneys, regional centers, developers, industry trade organization blogs and formulate solutions for potential client problems.

What is your greatest fear, and how do you manage fear?

As a devoted, practicing professional within the Jewish faith, my biggest fear is to fall into the trap of my evil inclination. We all have this, and our challenge is not to deny its existence but arm ourselves with adequate knowledge and faith to fight it.

How did you come up with the name for your company?

I wanted it to be simple and deliver the message. When people ask me what we do, I tell them to read the name of the company. Our new company is called CPB Invest. This one is a little less obvious than America EB5 Visa. It stands for Citizenship by Property Investment.

How did you raise funding for your venture?

I have not borrowed any funds yet. Our entire global enterprise is self-funded.

How do you build a successful customer base?

I make use of social websites. I work with solution partners all around the globe.

How does someone get you excited and willing to commit?

I do not like to be sold. As long as I hear that someone is proposing a reciprocal relationship, I am always willing to listen.

As a serial entrepreneur, how do you see the market growing in your country?

Our product is solid. We expect tremendous growth in the next couple of years. COVID-19 restricted international travel. Now that it is almost behind us, we expect exponential growth in our business.

How do you advertise your product/service?

We do not advertise but publish a lot. We believe in delivering content to our potential clients. When customers see the value-add service, we provide they come to us organically. As mentioned above, our solution partners refer business to us as well.

To what do you attribute your success?

Dedication. Belief in the mission of the enterprise. Above all, the help I receive every day from the Almighty.

What was the reason to start an IT company? Are you from the same background?

We are not an IT company. We are an immigration and investment consulting company.

What do you look for in an employee?

Dedication. They should love their work. They need to be motivated and be a self-starter. Most importantly, they need to consider themselves as if they are the “owner” of the company rather than an “employee” of it. That is why almost our entire compensation structure is success-based. The better the company does, the better all the stakeholders, including the employees, do.

What made you choose your current location?

Even though we are a New York City-based company, we conduct most of our business virtually. So, location is not of great importance.

What kind of Corporation is your business?

We are an LLC.

Do you work locally or internationally?

Both locally and internationally.

What’s your company’s goals?

The mission of our company, America EB5 Visa, among other things, is to help foreign nationals to obtain a green card through the proven EB-5 program.

What are your responsibilities as the business owner?

Primarily business development and customer support.

Does your company help the community where it is located?

Absolutely. We take an active role in a few religious and educational organizations in our jurisdiction.

Have you ever turned down a client?

Yes. If we believe that the client has very little to no chance of getting approved or does not have the necessary funds or commitment to go through the process, we turn down the client.

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

Believe in what you do. Do not settle for mediocracy. Whatever you decide to do, aim to be the best at it, and do it as if it is your hobby.

How to Effectively Build Your Personal Brand

Entrepreneurs have insights far different from everyone else’s. They are ‘futurists,’ always searching for countless possibilities in the future, calculating risks at each step, forecasting things.

The way 2020 was majorly affected by the COVID Pandemic, its repercussions are being observed in 2021.

The factors that have changed the business landscape are:-
• The advent of new technologies
• Increasing customer demands
• Societal shifts
• The COVID-19 pandemic

Somehow, organizations have managed to stay afloat in this situation of crisis. It is very well seen that this has also altered the trajectory of how businesses and entrepreneurs will operate in 2021.

We will specifically talk about ‘entrepreneurship’ in the article to help aspiring and hopeful entrepreneurs who are constantly searching for ways to propel their business in these unprecedented times.

Ongoing Trends in Entrepreneurship
It’s impossible to predict the future, but if one got hold of what their clients need, changing business trends, then it becomes easier for anyone to plan out the rest of the journey. It’s necessary for anyone planning to start their own venture to be aware of the current market trends to stay ahead of their competitors.

A Brief of what’s Going on Now-
• Digital Marketing is witnessing significant growth and is on the rise. Marketers have shifted towards digital marketing to promote business.
• New technologies are developing and are making it easier for micro-businesses to generate their programs, innovate, and collaborate with specialized teams.
• In particularly targeted markets, Micro-influencers are playing their part by driving in sales.

Here, to help you out, we are listing 10 ongoing trends that you must inculcate in your business operation to make it a success.

1. Email is Back Once Again
Earlier with the hype of digital marketing through social media channels, marketers underestimated the potential of email and kept it aside, but the scenario has changed, and entrepreneurs are falling back in love with email marketing.
● With email marketing, marketers have access to the mailing list of subscribers who have permitted them, which is impossible with any other social media channel.
● Emails have been proven to have a positive impact on ROI. According to the ROI from email marketing can be 42x the investment, according to the Data and Marketing Association Reports which is very profitable.
● As per the survey conducted by HubSpot, 73% of people like to hear from businesses via mail.
● The plus point with email is that the subscribers have permitted you to send them your content as per their needs. In this way, you can provide them valuable content with a personalized touch and build trust.
● Due to the cost-effectiveness and reliability of email, marketers have realized that this is a more efficient way of marketing.

2. Micro-influencers are Coming Into the Spotlight
Influencer Marketing is a new concept that didn’t exist 5 years ago. Influencers are being paid a hefty amount of money to promote the products and services of companies via their social channels.

These are the people with a limited number of loyal followers (up to 25k) on Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok and are often referred to as nano influencers who work in specific niches.
Facts-
● The smaller number of followers indicates that these personalities have more time and energy to invest while engaging with their audience.
● They charge less than big celebrities and have connections with a specific group of people, which provides more lead generation.
● As per the Influencer Marketing Hub, if any business spends $1 on influencer marketing then, the business can make $5.20 on every $1 invested.
● It’s been stated that 92 percent of customers like micro-influencer advertisements rather than celebrity ad campaigns.
● It has been observed that over 82% of people purchase the stuff being endorsed by influencers, which is pretty impressive.

3. Be a Part of the Entrepreneur Community
If you wish to be a boss of your own, you must connect with people who have the same thinking. Recent years have seen an upliftment in the number of people going towards entrepreneurial way. To take ideas, inspirations from already established entrepreneurs, it’s necessary to stay in touch with them.

The question is ‘HOW’?
And the answer to this question is entrepreneur communities. Their sole purpose is to bring together like-minded creative people who wish to start their own businesses.
You will find these communities on Fb, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram. Here you will witness people at different stages of their journey and learn from them which strategies worked out, which didn’t, how to lure in investors, etc.
These communities are a great source of learning and networking. So, what are you waiting for? Go search for entrepreneur communities in specific niches and take the most benefit out of them.

4. The Escalation of the Subscription-Based Model
Considering the recent trends, it can be rightly said that subscription-based models will lead the future, and soon every business will opt for this model. According to a recent report, the global subscription will be worth $11.1 billion by 2027.

With this model, consumers pay for your services for a specified period of time, say for a period of 1 month or 2 months, quarterly, yearly. This helps build relationships with customers over time, and the businesses can track the metrics for a long time. By opting for this type of model, marketers don’t have to sell or promote their businesses again once the user has been registered.
The music, film industry have taken up the subscription model, and now it has entered the fitness (gym) and food industry. Considering this, entrepreneurs should not hold themselves back to opt for a subscription-based model for their businesses.

5. Show Social Awareness
Nowadays, customers are more inclined towards businesses that deliver the same value that they want. They shop with brands that resonate with them.
Few statistics prove this-
● It has been surveyed that around 64% of buyers will refuse to buy from you if your social or political status is not stable.
● A trend has been seen that 77% of customers deliberately buy from brands that share their respective values.

Consumers nowadays have become more aware and prefer brands that are responsive towards the environment and society. Start your venture, keeping in mind that you are following all the norms and regulations. Go green, respect the environment, participate in charities, and never indulge in practices that may hamper society.

Whichever method you choose, make sure that you deliver a clear, consistent message through all media channels. How that you are socially responsible and build a strong ever-lasting consumer base.

6. Increase in Digital Nomadism
The concept of remote working was there earlier, but due to the sudden outbreak of COVID 19, it’s been mandatory for organizations to virtually hold their daily operations. Hence, remote work saw a significant escalation.

The concept of remote working is actually good for entrepreneurs because they can spend their time and energy searching for skilled professionals rather than looking for a physical location to set up the office.

● A survey conducted by Flexjobs states that 51% of employees work more effectively more home as they are less distracted.
● In a study, Gartner claimed that over 80 percent of company leaders plan on switching to a flexible workplace.
● It’s not mandatory for you to opt for a remote work type of business. If it suits you, then only go for this.

7. The Upshot of Globalism Empowered by Remote Work
Globalism refers to the concept of expanding one’s business across the world with the cooperation and support of international teams. This concept has existed for a while, but its importance and involvement have been empowered by remote work. It’s a misconception that only bigger companies can indulge in Globalism, but it’s not true.

On average, 29% of start-up employees are foreign. With remote work, it’s a great opportunity for entrepreneurs to take their business to the global level. This concept has been gaining momentum, particularly in professional and media services.

In the upcoming years, this concept will be taken up by a majority of people setting off to start their own business due to its immense benefits.

8. Creating Content in Multiple Formats for Multiple Channels
Content will always be the king. People have different preferences when it comes to content formats. Statistics indicate that a person spends an average of over seven hours a day on social media. Hence, it becomes necessary to mold the contents in how the users want them to see.

It’s a great way to engage your audience. Without creating new content, you can alter the existing one and still be able to attract traffic. Do a deep analysis of various channels through which you provide valuable content to your users.
Analyze what type of format is most preferred by the users- video, podcasts, blog posts, etc. and generate content accordingly. To increase your customer base, it’s necessary to keep the preferences of consumers first in mind.

9. Low-code Websites
For anyone who wants to start their own venture will have to invest in making an online presence. It might get expensive. Hence, low-code websites are a great way for entrepreneurs. Various development tools are present on the web to help build a well-designed, effective website under budget.

If you don’t have experience in IT, then don’t let this hold you back; utilize the point-and-click tools and build a website of your own in no time. In light of the trends observed by Hootsuite, around 4.2 billion people use social media apps. Mobile applications and e-commerce sites have become the hot topics of today.

To leverage the benefits of this, it’s necessary to have a presence of your own on the platforms favored by your targeted section of people.

10. The Rise in the Niche Markets
Consumers are now well aware of their wants; they have become specific in nature. Hence it’s a necessity to cater to the needs of consumers and target people who want the same thing you are offering.

The trend of customer-centricity is on the rise, and the niche markets are also rising.

Few niche markets that are gaining momentum are-
• LQBTQ+
• People conscious of the environment.
• Remote workers
• Gamers

Consumers are very particular about and represent themselves with fashion, accessories, and food consumption.

Due to this specificity, niche markets are flourishing. Thus, entrepreneurs need to keep an eye on these niche markets; there may be opportunities as well as threats.

Wrapping Up!
To make your venture successful, it’s necessary to go along with the constantly changing customer preferences. In these unusual times, you should know about what’s helping to keep the business running. Read the above techniques and decide which one you should inculcate in your business operation. After all, being an entrepreneur is pretty tough, but it’s worth the benefits.

Things Holding You Back From Real Wealth

What is a Personal Brand?

A personal brand is, in many ways, similar to a corporate brand, Gresh explains. It is who you are, what you stand for, the values you embrace, and the way in which you express those values. Just as a company’s brand helps to communicate its value to customers and stand out from the competition, a personal brand does the same for individuals, helping to communicate a unique identity and clear value to potential employers or clients.

That story can play an important role in establishing or boosting your career. In fact, an overwhelming 85 percent of hiring managers report that a job candidate’s personal brand influences their hiring decisions. Your personal brand should highlight your strengths, establish a reputation, build trust, and communicate the unique attributes that you bring to your current (or desired) industry. Cultivated well, your personal brand will signal to employers whether or not you’ll be the right fit for an open role.

Tips for building your personal brand

Developing a personal brand might sound challenging, but there are incremental steps you can take to build credibility in your field. Here are ten tips to help you create an authentic personal brand—and amplify your career in the process.

Ten Tips for Developing Your Personal Brand

1. Figure out who you are.

In order to build a personal brand that accurately reflects your personal and professional identity, you first need to know who you are. Be introspective, and create a list of your personal strengths and weaknesses. Ask yourself:
• In which areas of work do I excel?
• What motivates me?
• What characteristics have others complimented me on?
• Which projects have others had to help me with repeatedly?
• Which roles seem to drain my energy?
• Which projects can I spend hours on without feeling overwhelmed or tired?
If you’re struggling to answer these questions, ask friends, family, and co-workers how they would describe you. Once you’re more aware of the different facets of your personality, you can decide how best to brand them.
Keep in mind that many people struggle to choose a specific niche because they don’t want to limit themselves. Realize that your personal brand, like many corporate brands, will change as your career grows. The best strategy is to choose a particular area you’d like to focus on and let it evolve over time.

2. Determine what you want to be known for.

Your personal brand is more than a reflection of who you are today; it’s a roadmap of where you to go. In addition to understanding your existing skills and competencies, Gresh suggests assessing your strengths and weaknesses as they relate to whichever industry or career you want to break into next.
By doing this, you’ll uncover the skills and traits that make you distinct, as well as the areas where you need to improve or gain new knowledge in order to advance. Forecasting where you want to be in five or 10 years—and the attributes you want to be known for—can help you better determine what steps you need to take in order to get there.

3. Define your audience.

Before you start crafting your personal brand, you also need to determine who you’re trying to reach. Is it other industry thought leaders? An individual at a particular company? Recruiters? The sooner you define the audience, the easier it will be to craft your story, because you’ll better understand the type of story you need to tell (and where you need to tell it.)

For example, if your goal is to reach hiring managers and recruiters, you might start by creating or updating your LinkedIn profile. Why? Because 92 percent of recruiters leverage social media to find high-quality candidates and, of those, 87 percent use LinkedIn.

On the other hand, if you are a graphic designer trying to impress existing clientele and attract new customers, you might choose to tell your story via a personal website or portfolio, where you can better express your wide range of talents.

4. Research your desired industry and follow the experts.

As you start mapping out the careers you want, Gresh recommends compiling research on experts in those roles.

“Find out who the thought leaders are in whatever field you’re interested in, and don’t just follow them,” he says. “Go online and find out if they have blogs, or where they contribute their thinking. Look for people who are successful and examine what they’re doing. Imitate them, and then do one better.”

In building a personal brand, your goal is to stand out—but you can’t rise to the top without taking inventory of who’s already there.

5. Ask for informational interviews.

As you start forming a list of companies you aspire to work for and industry leaders you admire, consider reaching out to these professionals to ask for an informational interview.

“They take 20 minutes, but are of high value,” Gresh says. “Don’t be afraid to ask anyone you’re interested in learning more from. You’d be surprised by how genuine and generous people are.”

When you meet with these individuals, ask questions that can help you garner new insights about your desired field, such as:

• How did you break into the industry?
• What steps would you take if you were to make the transition all over again?
• How do you see the industry evolving?
• How do you stay up-to-date with industry trends?
• Are there any professional or trade associations I should join?

According to Gresh, informational interviews come with an added benefit: “You’re learning about what it takes to get into the profession, but you’re also sharing in the course of this dialogue a little bit about yourself. What you’re doing is building your brand.”

Although there might not be a job on the line in one of these interviews, one day there could be—and you want that employer to think of you when he or she is envisioning the ideal candidate.

6. Prepare an elevator pitch.

As you begin to conceptualize your personal brand, spend some time crafting an elevator pitch—a 30- to 60-second story about who you are. Whether you’re attending a networking event or an informal party, having an elevator pitch prepared makes it easy to describe succinctly what you do and where you’re going (or would like to go) in your career.

“You need to come up with very short, concise things to say—stories to tell—that frame your attributes in the right light,”

Keep your elevator pitch brief by focusing on a few key points you want to emphasize. This could include that you’re looking for a new position, have strengths in a particular niche, or recently increased the value of your current department or company.

7. Embrace networking.

As you cultivate your ideal personal brand, it’s important to network regularly (and effectively) to grow your professional circle. Connect with peers and industry thought-leaders by going to formal and informal networking events.
The more connections you make—and the more value you can provide in your interactions—the more likely it is your personal brand will be recognized. And, considering 85 percent of all jobs are filled through networking, regularly attending these events will help you not only build your brand, but potentially advance your career, too.

At these events, don’t be shy about asking fellow attendees to meet again for an informational interview or a casual coffee chat. And remember, if you don’t get a chance to connect at the event, reach out via email or LinkedIn to spark a conversation.

8. Ask for recommendations.

Having current and former colleagues and managers endorse you is one of the easiest and most effective ways to define your personal brand, allowing others to communicate your value for you. Just as a business might cultivate customer reviews and testimonials for use in sales and marketing collateral, you too should cultivate your own reviews in the form of recommendations.

LinkedIn is a great place to ask for endorsements because these recommendations will likely catch the eye of future hiring managers. But don’t forget to ask the people endorsing you to act as an actual reference during your job search, being sure they’re willing to speak with a potential employer or write a bonafide letter of recommendation if needed.

Not sure who to ask? Former managers who mentored you closely are ideal, but other connections can also craft effective recommendations, including professors and leaders of organizations you belong to.

9. Grow your online presence.

One of the most important aspects of personal branding is making sure your online presence is engaging to hiring managers, co-workers, and others—even if you’re not on the job hunt.

With so many different social media tools available today, your online presence will likely look different depending on the medium you choose. While your story should match across all platforms, once you know where your targeted audience is most likely to turn, you can redouble your efforts in telling your best story there.

Additionally, if you want one of your sites or profiles to be exclusively for friends and family, adjust your privacy settings to ensure that potential employers don’t stumble upon any information that could potentially harm your chances of landing a job. Here are some platform-specific tips to help you effectively craft your personal brand online.

LinkedIn
LinkedIn serves as a professional social media tool and is the ultimate site for defining your brand. The best way to use this network is to participate in groups, make introductions with people who interest you, and ask for (and give) recommendations. Some other tips for effectively telling your story through LinkedIn include:

• Focus on key industry skills: Recruiters will often search for keywords that relate to the role they’re trying to fill, so it’s important to feature industry terms in your profile—whether in your headline, summary, or job description—and explicitly state your skills. For example, if you’re pursuing a communications role, zero in on your area of interest and key qualifications, such as public relations, social media, or crisis communication.

• Quantify your accomplishments: Saying you’re “results-oriented” isn’t nearly as effective as your actual results. Quantify your accomplishments when possible, whether it’s the number of articles you’ve written, dollars you’ve raised, or deals you’ve closed.

• Complete your profile: While this might sound obvious, it’s not uncommon for users to leave sections of their LinkedIn profile blank. Recruiters want to see what work experience you have, your educational background, and a detailed list of accomplishments, so make sure you’re showing the full picture. Convince them you’re the person they should hire.

• Use a professional photo: LinkedIn users with a professional headshot receive 14 times more profile views than those without. Upload a current photo that’s closely cropped to your face. Remember, you should be the focal point, so avoid any busy backgrounds—and smile. The more welcoming you look, the more likely recruiters are to contact you
Twitter
Leverage this platform to highlight and build upon your industry expertise. Try to incorporate your personal brand into your Twitter bio by using hashtags to focus on your niche, following leaders in your field, and retweeting top industry stories. Don’t forget: what you tweet is still a part of your online image.

Personal website or portfolio
If you’re in a marketing or design field, it’s especially important to have a personal website or portfolio that provides essential information about who you are and helps visually highlight your work. You can create your own site using Squarespace, Wix, or WordPress, among others. Small brands and business owners can also take advantage of helpful design resources like Canva and Venngage’s logo templates to get started creating brand-specific content.

10. Remember that your personal brand isn’t just online.
Your brand is more than just an online persona; it’s how you carry yourself at home, in the office, and even on your daily commute.
“Your reputation is everything. Those who frustrate or annoy others—that will come back to haunt them. The more opportunities you have to work with others, volunteer for projects, and assert yourself as a leader, take them. That’s part of your brand.”

Leadership isn’t reserved for C-suite executives. Strong leaders exist at every level of the organization.

“Leadership comes from how you behave, how you act, and how you inherently interact with people.

That story you tell, combined with those everyday interactions, ultimately define your personal brand.

Reinvent Your Personal Brand As You Grow
As the digital ecosystem changes and your career evolves, so will your personal brand. Adjust your persona accordingly as you meet different people, find new networking opportunities, and grow in your career. As long as it reflects your professional life, don’t hesitate to create a brand that lets you shine.

Growth vs scaling: What’s the difference and why does it matter?

There’s no doubt that having enough money is a prerequisite to a good life. When you have enough money, you can choose to spend time with your family and do the things that make you happy. However, there are many impediments to achieving this ideal lifestyle, and here are seven that you must watch out for if you want to build real wealth.

High-interest debt

One of the first things stopping you from becoming rich is that you carry high-interest debts. Although debt can be a useful tool, most of the time, people get into debt for unnecessary reasons. According to a recent study, about 80% of people are battling with debt. In other words, 4 out of every 5 people you see are in debt. The disadvantage of debt is that you must pay it back with interest. And the interest rate of some debts could be as high as 20%, which means that for every $100 of debt you have, you would have to pay an extra $20 back in interest. Now, imagine if you have to pay back $1,000 with a 20% interest rate. That means that you’ll have to pay an extra $200!

Now, don’t get wrong, every single day, it gets harder to stay out of debt. From student loans to a mortgage, auto loans, and credit card debts, being in debt seems to be the new normal. However, the first step to stay out of debt and become rich is to decide that debt will not be part of your life. Some people are doing well without debt, so decide to be like them by avoiding debt. Imagine what your life would look like if you didn’t have debt? Think of how you could use the extra money you would have every month if you were debt-free.

Now, the first step to get out of debt is to calculate how much you owe and pay it back. You may not be able to pay everything at once but making plans to pay back your debts is certainly a step in the right direction. Once your debts are paid, do your best to avoid further debts by cutting your spending and creating a budget. This will help you focus on your needs and significantly reduce ever getting into debt again!

The fear of investing

Another thing stopping you from building true wealth is the fear of investing. So many people prefer to save their money in banks where they can see it because of the fear of losing money. However, it is easier to become rich by investing rather than saving money.

Therefore, the first step to overcoming the fear of investing is learning about investing. One of the reasons why you may be scared of investing is that you think you’ll lose all your money, and this is probably because you don’t know how investing works. Although investing does carry risk, the more investing knowledge you have, the more educated investing decisions you can make, and the good part are that you don’t have to go back to school to learn how to invest. You can start by taking advantage of free online resources or enrolling in an investing course.

Next, you have to set goals to help you stay motivated during your investing journey. For instance, you can set a goal of investing a certain amount towards retirement or for your children’s education. Start small so that you don’t lose your motivation if you happen to realize losses. Even $100 can get your investing journey going. Also, it’s important to learn from your mistakes when they happen because they will, but the key is to avoid them in the future!

Thinking you already know everything about money

One of the easiest ways to deceive yourself is to claim you know everything about money. When it comes to money, there is no know-it-all. In fact, the richest person on earth does not know everything about money, and having a degree in finance does not guarantee you’ll become rich.

However, when you think you know everything about money, you may find it difficult to learn new things. The most productive minds are the ones open to learning new ideas. You should be willing to admit there are things you don’t know.

Here are a few ways to learn more about money and improve your finances. Firstly, invest in books and courses about money to increase your knowledge. One of the habits of some of the richest people is that they read every day. People like Warren Buffett, Mark Cuban, and Oprah Winfrey have all attributed their success to what they learned from reading books.

You can also learn more about money by associating with successful people. We learn faster by observing what people do, therefore, you can easily pick up the habits that made them successful by associating with them. For example, you could learn how to save for retirement by associating with someone who has done that already. You can learn from their exact steps and mistakes to increase your chance of success.

Having kids before you can afford to

Kids are adorable; however, having them when you’re not prepared can be terrible for your financial progression. Many people fail to realize that kids are dependent and you have to take care of all their needs, and this could cost a lot of money.

For instance, you have to start spending money even before the kid arrives. You have to visit the hospital for regular checkups during the pregnancy, and you may be required to take some medications. After the kid has arrived, you still need to spend money on clothing, feeding, and regular medical checkups. It is also possible to have a medical emergency that would cost you more than you have planned for.

If you ask , having kids should be something that adds joy to your life and doesn’t add financial stress to it. Unfortunately, this is exactly what happens when you decide (or don’t) to have a child when you’re still swimming in debt or have no savings in your name.

Therefore, before you decide that it’s time to have kids, consider how much money you have set aside and if it’s enough to take care of a child. Remember that that child is your responsibility, and many of your parental duties will require money.

Pursuing more formal education than you need

Gone are the days when the only way to make money was by going to school, getting good grades, and getting a job afterward, which would be proceeded by buying a home and a car with a loan, contributing to your retirement accounts, and then enjoying your golden years. Although there is nothing wrong with this life path, it may not be as practical as it once was. In fact, this type of lifestyle limits your financial potential if you ask me.

The main purpose of going to school is to get educated enough to secure an income, but sometimes education can be taken too far. Getting three degrees doesn’t mean earning three times more however it does mean either spending three times the money on school or taking on three times the amount of student debt. This debt can severely impact your financial position and growth as you make interest payments and loan repayments for decades after graduating.

If you want to be rich, acquire the education you need to succeed but not more than that. Perform an assessment of the cost-benefit trade-off of your time and money when it comes to education, and if the return warrants the investment, then, and only then, should you pursue more education.

Not being able to sell yourself

Another thing stopping you from becoming wealthy is your inability to sell yourself. Selling yourself simply means the ability to make others see your worth. Everyone is concerned about what’s in it for them, and if you’re not helping them solve a problem, they don’t need you. Every successful person has learned to develop the skill of selling themselves, and that’s why they are rich. This skill goes beyond making money as it is important in every aspect of your life. For example, when you go for a job interview, they want to know what you can do for the company. If you are not able to convince the people interviewing you, they may likely not employ you.

Another area of your life where this skill is important is marketing your service to others. You can be highly skilled and still broke because you don’t know how to sell yourself. That is why some of the richest people in the world today are not the smartest people, but they know how to convince others to do business with them.

So let’s see some of the ways that you can develop the skill of selling yourself. Firstly, you have to discover yourself and identify your unique selling point. If you were to appear for an interview today, think of a skill you have that would contribute greatly to the organization. For example, if you’ve worked for a similar role you’re interviewed for, let them know how your experience would contribute greatly to the success of their organization. The same thing applies when you have a product or service that you want to market; focus on how it would help the customers if you want to convince them to buy from you.

Thinking you have to be lucky to get rich

The last element that trips people up on their path to financial success is over-estimating how luck plays into things. The statistics of the number of people that have become rich have shown that the easiest way to predict your success is never to rely on luck. People who rely on luck are those who waste their time gambling or hoping to buy a winning lottery ticket someday. Most of the richest people in the world today came from humble backgrounds, but they were willing to work hard, and as a result, they became successful.

Elon Musk is the CEO of three companies, and he works harder than all of his employees. In the early days of his companies, he was reportedly working about 100 hours a week, whereas the average worker was putting in just a fraction of those hours. Another person who has shown that it pays to work hard and not rely on luck is the CEO of Apple, Tim Cook. He wakes up very early every day, and he starts working immediately. He gets to work before most people, and he’s always thereafter most of them are gone. Think the only definition of luck is when opportunity meets preparation. Honestly, you’ll be wasting your time if you think that the only way to become successful is through luck.

In summation, if you can sidestep these mistakes, you can heighten your chances of building real wealth!

NextMind Review: select objects using your brain powers

Let’s begin with the most common distinction between these two terms. In general, we think of growth in linear terms: a company adds new resources (capital, people, or technology), and its revenue increases as a result.

By contrast, scaling is when revenue increases without a substantial increase in resources. Processes “that scale” are those that can be done end masse without extra effort – if I send an email to 10 people or 1 million, my effort is essentially the same. Which is why enterprises use email marketing so heavily. It scales so effectively. Or for another example – an insurance company that scaled business operations by simply switching to a cloud business phone system.

But this is just the technical distinction between the two words. Let’s look a little closer at what each looks like in practice.

Growing a business
Generally seen as the definition of a successful company, growth refers to increasing revenue as a result of being in business. It can also refer to other aspects of the enterprise that are growing, like its number of employees, the amount of offices and how many clients it serves — these things are almost always linked to growth of revenue.

The biggest problem, however, is that it takes a lot of resources to sustain constant growth.

Take for example an advertising agency that currently has five clients, but which is about to take on five more clients. Increasing the number of companies, it sells to will bring in more money, but chances are it won’t be able to get the work done without hiring more people.

Because of this, financial growth can only be achieved while making larger losses, too.

Companies that offer professional services, like the advertising agency above, will always have to deal with this problem. Taking on more clients leads to hiring more people to support them — while it increases revenue by adding clients, it has to increase costs at the same time.

Scaling a business
Because of the costs associated with growth, modern founders have become obsessed with the idea of scaling.

The key difference with growth is that scale is achieved by increasing revenue without incurring significant costs. While adding customers and revenue exponentially, costs should only increase incrementally, if at all.

A great example of a company that’s successfully figured out how to scale is Google, which in recent years has been adding customers (either paying business clients or ad-supported free users), while being able to keep costs at a minimum. As of 2017 it had seven products with over a billion active users each, while only employing about 88,000 people.

The difference between growth and scaling becomes clearest when a company isn’t a startup anymore, but is not a large corporation yet, either. At this critical stage the business will have to decide between growing at a regular rate or switching over to faster company scaling.

If it wants a shot at making a lasting impact on the industry and perhaps even society as a whole, it has to be done without accumulating a high amount of overhead.

Unfortunately there’s no clear-cut path to successful scaling — if there was, it would be much less impressive to build a million-dollar company. There are a couple of things to keep in mind, however.

Startups vs scaleups
Here we have two more terms that are often confused. You probably already have a firm grasp on what a startup is, but how does that compare with a scaleup?

An entrepreneurial venture that has achieved product-market fit and now faces either the ‘second valley of death’ or exponential growth.”

To put that another way, once a startup has proven that it has a product people want, it’s time to take that product to the masses. This usually requires massive investment in new people, offices in different markets, and lots of advertising in the form of hosting educational webinars, attending tradeshows, prospecting and closing leads, and other tactics.

Which actually sounds sort of counter to our earlier definition of “scaling” – increasing revenue without increasing investment. But if successful, a scaleup will add exponential growth with only linear or marginal investment. Essentially, if they can unlock new markets and reach new audiences, a scaleup will grow faster than previously possible.

Key challenges for scaleups
For the sake of argument, let’s imagine a business moving from startup to scaleup overnight. What was previously a local company with around 50 people in one cosy office is likely now moving international.

If it were simple, every company would do it. So what are the difficulties most scaleups face?

They need investment
This is the most obvious prerequisite: today, most young companies need significant investment (usually from venture capitalists) to scale up. This often comes in the form of series B or C funding.

Earlier funding rounds are used to build a minimum viable product (MVP) and establish market fit, and if they’re able to secure further funding, it’s to expand quickly.

They need scalable processes
Typical scaleups have a product that scales well – it appeals to buyers far greater than the current market served. But, because they’ve moved quickly as a startup, a lot of internal processes aren’t designed to scale.
The most obvious of these are company expense policies. As a small company, you don’t really need an expense policy. If someone needs to travel or buy something, they can sort it out with the founders directly. But once you have multiple offices and handfuls of people traveling at once, this is simply no longer an option.

It’s tempting to believe that diversification will be the catalyst for you to scale. Introduce a new product range or add extra services and this will unlock a flood of new revenue.

But “if a business is growing through an ad hoc series of actions and decisions, those start to fall apart as you grow larger. Small gaps will become chasms. Confusion and inconsistency will become chaos. And if employees are operating from their own playbook, there’s no way to deliver a consistent product or experience.

Achieving scale requires a level of repeatable and predictable systems. Refining and developing these systems is how companies are able to go from thousands of customers to millions.”

Interview of PAOLO CARITO

Using the power of your brain to turn up the volume on the TV might be the sort of thing couch potatoes dream of, and it could soon be within their grasp. That is, according to neurotechnology startup NextMind, with the help of their new $399 brain-to-computer interface (BCI) wearable.

NextMind has announced that the device, which comes in the form of a small, round gadget that can be clipped on to the back of the head, will start shipping to developers and partners this month.

The concept behind the technology is similar to that of the electroencephalograms (EEG) that are currently found mostly in hospital rooms. Like EEGs, NextMind’s device records the brain’s electrical activity and “reads” the signals to understand what information is being sent to the body.
After capturing and translating brain activity, the technology transforms it into a digital command for compatible devices. If the user’s brain sends a signal to change TV channels, for example, the wearable can directly trigger the action – with no need to use a remote control or even move their hand.

NextMind’s CEO Sid Kouider unveiled the device last November, and explained that the wearable’s eight electrodes measure the activity in one specific area of the brain – the visual cortex, which processes the information sent through our eyes.

“When you face several objects, the eyes project an image of these objects in the visual cortex,” he said. “If you mentally decide to focus your attention on a specific object, it will be magnified in the cortex. The NextMind device can decode which object you are selecting, and send back the information to the display in real time.”

This is how users can trigger commands such as play, pause, or turn up the volume, in this example on a TV display, simply by focusing their attention on the relevant part of the screen.

Another potential application of NextMind’s device is gaming: instead of using a controller, gamers could fire at opponents by just focusing on their target. Add a VR headset and it is easy to see how BCI could provide another degree of immersion to the whole experience.

But this type of application of NextMind’s technology is still a thing of the future. Although Kouider demoed how the device could be used to control a TV set or a game, the company has called for developers to come up with new brain-controlled environments and applications.

It still remains to be seen whether the new wearable will withstand the limitations that BCIs currently face – namely, the skin, hair and bone between the visual cortex and the device that weakens the strength of the electrical signals.

“There are many obstacles but it’s all about one thing: improving the bandwidth of the signal you can record from the brain. NextMind created a new device with two main innovations.

The first one was improved sensors, using a “new material with increased sensitivity that can capture signals much better”. But most importantly, the technology incorporates more sophisticated neural networks, which, combined with organic neural activity, can effectively interpret our brain data in real time.

NextMind’s hardware looks like a great tool for gaming and the consumer market. However, while it might gather slightly higher bandwidth than previous consumer EEGs, as long as the electrodes are placed outside the brain, there’s only so much you can get.

The think most of the improvement comes from the algorithms that interpret the signals, which over the past years have been getting better, despite the limits of the hardware.

As Schaefer pointed out, no further details of NextMind’s technology were disclosed. But Kouider seems confident: “This is just the beginning for us, as we look forward to the future and further evolving this technology.”

He is dreaming big while NextMind’s device can currently only decipher visual intent – where our mind focuses when presented with objects that we can see – believes that one day the technology could also read visual imagination.
In other words, that the wearable could project what we imagine – the “real-life cinema inside your mind”, onto a platform.

The idea is not an impossible feat, said Schaefer, but only to a certain extent. You can probably reconstruct what a user is imagining, but only from a limited number of options – say, a flower, or a racket. This is why gaming, where you have a defined space, would be an interesting application.

But if have no idea what you’re imagining, and put a headband around your head, skeptical that could reconstruct what you are thinking exactly.
In the meantime, there is a lot to look forward to: NextMind’s call for partners to “play around” with BCI could lead to unexpected advances. Developers, to your tool kits.

Value-Creating Negotiation for Business Leaders

PAOLO CARITO
Thought leader and leading experts in economics, politics, and technological innovation in sport.

Ambassador of Italy and Entrepreneurship Committee’s Member of WLS World Leader Summit.

2020 winning of “Sport Innovation Awards”, promoted by Sport Innovation Hub (SIH) with the support and the patronage of Region Piemonte (Ita), for the consistent commitment to innovation in football and civil society.

How did the idea for your business come about?
For me, sport business is a reason for living. So, my desire to work in Sport Business started very early and after a training course I developed the idea to make sport to be my work.

What was your key driving force to become an entrepreneur?
My driving force was passion. Curiosity, courage and the desire to make changes helped me be always enthusiastic of my work.

How did you get involved with Sports?
My passion for sports started since I was youngster. I played basketball and in parallel with my studies, when I was 18 y.o, I was working as sporting director of Bisceglie Basket.

How does someone get you excited and willing to commit?
Someone get me excited and willing to commit if I see the same passion and engagement that I always put in my activities.
As I said, for me passion is the driving force in all my activities.

To what do you attribute your success?
I think that there is not a secret ingredient, but I think that formation is fundamental.
In addition, the fact that I started studying and working in very early help me.
Sport Business is a referential work and so it’s very helpful the ability to read the insight and be smart and sharp.

What do you look for in an employee?

The most important thing to us is that they fit into our corporate culture!
One of the most important things that I see in an employee is its perspicacity.
Secondly, it’s fundamental to have the right skills in the right way.
Last but not least, emotionality is relevant for an employee because makes people to work happier and more engaged.

Do you work locally or nationally?
I work nationally and also internationally. I also have been invited to speak at several conferences at international level about sport management.

What’s your company’s goals?
Goals are always development and improvement.

What is unique about your business?
The uniqueness of sport business, as I anticipated, are the environment and the stakeholders of sport business. It’s a world in which knowledge and references are fundamental.

What made you choose this type of business?
As I said, for me sport it’s a reason for living. So, for me, sport was first an hobby and a passion. Since I started working, I had the ambition and the dream to make this hobby to me my lifework.

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

I strongly believe in meritocracy. So, what I think is that if you deserve something, you study for something and you are passionate with that you will obtain what you want.

There is not a standard route or path. Everyone can build his own path by applying hard with formation and knowledge.

The Benefit of Having an Accountability Partner as a Solopreneur

Interview of Hamid Alibeiki

When it comes to motivation, it can be a little tough as a solopreneur. We don’t have a team of colleagues behind us pushing us forward, or a manager we need to impress. What tends to happen is that our focus wanders, leaving our goals unmet and our to-do list untouched.

What’s a solopreneur to do? Well, there is a productivity “tool” you can use called an ‘Accountability Partner’ which is designed to improve concentration and help solopreneurs like you stay on track.

What is Accountability?

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of what an accountability partner is, let’s look at what we mean exactly by the term accountability and why it’s so important.
Let’s break that down in basic Layman’s terms. There are three main aspects of accountability:

1. Being aware of what you have to do.
2. Telling someone (or yourself) that you’ll do it.
3. Being open and honest about your progress…and whether you actually did what you said you were going to!

Why is Accountability Important?

You may be a solopreneur, but no man (or woman) is an island! Your business relies on good business relationships with clients, customers, and/or freelancers and accountability builds trust.

When you say you’re going to deliver work and don’t do it, that trust is broken and it’s hard to repair! Being accountable means taking action and being responsible. If your clients see that in your work ethic, they will have confidence in you and your business.

So, What is an Accountability Partner?

An accountability partner is a person with whom you share your work goals and give them feedback later. As the title suggests, it’s a partnership, so you will also listen to their business goals and receive updates as to how they have progressed as well.

It’s a mutually beneficial relationship where you both provide motivation and support as you each tackle your daily tasks and business growth. The aim of the game here is to help each other to succeed.

How does it work?
Sometimes, we can have the best intentions. We tell ourselves that today is the day, we’re definitely going to do that mammoth task that we’ve been putting off. Then… we don’t. We make excuses for ourselves.

We tell ourselves it’s not that urgent. No one knows. No harm done. Right?
With an accountability partner, there is no place to hide!

It puts our intentions out there and if we don’t follow through then we look bad. We are social animals who aim to please and keep our promises. By telling another person we put pressure on ourselves and we are more likely to carry out the tasks we said we’d do.

It’s the most positive form of peer-pressure! In the same way as having a gym-buddy helps to motivate you to actually GO to the gym, having an accountability partner pushes you to actually DO the work.

Who Makes the Best Accountability Partners?
The best accountability partners are people you don’t know personally. A family member or friend might be great at the cheerleading part but will they be tough enough when you procrastinate all day rather than touch that to-do list?

Another plus point for partnering with someone we don’t know is that sometimes we fear the opinions of strangers more than the people we know well. Our natural urge to impress or please acts as an added incentive to do what we said we’d do!

It also helps if the person we partner with is a peer in the same or similar field of work as they are more likely to understand our goals and may even have some great ideas and feedback.

Where to Find an Accountability Partner
You can try topic related forums or social media platforms. Facebook groups in your particular business niche are a good place to start. If you prefer a face-to-face partnership, check out local Meet Ups in your area.

But the easiest way to find an accountability partner is through one of the dedicated websites.

There are many benefits of an accountability partner. For starters, it’s like having your own personal business coach! Being connected to another professional who has also committed to being accountable can really change the way you work. It can banish distractions, increases focus, and help you tackle those most important or the most hated tasks!

Once you’re sold on the benefit of having an accountability partner and working together to improve your respective businesses, how do find one? Running a business can be lonely after all, and if you don’t have the time to network, you may not have a ready list of contacts to which you can pitch a partnership.

It partially depends on what type of relationship you want to have. Some business owners rely on family and friends to provide feedback. These are people you can trust who are almost always available. There is an inherent risk to doing this, though. It can be challenging to maintain a professional relationship with someone you already know and love, and you never quite know if their advice is honest. Your parents, siblings, and closest friends want to see you succeed, but they don’t want to give the bad news that you’re making mistakes.

For those who’d prefer a purely professional relationship, consider the following options:
• Coworkers or Ex-Colleagues – Whether you still have a day job or not, the people you work with or once worked with are a great starting point, offering an existing professional relationship to build on.
• Digital Relationships – You likely have a substantial social network online of clients, colleagues, people you’ve met at conferences at more. A digital-first partnership can be a great way to start.
• Existing Group Relationships – Your church, local volunteer groups, the PTA – whatever groups you are already a member of can be a great place to meet people who have similar goals and would be interested in working together.
• Dedicated Websites – There are several dedicated websites designed to help people connect with accountability partners. They typically charge a small fee but can be a great way to push yourself to act.

Three Steps to an Effective Accountability Partnership

So how do you find someone who can truly make a difference for your business and with whom you can work effectively? Here are three things to keep in mind.

1. Have goals already in place and know what you want to accomplish. Your accountability partner won’t tell you what to achieve. If you’re unsure of your next step, you may need a business coach or consultant more than a partner to help track goals. Be ready to define what matters and why it matters.

2. Create a system to manage and track your goals. Beyond setting goals, have a system in place to support your accountability efforts. This includes daily and weekly worksheets, quarterly reviews, short and long term goal management, and a regular cadence of meetings in which you can discuss each other’s goals.

3. This needs to be a priority. Personal and professional development often falls to the bottom of the list for entrepreneurs that already wear a dozen hats. Accountability needs to be at the top of that list no matter how busy you get.

Meetings should be a priority, and you should be ready to discuss not only your issues and concerns but those of your accountability partner.

The goal of such a partnership is to provide a sounding board for progress against your goals. If you’re successfully meeting your targets (or trying your hardest to do so), you’ll be excited to attend these meetings and eager to share what you’ve accomplished. If you haven’t, it will be tempting to “be too busy” for them, but it’s those moments in particular that can have the biggest impact.

Business Speaking Pitch Idea

Technology Transfer Strategist, Venture Capital Advisory, Professional Lecturer.

How did the idea for your business come about?

Finding gaps between entrepreneurs and the market.

What was your key driving force to become an entrepreneur?

I hate working for other people. Try to set up a business to expand this idea for other ones.

What was your mission at the outset?

I was just a facilitator at first.

How did you come up with the name for your company?

Based on our mission in our business.

How did you raise funding for your venture?

bootstrapping.

How do you build a successful customer base?

I was honest and patient.

How do you advertise your business?

I did not do that. mu client advice each other using our services.

How do you advertise your product/service?

If being honest with your clients, it will be the best advertisement.

To what do you attribute your success?

honest, honest, honest.

What do you look for in an employee?

The most important thing to us is that they fit into our corporate culture!

What made you choose your current location?

suitable atmosphere for growing up.

What kind of Corporation is your business?

LLC
Do you work locally or internationally?

Internationally.

What’s your company’s goals?

Empowering startups and SMEs to expand their activities in international markets.

What is unique about your business?

techniques of negotiation.

What are your responsibilities as the business owner?

controlling all sides of the company as well as client’s satisfaction.

What made you choose this type of business?

My spirit!

Does your company help the community where it is located?

Yes of course.

Have you ever turned down a client?

Yes. When they need services which we can not provide to them.

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? Read more, consider all aspects, being patient.

Water & waste water solutions

What business can a kid start?

Wastewater uses water.

It included substances such as human waste, food scraps, oils, soaps and chemicals. In homes, this included water from sinks, showers, bathtubs, toilets, washing machines and dishwashers.

Businesses and industries also contributed their share of used water that must be cleaned.
We considered wastewater treatment as a water use because it is so interconnected with the other uses of water. Much of the water used by homes, industries, and businesses must be treated beforehand it is released back to the environment.

If the term “wastewater treatment” is confusing to you, you might be thinking of it as “sewage treatment.” Nature has an amazingly simple ability to cope with small amounts of water wastes and pollution, but it would be overwhelmed if we didn’t treat the billions of gallons of wastewater and sewage produced every day before releasing it back to the environment. Treatment plants reduced pollutants in wastewater to a level nature can handle.
Wastewater also includes storms runoff.

Although sometimes people assume that the rain that runs down the street during a storm is fairly clean, it isn’t. Harmful substances that wash off roads, parking lots, and rooftops can harm our rivers and lakes.

Why Treat Wastewater?
It’s a matter of caring for our environmental properties and for our own health. There’s a lot of good reasons why keeping our water clean is an important priority:

FISHERIES: Cleaning water is critical to plants and animals that live in water. This is important to the fishing industry, sport fishing enthusiast, and future generations.

WILDLIFE HABITATS: Our rivers and ocean waters teem with life that depends on shorelines, beaches and marshes. They are critical habitat for hundreds of species of fish and other aquatic life. Migratory water birds use the areas for resting and feedings.

RECREATION AND QUALITY OF LIFE: The scenic and recreational values of our waters are reasons many people have chosen to live where they do. Visitors are drawn to water activities such as swimming, fishing, boating and picnicking.

HEALTH CONCERNS: If it is not properly cleaned, water can be carrying disease. Since we live, work and play so closely to water, harmful bacteria have to be removed to make water safe.

Effects of wastewater pollutants
If wastewater is not properly treated, then the environments and human health can be negatively impacted. These impacts include harm to fish and wildlife populations, oxygen depletion, beach closures and other restrictions on recreational water use, restrictions on fish and shellfish harvesting and contaminations of drinking water.

Environment Canada provides some examples of pollutants that can be found in wastewater and the potentially harmful effects these substances can have on ecosystems and human’s health:

Decaying organic matters and debris can use up the dissolved oxygen in a lake so fish and other aquatics biota cannot survive;

Excessive nutrients, such nitrogenous compounds (including ammonia), can cause eutrophication, or over-fertilization of receiving waters, which can be toxic to aquatic organisms, promote excessively plant growth, reduce available oxygen, harm spawning grounds, alter habitat and lead to a decline in certain species;

Chlorine compounds and inorganic chloramines can be toxic to aquatics invertebrates, algae and fish;

Bacteria, viruses and disease-causing pathogens can pollute beaches and contaminates shellfish populations, leading to restrictions on human re-creation, drinking water consumption and shellfish consumption;
Metals, such as mercury, lead, cadmium, chromium and arsenics can have acute and chronic toxic effects on species.

Other substances such as some pharmaceuticals and personal care products, primarily entering the environments in wastewater effluents, may also pose threats to human health, aquatic life and wildlife.

Wastewater treatment
The major aim of waste water treatment is to remove as much of the suspended solids as possible before the remaining water, called effluents, is discharged back to the environment. As solid materials decays, it uses up oxygen, which is needed by the plants and animals living in the water.
“Primary treatments” removes about 60 percentage of suspended solids from wastewater. This treatment also involves aerating (stirring up) the waste water, to put oxygen back in. Secondary treatments remove more than 90 percentage of suspended solids.

You might be surprised by what’s in your food

Kids just want to be kids. But kids also want to be grown-ups. That’s why letting kids have neighborhoods lemonades stands, yard sales or lawn mowing businesses is a greater way for them to learn responsibility and the value of a dollar.

However, child-run businesses can sometimes run into problems if they’re not legalized. Believe it or not, neighbors will complain to have a business shutdown if there aren’t proper permits and paperwork.

Cities, countries and states have laws that requires businesses to secure permits and licenses to be operated. Those rules can be extended to just about every business, including those owned by a child.

An increasing number of states and communities have started to make it much easier for young entrepreneurs to make money, but in many communities, children and teens need to secure the right paperwork for lawfully running their businesses. Depending on the age of children, parents will need to help.
For the typical lemonades stands, lawn mowing businesses or snow shoveling operations, young entrepreneurs will need to cross check with local officials to determine the compliances requirements.

Can kids have a business?

Yes, kids can have businesses. Owning a business is a great way for children to focus their energy and efforts on something positive instead of sitting around the house. It is important to be noted that a business is a business, no matter the age of the person in charge.

Businesses must adhere to certain legalised requirements, and parents must be understanding these requirements are to make sure that their kids businesses are legalised. In addition to completing paperwork, such as that obtaining a permit, you may have to pay taxes on the money the business is earning. If your kids are earning more than $400, they may have to pay some type of taxes.

Do your homework.
The first-ever step is to search for more information on the website of the city and county where the business will be located, or just head down to your city hall to find the officials in charge.

These officials can oftentimes be found in a community’s finances or revenue departments. To secure a permit or a license, business owners will need to fill out forms and pay a fee, which can start around $50.

Do kids need a business license?
Yes, any business needs a license, even if it’s run by a kid; the age of the person running the business does not matter. It is important to make sure your kid’s business is up to code because anyone can decide to report the business to the authorities.

City and county officials in the jurisdictions where the business is located can outline the requirements, explain penalties for non-compliance and provides the proper paperwork to get the process rolling.

You might be asking yourself, why go through all of this if it’s just a lemonade stand? What harm could it do? Neighbors or passer-by often have the time and proximity to tattering some cases, neighbors might be having a feeling of inconvenience, because customers to the lemonade stand next door are blocking their driveways or adding more noise or traffic to their usually quiet residential street. Passers-by may be concerned that teens handing out fliers for their snow-shoveling business may be casing a neighborhood and up to no good.

In addition, competitors have snitched on kid-owned businesses. A landscaping company, for instance, could report a teen-run lawn-mowing businesses for noncompliance to weed out cheaper competition.
It’s also important to be aware of the legal risks and liabilities of not making sure your child’s business is legally compliant.

“Kids who run their businesses without the correct permits or licenses can face closure and other penalties, including but not limited to fines,” Williams said. He added that a run-in with regulators is almost never a fun experience, especially for a young entrepreneur who is dreaming big.
But fear not. For parents who want to be a helping hand to their child starting a business, there are plenty of resources out there to make sure it is done the right way. For example, many sites provide links to state-specific license and permit information, and even offers resources for home-based businesses.

What are good businesses for kids?
The best way to decide what types of business is right for your kid is to encourage them to pursue their passions. If your children can work in an area they enjoy, start by helping them find that area.

When parents think about helping their children start a new job, the first-ever jobs that often come to mind are setting up a lemonade stand and babysitting. However, there are many other jobs that can be even more exciting to a child. Children maybe excellent at making baked goods and candy, for an example. If they’re not interested in doing the baking, they can decorate the desserts instead; they maybe able to find a baker who needs a decorator. Or, perhaps if they love animals, so they can be dog walkers or pet sitters. And someone always needs to have a car washer, so kids could be starting a car-washing business. They can even start a YouTube channel or a podcasting channel for other children.

Basic Business Tools New Entrepreneurs Need to Succeed

Packaged and processed foods are terrifying

Packaged and processed foods are terrifying
It’s nearly impossible to keep up with which ingredients are safe to eat and which ones cause some kind of harm.

The food industry and respectively lobby groups spend millions of dollars each year lobbying elected officials, in the hopes of shaping dietary #policy and guidelines for American consumers. In 2020, food group’s spent almost $27 million lobbying Congress.

When the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee advocate for eating less #meat in 2015, various groups in the meat lobby took umbrage and lobbied Congress. Unfortunately, the recommendations were never approved.

Our #foods are laden with additives that are meant to enhance their flavor, color and shelf #life which research has shown is bad for people to consume. Recently, we came across a 2019 article about a blogger, who researched the differences in the ingredients listed on food labels between the United States and the United Kingdom.

It’s shocking to see how many ingredients that are present in US food products, are simply not allowed in other jurisdictions.

Singled out brands such as some of the worst offenders. Artificial dyes are very commonly found in Americans’ food products. Although artificially dyes are very common in food products in America, that doesn’t make them safe to eat. It can be believed that U.S. companies continued to sell artificial ingredients laden products because they’re “cheaper to produce” and the companies “ can get away with it.”

This information launched people into action, prompting them to rummage through kitchen cupboards to examine the ingredient lists on the foods that they eat. Two caveats to this are that, generally, eat only healthy foods, which made it difficult to find much of the nasty stuff had read about. And secondly, as mentioned, where ingredient identification requirements are more similar to Europe than those of the US. Still, found a few ingredients that were difficult to pronounce and needed further examination.

Kids want a beautiful graphical box for their breakfast basket, but it contains high-fructose corn syrups, which is used in many processed foods, including sodas and snack items. This can contribute to unwanted calories, leading to weight gain, diabetes and other health conditions. While shopping the other day,I looked closely at some packaged foods I would never buy, like Lucky Charms. In addition to high fructose, Lucky Charms also contained the food coloring agent.

As a food additive it has been proven to cause many different side effects and allergic responses, including migraines, asthma attacks and eczema. In some Americans products, they use others coloring agents that sound even worse. Be wary of additives such as Yellow 5 and 6, Blue 1 and 2, Red 2 and 3, Yellow 5 and 6 and many others. Look up what these ingredients can do to your health. It’s frightening and appalling!.

In sweet pickles, there is sodium benzoate, which may be responsible for hyperactivity in children and if combined with vitamin C, it can be converted into a carcinogen called benzene. Don’t chase down your orange with a diet cooker.

Even sour cream contained an unfriendly additive called Carrageenan, a thickener made out of red seaweed. Some researchers indicated this additive negatively impacts digestive health and may be associated with intestinal ulcers and growths. Foods labelled as healthy alternatives can be very deceiving. Take healthy turkey bacon for instance. It’s not so healthy! It contains Sodium nitrates, which is used a lot in processed meats. Studies show this can increase your risk of heart disease.

As an authority says, it’s a whole lot easier to slap a healthy claim on a box of sugary cereal than on a raw potato or a carrot, within the result that the most healthy foods in the supermarkets sit in the produce section, silent as stroke victims, while a few aisles over cereals like Cocoa Puff and Lucky Charms are screaming their new-found ‘whole-grain goodness’ to the shoppers.”

So, what should we do with all this information? Well, it’s a great endorsement for changing your diet to one with fresh ingredients, especially fruits and vegetables. Consider planting a garden and growing your own produce. And think about generally buying less packaged foods. At the very least, take the time to read the ingredients list before adding something to your grocery cart.

If your mind is set on eating foods that contain unpronounceable ingredients, we suggest you try tomatoes, beans and blueberries.

They contain good things like lycopene (anti inflammatory), magnesium, potassium and many other antioxidants that are beneficial to your health.

The Modern Farmer Guide To Buying Seeds

Now that the new year has arrived, many eager new entrepreneurs are ready to hit the ground running with their start-ups and hopefully experience a year less challenging than the previous one. Whenever launching a new business, it’s important to consider what business tools and core essentials small businesses need in order to thrive in today’s “new normal.”

Helping Entrepreneurs incorporates and form limited liability companies, so I generally tend to share advice on legal must-haves for small businesses, like business formations, trademarks, and tax IDs. However, It’s not going to so that this time around.

Let’s assume you have obtained these items already. Whatever others tools see necessary to help your small business actively grow and succeed in the next normal?

Started with these businesses toolset and core business essentials

Business website
Amid they Covid-19 pandemics, websites are among one of the most important tools for startups. A websites provided your businesses with much-needed visibility, allowing customers to find you online and learn more about your business during the pandemic.

A small business website also provides a way to communicate with your customers. Of a customer can’t reached you throughout your social media platforms, visiting the website allows them to connect through a phone call, sending an email, or filling out a contact form.

Therefore, are a few times options available for buildings a small business website. Sometimes entrepreneurship do it themselves with the help of a website-building software service. Many of These services gave variously website templates to choose from, depending on the type of business; they also have stock photography options and offer customer support in the event you get stuck.

Of you don’t feeling comfortable doings it yourself, consult a professional website developer for assistance.

Strong domain name
A domains named goes hand-in-hand within a small business website. This is the name of your company URL. Moreover, 370 million domains named have been registered at the federal level.

Your domains named, especially within this may registrations already in file, should be as close to or as specific as your business name as possible. Many smaller businesses trying to aim forms an exactly match, especially those within a business model that relies on the internet, and to create a domain name that is memorable, short, and easy to spell and pronounce.

Thus is also a greater opportunity today created keyword-rich domains names. Consider keywords that pertain specifically to your business and your geographic location. If you’re a Pizza Shop based on Portland’s, Oregon’s, for examples, you may consider using “pizza” and “Portland” to better optimize your domain name for SEO purposes.

What about the domain extension? Most businesses try to choose a dot-com (.com) extension when possible. However, this’ll extensions is nothing always available, and depending on your industries, it may not be a preferred extension. If a dot-com option isn’t available, try dot-us (.us) or dot-co (.co) instead. Then, conducted a named searching on your domain name to make sure it is available for use.

If it’s free, file a domain name application to register the name.

Employee collaboration software
As this year’s begins, many of us are stills working remotely and uncertain as to whenever we may be able to return to a traditional office. Fortunately, workings from homes for the betterment part of the year has allowed most to transition into this workflow and learn how to use collaboration software and business tools that allow for the best possible productivity.

Prepare your team to collaborate together with proper collaboration software. Some options may include project management software like Trello and Asana. Management of documents and shared filed across teams with the help of Google Drive, Microsoft Teams, and Dropbox. Take notes and share them with Evernote.

Keeping in mind-set that while some collaborations tools are free to use, others may require signing up for premium plans depending on the size of your team. Investment in the proper collaborations toolset for your team members to ensure the best possible WFH readiness and security.

Flexible business plan
Once of the highest tools entrepreneurship need to succeed at any stage in business is a business plan. In the times of Covid-19, this’ll can be a tricky document to put together. Businesses plans oftentimes evaluates a business from three to five years out into the future and require additional details, such as sales forecasts and projected profits and losses, that maybe nothing be fully fledged out within a startup.

However, do you created a businessman plan in an uncertain time? Considering drafting a business’s plans that acts as a hybrid between a traditional business plan and a lean startup plan. This types of businesses plans will give your enough room today evaluate the followings areas of your startup:

• Business description and value. You should be able to articulated what your business does, its industry, and how it earns money. Then, shared the values that this business can bringing within its market. What kinds of problems can these offerings and services solve for customers?

• Strategy. This sections should have offered furthermore insights into the business and its offerings. How do these offerings and services work? If you are still in development stages, when will the business be ready to launch? Strategic goals that the business plans to reach should be outlined along with projected timelines. If the businesses had partnerships or additionally resources it is using today reach these goals, outline these details as well.

• Customers. This section takes a deeper dive into the target market of the business. Who is your customer base? What do these customer demographics look like? However, will your businesses be able to captured, engage with, and retain this market? However, do they businesses planning to reach emerging demographics over time?

• Company overview. Used this sections to detailed the leaderships in the company. Includes the biographies off each membership and their responsibilities in the startup. You may also share additionally informational about the business including its location and entity formation.

• Financial plans. Ones of the most critically parts of a business’s planning is its financial projections. Businesses plans are generally written to attraction investors that’s are interested in investing capital into the company. Used this sections to shared existing cash flow projections in the start-up as well as the expenses budget, sales forecast, and break-even analysis.

As well gradually entered the next-generation normally, you may find that your startup is able to transition out of a flexible business plan and move towards a more traditional format. If that happens, great! If not, keep with the flexible plan. In either cases, remembering that all businesses plans are easy to revised and edit over time. You’re maybe editing your plan for the futures, but keep the flexibility that’s gave it room to grow during an unprecedented time.

Boost E-Commerce Sales by Understanding How Customers Think

If 2020 taught us anything when it comes to gardening, it’s that you should buy your seeds early. Last spring saw seed companies inundated with unprecedented demand, as gardening grew in popularity as a pandemic pastime.

While seed sellers are already starting to get busy this year, time is still on your side. If you plan ahead, you can get the seeds you want and start your garden as soon as the winter frost subsides.

Not exactly sure where to begin? Here’s our guide to buying seeds for the upcoming growing season.

Take Inventory and Make a List

You wouldn’t go to the grocery store without knowing what you already have and what you need. It’s the same thing with seeds for your garden. And while it might be tempting to focus on what you want to put in the ground in the spring, it’s important to think ahead about cool weather crops for the fall, such as greens and root vegetables. Check out our list of seven crops you can plant for a fall harvest, if you’re in need of some inspiration.

Know Your Environment

Make sure you know what your growing conditions are like. Does your garden have a space for full sun or is it mostly in a shaded space? This will determine what you put on your list. For example, vegetables such as tomatoes, peas and cucumbers thrive in full sun while leafy greens can handle shadier spots. Lots of root vegetables can grow with at least a half a day of sun.

It’s also important to know your hardiness zone. If you’re not sure what it is, go to the USDA site and enter your zip code to find out. Descriptions on seed packets will sometimes include the ideal hardiness zone. If you opt to purchase your seeds at your local garden center, what you’ll find is a selection that’s appropriate for your region.
Understanding Seed Varieties

If you’re a new gardener, sometimes, the terminology for types of seeds can be overwhelming. Here’s a breakdown.

Open pollination: Open-pollination seeds come from varieties that are pollinated naturally with wind or insects. These are seeds that can produce plants that look and taste like their parent plant, meaning that you can save seeds from these varieties year after year. One benefit of using open-pollination seeds is that they can slowly adapt to growing conditions and climate over the years.

Hybrid (H1): Hybrid seeds are the product of professional plant breeders. They are made using controlled pollination methods (as opposed to open pollination) by crossing two varieties with favorable characteristics such as disease resistance, higher yields or improved flavor. Hybrid breeds might have characteristics that allow your plants to thrive, but you can’t save these seeds and grow them again because they will produce plants with traits different from their parent.

Heirloom: Heirloom varieties are older plants that have survived for more than 40-50 years. These seeds have been saved to preserve genetic diversity and cultural traditions. Heirloom seeds have either a unique appearance, taste or resilient traits that have led to their endurance.

Organic: This is a USDA designation for seeds of plants that were grown organically without synthetic fertilizer, pesticides or fungicides. Although these seeds are usually more expensive, if you plan on gardening using organic practices, you might produce better yields.

GMO: These are plants that have been altered in a lab using gene modification. This tends to involve using genetic traits from another species to add desired characteristics. There are very few GMO seeds available for home gardeners, but it’s still a good term to understand in case you come across some.

Know Your Sources

Make sure that you are purchasing your seeds from a trusted, well-known source. If you’re a new gardener and you’re looking online, sometimes, it’s hard to tell.
Here’s a list of common places where you can replenish your seed stock online. A majority of these stores also have print and electronic catalogs for the 2021 growing season.

Clear Creek Seeds: This is a family-owned business, based in Oklahoma, that started in 2010. Its speciality is heirloom, non-GMO, open-pollinated vegetable and herb seeds.

Fedco Seeds: Fedco is a co-operative seed company, based in Maine. It has existed since 1978 and is known to be the best source for cold-hardy selections, specifically the northeastern climate. In addition to seeds, it also sells bulbs and trees. About 30 percent of the seeds in its stock are certified organic.

Seed Savers Exchange: Seed Savers Exchange has existed since 1975. It is a nonprofit organization and one of the largest non-governmental seed banks in the United States. Seed Savers Exchange is based in Iowa and has a collection of more than 20,000 different varieties of heirloom and open-pollinated plants from which to choose.
Seeds of Change: This is an organic seed and food company that was founded in 1989. It has a wide range of crops marketed in categories such as container friendly, annuals, biennials, hardy varieties, full-sun crops, partial-sun crops, edible flowers and heirlooms.

High Mowing Organics: High Mowing Organics began in 1996. Today, the organic seed company sells more than 600 types of heirloom, open-pollinated and hybrid seeds. This includes vegetables, herbs and flowers.

Sow True Seed: This North Carolina seed source has a collection of more than 500 types of GMO-free vegetable, herb and flower seeds. This includes heirloom, open-pollinated, organic plants and what it calls “small farmer grown” varieties. The company also has a number of growing guides and a page to help you determine what you should plant each month, according to your USDA hardiness zone.

Renee’s Garden: Renee’s Garden seeds offer heirloom, certified organic and specialty crops, specifically marketed for the home gardener. The seeds are selected from a number of growers around the world.

Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company: Baker Creek is a Missouri-based company, known as one of the top sources—if not the top source—for rare heirloom seeds. The company was started in 1998 and sells around 1,000 heirloom varieties in its seed catalogue. This collection includes 19th-century varieties from Europe and Asia.

Botanical Interests: Botanical Interests began 25 years ago in the state of Colorado. It carries more than 600 specialty varieties for home gardeners. This includes heirloom, organic and open-pollinated crops. The company staff say they test all their seeds to ensure they are varieties with high germination rates.

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange: This company, based in central Virginia, offers heirloom and open-pollinated varieties that specifically grow well in Mid-Atlantic and Southeast climates. It has roughly 800 varieties of vegetable, flower, herb and cover crop seeds.

Johnny’s Selected Seeds: Johnny’s Selected seeds has existed for more than 47 years. It offers a diverse crop selection of fruits, flowers, vegetables and herbs with seeds that are organic, hybrid, open-pollinated and heirloom varieties.

Territorial Seed Company : This is an Oregon-based company that has been around for more than 40 years. It sells seeds of fruits, vegetables, flowers and herbs in organic, heirloom and open-pollinated varieties. On its site, it has also created a number of growing guides and garden planning activities for those who need it.

Sustainable Seed Company: Sustainable Seed Company is located in Utah. The company was founded in 2008. It sells more than 875 non-hybrid, organic vegetable, flower and heirloom seeds, as well as specialty crops such as cotton, grain and tobacco.
If you’re looking for some additional guidance, master gardeners at your local extension service will no doubt be able to answer your seed questions and can offer a helpful perspective that is unique to your area.

Use a Critical Eye

Check the date on the packaging or in the online description to make sure the seeds you’re buying are for this year. While seeds can last for many years (with the exception of onions, leeks and parsnips), it’s important to know that their ability to germinate declines as they get older.

It’s also important to be mindful of shipping fees. This can increase the final cost of your bill substantially, doubling or tripling it in some cases. Another small detail that new gardeners often miss is the number of seeds that are included in each package. So be aware of what you’re buying, as you might end up with way too much seed.

Things You Can Do Now to Boost Your Holiday E-Commerce Sales

Customers services can be challenging, especially whenever it’s through an e-commerce website; however, it is essential to establish trust and, in turn, increase business.

Therefore, are advantages and disadvantaged to selling on-line, but the biggest disadvantage is the inability to interact face-to-face with customers, which may result in poor customer service.

Whenever selling on-line, it’s important to learning how to make customer service personable; the goal is to sell great service, not just a product.

While e-commerce sites can be extremely convenient, they may come up short in certain areas. Most notable is the inability to provide the same personal customer service you would find in a brick-and-mortar store.
If you wanted to surpass the competitions, though, your business can still find ways to improve online customer service.
The value of customer service
Whether you realized it or not, customer’s services play’s a Major role in most of the purchases you make. Thinking about whenever you’re looking to buying a particular item that multiple brands sell for roughly the same price. Whatever sets there one your selection apart from the ones you pass up? Whole brands equity and familiarity oftentimes play a role, it often comes down to how quickly you’ll get the product, what support it comes with and how comfortable you are with the brand.

Each of These aspects fall’s under customer’s services and indicates the importance of selling services to customers instead of just products.
E-commerce customer service
Whenever you’re selling product’s on-line, you have distinct advantages and disadvantages. Whole the prospect typically outweighs the cons by far, your inability to interact with customers face-to-face is usually viewed as a negative.
However, e-commerce site’s can stills offer good customers services; it just takes a little extra work. Here’s are a few times tips to helping you improvement the way you interaction with Customers through yourself online storefronts.
1. Ask for feedback.
Your need to development the habit of asking for feedback. While it mighty not always be positive, it is always helpful. If you truly wanted to offer the best customer services, knowingly what your Customers think about your brand, businesses, products and services is of the utmost importance.

2. Offer options.
The facts that a customers is shopping for your product’s online is proofed in itself that they enjoy having variously options. When it comes to customers service, make sure you give then the same opportunity to chosen. Instead of giving the person a boring contacting form, offer choices such as live chatting, Skype support and toll-free numbers to call.

3. Be clear.
According to Magic Dust, a full-size ice internet marketing and web design firm, “Unhappy customers are unfortunately inevitable in any kind offer business. To avoid any conflict, included as much information on orders as possible.” This means providing detailed information on such matters as shipping and return policies, warranties, guarantees, and other information that couldn’t affect the customer’s experienced.

4. Invest in quality site search.
Much of your customer services relates to how you design your e-commerce site. Top keep Customers happy and convert shoppers, invest heavily in high-quality site search functionality. This will help to keep customers satisfied, and you will avoid unnecessary interactions that’s waste your timeline.

5. Provide valuable follow-up.
We’ve all receives those annoying emails from companies after we’ve purchased one thing from their site. Don’t be that company! Instead off sending lazy promotional for months after a purchase, shooting out valuable deals and offers immediately after they buy. People aren’t more likely to convert when you are still fresh in theirs mind. Additionally, good deals and free offers show you card about keeping them as a customers.

6. Offer free shipping.
One of the best e-commerce customers service tactical is to offer free shipping. It costs your a couple of extra dollars, but it goes a long way in impressing customers and persuading them to make that first purchase and maybe others down the roadside.

7. Improve customer interactions.
Although your team has the skill set necessary to interact with customers, they also need to relate to the customer. For instance, try to identifying common ground with the customer, such as shares interests. This step helps your team’s members to understand conflict and humanized the rep-staff relationships for the customer.

8. Follow up after the problem has been solved.
It is essential that Customers feel as though you were on their side when a problem occurred, so follow up to make surely the problem was full-time resolved and that the customer is satisfied with the service. You can do this through and email or a feedback survey – the goal is to let the customers know you are on their sides.

9. Actively listen to the customer.
Whenever talking with Customers, it’s important to clarify and rephrased what they are saying to make surely you understand them correctly. Showing empathy and deflecting their feelings will also help to turn the conversational in the right directions.

10. Be available.
Part of the personality touch that is necessary for customers satisfactions is making sure your Customers can reach you. For instances, if you’re in different times zones, be available on their time; this will help to build their trust and reminded them that the businessmen isn’t programmed.

Customers service may not be most companies’ favorited activity, but it should’ve be a major point of emphasizes. When you’re looking for ways to improvement your e-commerce site, analyze your customers service and look for areas wherein you can improvement.

A Guide to Venture Capital Financings for Startups

Attracting customers to the shopping portals by just establishing an on-line Presence is nothing enough. Rather, ones shouldn’t put efforts to booster the e-commerce holiday sales so that the store gets identified by the visitors in the festive season.

The holidays seasons is the mostly make rewarding time for the e-commerce store owners in terms of increasing overall sales. But it turned out to be difficulties as they need to toil hard for converting the visitors into conversions. The times has arrived today be prepared for the Christmas, where website owners can capitalize on targeted customers who are hungry for big deals.

Today, mostly of the peoples’ expression their love on festivals by sending gifts and wish cards to their loved ones. And for that, they’re consideration online shopping the best and easiest option. The Holiday season is the perfectly timed when e-commerce stores can earn customers and conversions at the same time. Allows they needed to do is to implement proven e-commerce SEO strategies that are best suited to provide optimum e-commerce conversions.

Here’s are sometimes widely implementer tips that help e-commerce webmasters to increase conversion rates during festive days.

Easy tips to boost holiday sales
1. Engage Broadly with Mobile Customers

At present, desktops e-commerce had become a good choice for the users. On the others hand, Mobile e-commerce is growing at a higher pace. Stats say that’s the e-commerce holidays sales during last year’s Holidays increased by 59%. This is because of the wide usage of mobile devices. Surprisingly, approx. 50-60 % of search queries usually comes from Mobile services.

Technology’s is getting improves day-by-day which encourages people to take advantageous of it. If you are in a dilemma of how to optimize an e-commerce website, engaging more with mobile users is the initial step you can start with. To starting with, makes sure that your websites is mobile responsive. Connecting officially without these smartphones users is a great way to earn more customers during the festive season.

2. Sending Automated Holidays Sale E-mails and Website Push Notifications

Spending pre-sale promotional e-mails to targeted customers is a powerful strategy which anyone can utilize to increase the chances of getting more conversions.

Similarly, if you wished to spread awareness for yourself upcoming e-commerce festive, you first need to target the audience via attractive emails and festive alerts. There promotional campaigns created a sense of urgency and instil a fear of missing out something important which compels the users to click and view the deal.

3. Recovery Abandoned Carts with Festive Special Discounts

Accordingly, to stats, 99% of audiences don’t make purchased at the very first time when they visit the store. As a result, they chosen to abandon the cart. It might be scary but true somewhere. But now, there are chances that you can bring back the users who abandoned their carts by sending festive sale offers to their selected items. It cannot be possible that you could be at the right place with the right offer. Hence, you should be ready to retarget the visitors whenever possible. Festive days are the high time when you succeed in this venture. Check out this article where they have beautifully explained why users abandon their carts.

4. Given Landing Page a Complete Festive Makeover

Guidelines your web designers to create a theme bases festive backgrounds which is embellished with bright banners. It’s up to you how you’re want to decorated your landing page so that customers get attracted and feel like making a purchase. Fascinating visitors Through the exquisitely designed offer page provided better e-commerce website optimization during Holidays. This not only attracted customer’s and created a joyous mood, but also results in betterment conversions.

5. Created Convenient & Festive Targeted Products Navigation

Many time’s, people are not able to find the product they are looking for. This is the reasons which can result in low visibility of your store’s product’s. A simple and smooth products navigation is there key to generated enhanced conversions. It directs visitors to the most relevant products they are searching form and that too without seconds. When you are renovating the banners and landings page layout for grabbing the highest festive seasons opportunity, make surely to concentrated more on building easy product navigational. Suppose, you wanted to redirect the customers towards the Christmas combos like dress, tree, and chocolates then make that page more fascinating and easy to access for users.

6. Initiated Provision for Thank You Gifts

Facilitating loyal customers with “Thank You” gift is the techniques which never fails whenever it comes to increasingly holiday sales & conversions of an e-commerce sites. It is truest that when you regard your customers with additionally points or cashback offers, they come back to your website again. Higher are the changes that they make more purchases in the hopes to get better reward points next time. Gift cards are the best ways to grab potential customer’s. In this context, creating a distinct message of how your product can turn out to be a perfect gift is the techniques which you need to integrated to increase Holiday sales.

7. Acquired Customers Before the Sale Starts

Peoples follow a tendency to be preparedness for everything before time. They applying the same logic when it comes to gift shipping. Users buy products sooner to preparedness and deliver gifts to their friends and family in advance. If you don’t prepare your store in advance for the upcoming holiday, no one will recognize that your store is also providing mega festive offers to the customers. There are many shoppers who visit e-commerce stores before the festive season just to check which one is giving the best deals on products. This definitely increases the conversion rates of an e-commerce website.

Final Thoughts:

When festive sale arrives, people are supposed to shop like crazy. This is all because of the bumper deals and offers e-commerce stores offer on all products. E-commerce website owners often think that it is easy for them to earn optimum profits during the holiday sales. Remember, there are e-commerce pioneers who keenly execute SEO for an e-commerce website. And these pioneers always win the race of getting excellent conversions during festivals. Now, it is your turn to implement the above-mentioned tricks to earn better than the others.

Important Factors to Consider Before Franchising Your Business

A Guide to Venture Capital Financings for Startups:

Startups seeking financing often turn to venture capital (VC) firms. These firms can provide capital; strategic assistance; introductions to potential customers, partners, and employees; and much more. Venture capital financings are not easy to obtain or close. Entrepreneurs will be better prepared to obtain venture capital financing if they understand the process, the anticipated deal terms, and the potential issues that will arise. In this article we provide an overview of venture capital financings.

Obtaining Venture Capital Financing

To understand the process of obtaining venture financing, it is important to know that venture capitalists typically focus their investment efforts using one or more of the following criteria:

Specific industry sectors (software, digital media, semiconductor, mobile, SaaS, biotech, mobile devices, etc.)
Stage of company (early-stage seed or Series A rounds, or later stage rounds with companies that have achieved meaningful revenues and traction)
Before approaching a venture capitalist, try to learn whether his or her focus aligns with your company and its stage of development.
The second key point to understand is that VCs get inundated with investment opportunities, many through unsolicited emails. Almost all of those unsolicited emails are ignored. The best way to get the attention of a VC is to have a warm introduction through a trusted colleague, entrepreneur, or lawyer friendly to the VC.
A startup must have a good “elevator pitch” and a strong investor pitch deck to attract the interest of a VC. For more detailed advice on this, with a sample pitch deck,
Startups should also understand that the venture process can be very time consuming—just getting a meeting with a principal of a VC firm can take weeks; followed up with more meetings and conversations; followed by a presentation to all of the partners of the venture capital fund; followed by the issuance and negotiation of a term sheet, with continued due diligence; and finally the drafting and negotiation by lawyers on both sides of numerous legal documents to evidence the investment.

The Venture Capital Term Sheet

Most venture capital financings are initially documented by a “term sheet” prepared by the VC firm and presented to the entrepreneur. The term sheet is an important document, as it signals that the VC firm is serious about an investment and wants to proceed to finalize due diligence and prepare definitive legal investment documents. Before term sheets are issued, most VC firms will have gotten the approval of their investment committee. Term sheets are not a guarantee that a deal will be consummated, but in our experience a high percentage of term sheets that are finalized and signed result in completed financings.

The term sheet will cover all of the important facets of the financing: economic issues such as the valuation given to the company (the higher the valuation, the less dilution to the entrepreneur); control issues such as the makeup of the Board of Directors and what sorts of approval or “veto” rights the investors will enjoy; and post-closing rights of the investors, such as the right to participate in future financings and rights to get periodic financial information.

The term sheet will typically state that it is non-binding, except for certain provisions, such as confidentiality and no shop/exclusivity. Although it is not binding, the term sheet is by far the most important document to negotiate with investors—almost all of the issues that matter will be covered in the term sheet, leaving smaller issues to be resolved in the financing documents that follow. An entrepreneur should think of the term sheet as the blueprint for the relationship with his or her investor, and be sure to give it plenty of attention.

There are varying philosophies on the use and extent of term sheets. One approach is to have an abbreviated short form term sheet in which only the most important points in the deal are covered. In that way, it is argued, the principals can focus on the major issues and leave side points to the lawyers when they negotiate the definitive financing documents.

Another approach to term sheets is the long form approach, where virtually all issues that need to be negotiated are raised, so that the drafting and negotiating of the definitive documents can be quicker and easier.

The drawback of the short form approach is that it will leave many issues to be resolved at the definitive document stage, and if they are not resolved, the parties will have spent extra time and legal expense that could have been avoided if the long form approach had been taken. The advantage of the short form approach is that it will generally be easier and faster to reach a “handshake” deal (and some VCs prefer a simple short form of term sheet because they think it will be more appealing to entrepreneurs).

In the end, it is usually better for both the investors and the entrepreneur to have a long form comprehensive term sheet, which will mitigate future problems in the definitive document drafting stage.

Valuation of the Company

The valuation put on the business is a critical issue for both the entrepreneur and the venture capital investor. The valuation is typically referred to as the “pre-money valuation,” referring to the agreed upon value of the company before the new money/capital is invested. For example, if the investors plan to invest $5 million in a financing where the pre-money valuation is agreed to be $15 million, that means that the “post-money” valuation will be $20 million, and the investors expect to obtain 5/20, or 25%, of the company at the closing of the financing.

Valuation is negotiable and there is not one right formula or methodology to rely upon. The higher the valuation, the less dilution the entrepreneur will encounter. From the VC’s perspective, a lower valuation (resulting in a higher investor stake in the company) means the investment has more upside potential and less risk, creating a higher motivation to assist the company.

The key factors that will go into a determination of valuation include:

The experience and past success of the founders (so-called “serial” entrepreneurs present less risk, and often command higher valuations)
The size of the market opportunity
The proprietary technology already developed by the company

Any initial traction by the company (revenue, partnerships, satisfied customers, favorable publicity, etc.)
Progress towards a minimally viable product
The recurring revenue opportunity of the business model
The capital efficiency of the business model (i.e., will the company need to burn through significant capital before reaching profitability?)
Valuations of comparable companies
Whether the company is “hot” and being pursued by other investors
The current economic climate (valuations generally climb when the overall economy is strong, and are lower during economic slumps)

While each startup and valuation analysis is unique, the range of valuation for very early-stage rounds (often referred to as “seed” financings) is often between $1 million and $5 million. The valuation range for companies that have gotten some traction and are doing a “Series A” round is typically $5 million to $15 million.

Form of the Venture Capital Investment

The founders of a startup typically hold common stock in the company. Angel investors or venture capitalists will usually invest in the company in one of the following forms:

Through a convertible promissory note. The investor is issued a note by the company, convertible into company stock in its next round of financing. The note will have a maturity date (often 12 months from the date of issuance) and will bear interest (4% to 8% is common). No valuation is set for the company at this time. The investors will usually ask for the right to convert their notes into the stock issued in the next round of financing at a discount to the price paid in the next round valuation (a 20% discount is common), sometimes with a “cap” on the valuation of the company for purposes of the conversion rate (e.g., a $10 million cap). Convertible note financings are much quicker and easier to document than the typical convertible preferred stock alternative discussed below. Convertible notes are often seen in seed rounds.
Through a SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity),first developed by Y Combinator. SAFEs are intended to be an alternative to convertible notes, but they are not debt instruments—unlike a note, a SAFE has no maturity and does not bear interest. The SAFE investor makes a cash investment in the company that converts into stock of the company in the next round of financing. Just as with notes, SAFEs can convert at discounts and/or at capped valuations. (Read a good primer on SAFEs here.) Institutional investors, such as VCs, are less likely to invest in SAFEs, but they can be useful for companies at a very early stage.
Through a convertible preferred stock investment, with rights, preferences and privileges set forth in the company’s certificate of incorporation (sometime referred to as the “charter”) and several other financing documents. The preferred stock gives the investors a preference over common shareholders on a sale of the company. Preferred stock also has the upside potential of being able to convert to common stock of the company. Most Series A financing rounds are done as convertible preferred stock. There is a strong benefit to the company in issuing preferred stock to investors—it allows the company to issue stock options (options to buy common stock, which does not enjoy preferred preferences) to prospective employees at a significantly reduced exercise price than that paid by the investors. This can provide a meaningful incentive to attract and retain the management team and employees.

Vesting of Founder Stock

Venture investors will want to make sure that the founders have incentives to stay and grow the company. If the founders’ stock is not already subject to a vesting schedule, the venture investors will likely request that the founders’ shares become subject to vesting based on continued employment (and then become “earned”). Standard vesting for employees is monthly vesting over a 48-month period, with the first 12 months of vesting delayed until 12 months of service are completed, but founders can often negotiate better vesting terms.

The key issues that the founders negotiate in this regard are:

Will the founders get vesting credit for time already served with the company?
Will vesting be required for shares they acquired for meaningful cash investment?
Should a vesting schedule of less than 48 months apply?

Should a vesting schedule apply at all?
Should vesting accelerate, in whole or in part, on termination of employment without cause, or upon a sale of the company? A form of vesting that is usually acceptable to investors is the so-called “double trigger” acceleration, where vesting accelerates if the company is acquired and if the buyer terminates the founder’s employment without cause after the acquisition.

In our experience, some vesting in early-stage startups is typically required, but the founders will usually get credit for time spent with the company, as long as a meaningful amount of equity is still subject to vesting.

Composition of the Board of Directors

The makeup of the Board of Directors of the company is important to venture capital investors as well as to the founders. VCs, especially if they are the “lead” investor in a round of financing, will often want the right to appoint a designated number of directors to be able to monitor their investment and have a meaningful say in the running of the business. From the founders’ perspective, they will want to maintain control of the company for as long as possible. Although circumstances vary, in general Board seat allocation usually follows share ownership, so if the investors have 25% or less of the company’s stock, they will usually accept a minority of the Board seats, and if after multiple rounds the investors own most of the company’s stock, they will often control the Board.

After a Series A financing round, typical Board scenarios might include:

A three-person Board, with two chosen by the founders, and one chosen by the investors;
A three-member Board, one chosen by the founders, one chosen by the investors, and one independent director mutually agreed upon; or
A five-member Board, two chosen by the founders, two chosen by the investors, and one independent director mutually agreed upon.

In lieu of a Board seat, some investors may request Board “observer” rights, granting the investor the right to attend Board meetings in a non-voting capacity with the right to receive financial and other information provided to Board members.

The actual Board composition will be subject to negotiation, factoring in the amount invested, the number of investors, the level of control sought, and the comfort level of the founders.

Liquation Preference of the Preferred Stock

A “liquidation preference” refers to the amount of money the preferred investor will be entitled to receive on sale of the company or other liquidation event, before any proceeds are shared with the common stock. VCs insist on a liquidation preference to protect their investment in “downside” scenarios; for happier scenarios in which a company is sold for an amount that would generate big returns for the investors, investors can always convert to common stock.

The liquidation preference is typically expressed as a multiple of the original invested capital, usually at 1x. So in the event of a sale of the company, the investor will be entitled to receive back $1 for every $1 invested, in preference over the holders of common stock.

In situations where the company is particularly risky or the investment climate has turned adverse, investors may insist on a 1.5x, 2x, or 3x liquidation preference (this was more common during the downturns of 2001-2002 and 2008-2009).

Participating vs. Non-Participating Preferred

Venture investors will sometimes request that their preferred stock be “participating preferred.” This means that on a sale of the company, the preferred would first receive back its liquidation preference (typically 1x of the original investment), and then the remaining proceeds would be shared by the common and preferred according to their relative percentage share ownership.

For example, if the pre-money valuation of the company is $5 million, and the VCs invest $5 million into the company with a 1x liquidation preference, here is what the founders/common holders would receive on a $50 million sale of the company:

If the preferred is participating, the first $5 million goes to the preferred holders, and the remaining $45 million is split 50-50 (per the percentage ownership in the company). So the founders/common would receive $22.5 million and the preferred would receive a total of $27.5 million.
If the preferred in non-participating, the $50 million in proceeds would be split 50-50 and the founders/common would receive $25 million from the sale.

Participating preferred is relatively rare. In addition to claiming it’s “not market,” founders can try to resist participating preferred on the theory that it will hurt the Series A investors down the road if later financings also incorporate that term. If founders are forced to accept participation, they can often negotiate for the participating feature to go away if the VCs have received back some multiple (for example, 3x) of their investment.

Protective Provisions/Veto Rights of the Investors

After a financing is completed, venture investors will often hold a minority interest in the company. But they will typically insist on “protective provisions” (veto rights) on certain actions by the company that could adversely affect their investment or their projected return.

The types of actions where a veto right may apply include:

Amendment of the company’s charter or bylaws to change the rights of the preferred, or to increase or decrease the authorized number of shares of preferred or common stock
Creation of any new series or class of shares senior to, or on parity with, the preferred
Redeeming or acquiring any shares of common, except from employees, consultants, or other service providers of the company, on terms approved by the Board
The sale or liquidation of the company
Incurring debt over a specified dollar amount
Payment of dividends
Increasing the size of the company’s Board of Directors
The most sensitive of these veto rights is the one granting the venture investors a blocking right on a sale of the company. Founders sometimes try to mitigate this veto right by arguing that it should not apply in situations where the VC receives a minimum return on its investment (often 3x-5x).
In most scenarios, the VCs and the company will work out the veto rights issues down the road. For example, if the company needs cash to continue the business, VCs will likely waive their veto rights over future financings. Abuse of veto rights by investors is rare; word spreads quickly in the venture world, and VCs know that if they are arbitrary in blocking sensible deals, it will adversely affect their reputation with future entrepreneurs.

Anti-Dilution Protection

It is typical for venture investors to obtain protection (called “anti-dilution” protection) against the company issuing stock at a valuation lower than the valuation represented by their investment. By far the most common is “weighted average” anti-dilution protection, which reduces the conversion price—and so, inversely, increases the conversion rate—of the preferred stock held by earlier investors if lower-priced stock is sold by the company. With weighted average anti-dilution, the more shares that are issued, and the lower the price of the shares, the greater the adjustment to the earlier preferred. Founders will want to avoid the more severe “full ratchet” anti-dilution clause, which reduces the conversion price of the existing preferred to match the price of the new stock (no matter how many shares are issued).
Investors will typically agree to specifically exempt from anti-dilution protection certain types of equity issuances, such as incentive equity for employees and other service providers, equity issued in acquiring other companies, and equity issued in connection with bank financings, real estate and equipment leases, and the like.

Right to Participate in Future Financings

Investors will normally receive a right to purchase more stock in connection with future equity issuances, to maintain their percentage interest in the company. These participation rights often go only to so-called “Major Investors” who own a certain amount of stock, and typically terminate on a public offering. As with anti-dilution protection, these rights are typically designed to apply only to bona fide financings, and usually are drafted not to apply to employee equity, equity issued in acquisitions, or “equity kickers” issued to lenders, landlords, or equipment lessors.

Stock Option Issues

Venture investors will want to ensure that the company has a stock option pool for future equity grants, typically 10% to 20% of the company’s capitalization, with later-stage companies having smaller pools. The options are used to attract and retain employees, advisors, and Board members.

VCs will almost always insist that this option pool be included as part of the pre-money valuation of the company, and it is standard to do so. However, founders should realize that any increase in the option pool will come at their expense, reducing their percentage ownership of the company. If the size of the pool becomes an issue in the term sheet negotiation, it is a good idea for the founder to produce a grounds-up “budget” for future options, estimating the options that will be needed for future hires until the next round of financing.

Venture investors will also typically expect that future option grants will be subject to a “standard” four-year vesting schedule: one year of employment required before any vesting for 25% of the options (referred to as the “cliff”), and then monthly vesting with continued employment for 36 months after the one-year cliff vesting.

Redemption Rights

Occasionally, VCs request a provision allowing them to cash out of their investment through a redemption feature (assuming the company has the cash). A typical redemption provision would say that the investors may, by majority vote at any time starting five years after their investment, elect to be redeemed (repurchased at their original purchase price), with payments made over a three-year period in equal installments. Redemption rights are uncommon, and even in the rare case where they are put in place, they are almost never triggered—but they can give leverage to a VC that wants liquidity.

Series A investors will not typically push for a redemption feature, knowing that such a provision may show up in future rounds of financings to the detriment of the Series A investors.

Information Rights

Venture investors will typically get the right to obtain certain financial information, as well as inspection rights with respect to corporate records. The term sheet will typically specify that annual, quarterly, and often monthly financial statements are to be provided, as well as an annual budget or business plan. These rights often are restricted to “Major Investors,” and are typically not a source of controversy or much negotiation.

Insurance Obligations

The term sheet may specify that the company will be obligated to maintain directors and officers liability insurance, covering the officers and directors of the company in connection with litigation with respect to duties they are performing for the company. The term sheet will specify the dollar amount of coverage (often $2 million to $10 million).

Venture investors occasionally also require the company to maintain “key man” life insurance policies on the lives of the key founders, policies that will provide the company with cash in the event a founder dies. The idea behind this kind of policy is that the cash generated in the event of a tragedy can give the company time to rebound and hire new talent to replace the deceased founder.

Rights of First Refusal/Co-Sale Rights

It is common for investors to have a right of first refusal on any stock to be sold by the founders. This will usually require the founders to first offer the shares to the company, and then to the investors (on the same terms as on the proposed sale) before they can be sold. Such a right will allow the company and the investors the opportunity to keep the founders’ shares within the existing shareholder base. Founders are usually able to negotiate exceptions from the right of first refusal, for transfers to family members or trusts for estate planning purposes, and, less often, for the sale of small (5%-15%) stakes.

The investors will also expect to get “co-sale rights” with respect to founder stock sales. This will give the investors the right to participate (on a pro rata basis) in a sale by the founders of their shares. (These rights are typically exercised when the founder has negotiated a very high price for his or her stock, too high to warrant a purchase pursuant to the right of first refusal.)

Drag-Along Rights

Drag-along rights give the company the right to force all shareholders to participate in and vote for a sale of the company if the sale has been approved by specified groups. For a Series A financing, the drag-along is typically triggered if approved by the Board of Directors, holders of a majority of the common stock, and holders of a majority of the preferred stock. The idea is not that one group can force another to sell, but rather that if all major constituencies of the company want to sell, all shareholders are required to participate in the sale. This prevents small shareholders from creating a roadblock to an acquisition by objecting or exercising appraisal or dissenters rights under applicable law.

In later-stage deals, drag-alongs may be structured to give the venture investors alone the right to invoke the drag-along right.

Typical issues involved in drag-along rights include:

The percentage vote of the classes that can invoke the drag-along right (majority or supermajority)
Limitations on representations, warranties, and covenants made by the dragged party
The obligations of the dragged shareholders under the acquisition agreement, including covenants and indemnification obligations

Drag-along rights present a number of complicated legal and drafting considerations. But they can be important to ensure that 100% of the company can be sold without delay.

Registration Rights

Registration rights entitle the investor to require a company to list (“register”) its shares with the Securities and Exchange Commission SEC) in a public offering so that the investor can sell the shares. Registration rights are divided into “demand” rights and “piggyback” rights.

Demand rights require the company to pursue the registration of its shares, likely also including the shares held by the demanding shareholder. Piggyback rights give the shareholders the right to include some or all of their shares in a registration statement the company is already filing with the SEC.

As a practical matter, registration rights are seldom if ever exercised, and an early-stage startup should not waste a lot of time negotiating the terms (they will often be renegotiated anyway by later-stage investors).

Exclusivity/No Shop

Venture investors will usually include a binding provision in the term sheet preventing the company from entering into or negotiating with any other party regarding an investment in the company, for a designated period. This is a reasonable request, as the investors will be investing time, legal fees, and resources to complete the transaction. The company will want the exclusivity period to be as short as possible. The typical period agreed to is 30-45 days.

The investors will also ask that the company promptly notify the investor of any inquiries or proposals by third parties with respect to financings or sale of the company, and furnish the investor the terms thereof.

Confidentiality

Venture investors will typically insist on a binding provision in the term sheet that the existence and terms of the term sheet, and the fact that negotiations are ongoing with the investors, are strictly confidential and may not be disclosed to anyone without the investors’ consent, except to the company’s directors, officers, and attorneys. The company will need to notify any party that it properly discloses the term sheet to that they are subject to the confidentiality obligation.

Dispute Resolution

In the unlikely event of a dispute between the company and the venture investors over the term sheet or the definitive investment documents, it is often beneficial for both the company and the venture investors to resolve the dispute through confidential binding arbitration (and not through public litigation).

Confidentiality and Invention Assignment Agreements

The term sheet will likely provide that all past, present, and future employees and consultants are subject to a Confidentiality and Invention Assignment Agreement. The purpose of this Agreement is twofold: (i) to obligate the employee or consultant to keep all confidential information of the company confidential and (ii) to ensure that any intellectual property developed by the employee or consultant will be deemed solely owned by the company.

This obligation in the term sheet is non-controversial (although it sometimes turns up in diligence that past employees or consultants who have developed key intellectual property have not signed these agreements, and that can cause significant investor concern).

Expenses of the Venture Investors

Term sheets will typically include a commitment from the company to reimburse the reasonable legal fees of the investors plus any due diligence or out of pocket costs incurred, payable at the closing of the transaction. This obligation is typically “capped” at a specific dollar amount, but if the deal takes longer or requires more legal work than was expected, the cap is often revised to take that into account.

Due Diligence by the Venture Investors

Entrepreneurs should anticipate that the venture investors will perform significant due diligence before they consummate an investment. Some of this will be done by the VCs, and some by lawyers for the VCs.

The types of diligence will include:

Review of financial statements
Review of financial projections and reasonableness of underlying assumptions
Review of corporate charter, bylaws, minutes, and other corporate records
Review of material contracts
Review of any “related party” transactions (transactions with officers, shareholders, or directors or their affiliates)
Review of any litigation or claims
Review of key intellectual property

Review of litigation, bankruptcy, or governmental proceedings involving any of the founders
Reference checks on the founders
Checks on social media posts of the founders
Review of any harassment, misconduct, or discrimination claims involving any of the founders
The capitalization structure of the company and any prior investment agreements
Competitor analysis
Comfort as to ownership by the company of the proprietary rights to the company’s key product and the company’s ability to protect its rights
Confirmation that appropriate Confidentiality and Invention Assignment Agreements have been signed by all employees and consultants

Conclusion

Venture capital financing can be crucial to the success of a startup. By understanding the key issues in venture financings, entrepreneurs can increase the likelihood of a successful outcome.

Virtual Team Building – What It Is, Why it Matters and How to Do It Properly

Franchising has a whole host of benefits. Though franchising is the bestowed options for expanding a businessman, not all businesses make good franchises. Therefore, are few essentially conditions that’s any business hoping to jump into franchising needs to cover.

So to knowledge Whether your business is franchise worthy, consider these following points.

Unique Selling Point

Franchisers are investor’s to whom your business must look promising. Your wanted potentially franchisers to jump at the chance to put your name on their shop front, so your business needs to have an edge over competitors.
Differentiated yourself by workings out your unique selling points (USP).

You’re USPS can be anything’s from a viral marketing strategy to eco-friendly company values. For e.g.: There famously pizza franchises Domino’s strongly focuses on timely delivery. This helps them differentiate it from the competition.

Easy to Clone
The most importantly characteristics of a franchisers is that the business must be easy to reproduce. Franchising is allowed aborts replicating and successful business model. Once-in-a-lifetime you’ve sealer the deal with franchisees, they have to learn everything about its operation within three months.

Franchisees want to learn a business quickly because they’re using their capital to stay afloat while waiting form the businessmen to take off.

Flexible
There key to a good franchise is the ability to accommodate accordingly. Your businesses shouldn’t be flexible enough in ordering to achieve a higher adaptation to local markets and enhance franchisees’ entrepreneurial attitudes. Not allowed products can’t have been a hit in every region.

Differential cities come with different customers, who in turn have different preferences.

A franchising models shoulder be flexible and working across the globe. If you’re looking at the Indians marketing, it is quite diverse in the markets across the globe. So, whatever’s willing be saleable in the US or the Australian market might not work in India. Therefore, the franchises haven’t to tune it accordingly.

Demand for the product
If you just like the product that the franchisor is offering, then buying a franchise isn’t a good business decision for you. Your needs to researchers your targeted audience and see what the demand for that particular product is in your selected location. Your needs to seeing who will buy your products.

Research competition

Find out more about your competitors. If you’re selected regional has many businesses offering a similar product, then you may need to reconsider your choices of investing in that particular franchise. Thus is because you’re may not be able to capitalised on the consumer base to its fullest. Beforehand selecting the rights franchise, it is a crucial thing to compare different franchise brands and their competitors.

Build your business plan
You need to building yourself business plan in order to smoothly run a business and evaluate your options. It will also help you in discovering anything weaknesses in your business idea so that you can address them beforehand.

Cash flow projections
Cash flows forecasting is really Important burn because if a business runs out of cash and is not able to obtain new finance, it will become insolvent.

Manpower
See how much manpower is needed for starring a businessman. It willing helpful you calculate your expenses and manage your budget.

Training and support
You needed to understanding the training and support system that has been led down by the company. Franchisers training you accordingly to the company’s demand by providing full support. There companies that’s provided trainings and support at every step are the best ones to take franchisee of.

Franchise fees and royalties
Carefully looking at how much franchises fees and royalties the brand is charging. A royalty payment is usually made monthly or quarterly. The most successful franchisors take great care in determining what their required royalty fee still be.

Growth opportunities
Your needs to seeing a long-term growths planning from something’s that you are getting into. Beforehand investing hugely money in buying a franchisers, you needed to look into the future prospects of the brand and what is the potential it holds in the near future.

Financials
You needed to analyses and assessment the risk involved in it. Every business has a risk but its good to assess it first so that you can be prepared for the hard times.

Restrictions
Once-in-a-lifetime you gave take up a franchise, there are certain rules and regulations that you have to follow. Franchisors offers they guidelines that’s are made with prior experience and expectations which the franchisee has to follow.

You should’ve definitely consider these points before buying a franchise. They’re will help yourself in evaluating your options and makes you successful in the longer run.

Covid-19 Impact On The Indian Startup Ecosystem: Threats And Opportunities

Remotely team’s have fewer opportunities to socialize, making it difficult to get to know one another or new members. Thus can’t leading too feelings of isolation and disconnection from our colleagues, and it may even lead to team conflict and reduced productivity.
Virtually team-building exercised cannot help remote teams to overcome these difficulties, and to drive a sense of community and shared understanding.
On this’ll articles, we’ll explore why virtual team-building exercises matter, and how they can benefit your team. We’ll also look at five team-building exercises that you can try with your team.
Virtual Team-Building FAQs
What are virtual activities?

Virtually activities requirements team members to take part remotely, using technology such as virtual meeting software, online chat, or instant messaging.
Whatever don’t I needed to get started with virtual team-building exercises?

Reliable video conferencing technology’s, and the skills to use it. Ideals forward activities that’s will help to build teamworking skills. And, most importantly, good facilitation skills. Aim today keeping the exercises moving so that people stay engaged.
What are some virtual team-building challenges?

Your maybe sometimes encountered problems with the technology or with your internet connection. Virtually teams buildings can’t also take longer to produce the desired results.
Why Virtual Team-Building Is Important
Team’s can’t finding it difficult to build rapport when they never meet “in real life.” But developing and nurturing good working relationships is important for individuals to feel abled to communicated openly, solve problems, and collaborate well. Virtually teams buildings cannot also reduce feelings of isolation and loneliness in remote teams.
Wholesale something’s people’s questionnaire the values of team-building exercises, studied have shown that they’re improvement teams’ effectiveness and help to build trust. These exercises can be equally effective for virtual teams.

Settings up a Virtual Team-building Exercise
Started by defining yourself purpose and objectives. Form examples, do you wanted to improved project managements or negotiation skills? The outcome of your team-building exercise needs to meet your objective, and promote individual and team growth.
Whenever settings up yourself exercised, consideration how much time you have for each activity. Collaborative problem-solving exercises will take longer than quick “ice breakers.”
Thinking, too, about the participants’ culturally expe diverse citations and individual personalities. Introverts may find it harder to open up during team discussions. They may also be suffering from overstimulation if they’re working from home. On the other hand, extroverts may tend to take over.
Some people on your teams may not have met, so allow enough time for introductions. Where people don’t know each others, use short, fun Virtual Ice Breakers to get started. And consideration different ways people can contribute, so everyone has a voice.

Five Virtual Team-Building Exercises
Let’s look at something team-building exercises that your can Uses remotely with your teams. They are designed to improvement communication, build trust, development listening skills, and enable your people to understand one another better.
Exercise 1: Four Facts and a Fib
Thus exercises is ideally for a team whose members don’t know one another very well. It’s provided any informally platforms for individuals to share personal information and build trust.
People and Materials
Suitable for groups of any size. Each participant needs a pen and paper.
Time
Allows around’ 20 minute’s for completion, depending on the size of the group.
Instructions
Asked them participant’s to wrote down five “facts” about themselves, one of which must be a lie – but a plausible one. For example, “I once swam with dolphins,” not “I wrestled a shark!”
Allows participants’ enough times to write down their facts. Once-in-a-lifetime They’re are finishes, go around the group and ask each participant to read out their five facts.
As a group, guess which facts about each person are true and which is the lie. When each person has revealed their truths and lie, discuss the outcomes. Were any surprising? If so, were the truths more surprising than the lie?
Advice for Facilitator
Of these groups is nothing forthcoming at first, ask people directly which of the speaker’s facts they think is a fib and why.
Exercise 2: Escape Room
And Escaped Rooms is a themes challenge event where players collaborate to find clues, complete tasks, and solve a variety of puzzles. It can improve communication, collaboration and decision-making skills.
People and Materials
Escape Room games are typically suitable for teams of between three and six players, and require a significant amount of creative setup. On facts, it’s oftentimes easier to use an external supplier.
Kind Tool’s Clubhouse membership and corporate licensees can access our exclusive and original Escape Room game, “The Lost Labyrinth,” comprising a downloadable game pack and Game Master Guide. See our Escape Room article for details.
Time
There classic scenarios is to Escaped within a time limit – usually an hour.
Instructions
Theses vary from games too games, and can’t involve codebreaking, word games and math puzzles.
Advice for the Facilitator
Investment there time you’re need to understand and prepare the game properly. Of teams’ get stucked, have some hints prepared to keep the action moving.
Exercise 3: Blind Origami
The purpose of this activity is to highlight the importance of listening and asking for feedback.
People and Materials
Any number of people, in virtual pairs.
Phone (without video) or messaging app.
A sheet of Letter or A4 size paper for each person.
Time
Around 25 to 30 minutes.
Instructions

E-mail ones personal for information each pair a set of origami instructions. You can get these from many hobby websites.

The person with the instructions should guide their partner (the receiver) through the steps to create an origami structure, via messaging or videoconferencing software (but with the camera turned off).
There receiver can’t asked questions, requested clarification, and offer feedback during the call.
Whenever each groups had finished, participants can turn their cameras back on to see whether the receiver got the origami structure right.
Advice for the Facilitator
Rotated around’ they groups to seeing how they’re getting on. Whenever each groups had finished, asked the partners to switch roles and repeat the exercise with a different design.
One the secondary exercise had been done, ask participants how accurate each structure was. However difficulty wasn’t it to listening and follow verbal instructions? How good was the feedback provided? Used their answers too identifying areas where each pair could improve their listening and feedback skills.
Bringing everyone’s background onto the meetings to share some thoughts on listening effectively, and get them to think about some takeaways.
Exercise 4: Scrabble Scramble
Thus funny activity us designed today triggered creative thinking, encourage collaboration, and develop communication. It works best when you use a virtual meeting package like Zoom, which enables teams to split off into virtual breakout rooms.
People and Materials
This’ll exercises is suitable form group’s off approximately 12 or more. You’ll a bag of Scrabbled files, and participants will need pens and paper.
Time
Allow 20 minutes for completion.
Instructions
Assigned two or three-day letters chosen at random to each person.
Then split the group randomly into teams. The exercise will work best with six to nine people per team.
Asked each groups to created as many word’s as they can in 10 minutes using their letters. Beforehand Starting, outlined the rules below to the group:
• Each letters tile can’t been Uses only one in each word.
• Words must be three or more letters.
• Plurals of an already used word are not allowed. Form example, you’re can have “tree” or “trees” but you can’t have both.
• Property names area nothing allowed, e.g. place names or forenames.
Each teams can swap up today two if their letters before they start if they wish.
Teams’ get two-day points for three-letter words, three points for four-letter words, and so on. The longest-running word earns a bonus of five points.
Advice for the Facilitator
Makes clearly whet mentioned her or not teams are allowed to use a dictionary. Of appropriately, offers a prize for the highest team score and longest word. Asked the team’s to reflect on what they’ve learned. How did they work together to build words? Who took the lead? Wholesale has the best ideas, and how did they arrive at them?
Exercise 5: Lost at Sea
Thus activity emphasizes decision makings, collaboration, and critical thinking.
People and Materials.

Teams of about five or six people.

Flexible, but aim for 25 to 40 minutes.
Instructions

Given you these urn teams members a scenario where they’re stranded at sea with just a handful of objects. They have to rank the objects in order of how useful they’d be in helping the group to survive. They’re shoulder working individually firstly, and then as a team.
Divide participants into their teams, and provide everyone with.

Step 1: Ask team members to take 10 minutes on their own to rank the items in order of importance. They’re shoulder don’t this in the second column of their sheet.
Step 2: Given they team’s a further 10 minutes to confer and decide on their group rankings. One agreed, they’re shouldn’t listed them in the third column of their sheets.
Step 3: Ask each group to compare their individual rankings with their collective ones, and consider why any scores differ.
Step 4:Now’ reading out there “correct” order, collated by the experts at the U.S. Coast Guard.

Step 5: Haven’t they teams considered why they made the choices they did, and evaluate their performance against the experts’ choices.

Advice for the Facilitator

Ideally, team’s willing arrive attached a consensus decision where everyone’s opinion is heard. Of discussions see dominated bye a few people, draw the quieter people in so that everyone is involved. But explain why you’re doing this, so that people learn from it.

Ways to Level-up Your Next Business Presentation

The growing uncertainty amongst investors, consumer hysteria and the disruption of supply chain caused due to the spread of coronavirus around the world has proven catastrophic in more ways than one. In the worst-case scenario, the pandemic is expected to cost the world economy a whopping.
The occurrence of businesses getting back in track remains ambiguous unless a breakthrough in the Covid-19 vaccine is achieved in the short term, followed by human trials and widespread administration of the vaccine.

In these cases of India, although the implementation of a nationwide lockdown has prevented the mass spread of the virus to a large extent, at this moment some experts have argued that India is likely to witness a second wave of the infection in the monsoon season. Of such a scenarios occurs a secondary phase of the lockdown is likely to be undertaken which would further disrupt the daily business operations of the economy depleting India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth even further. In the last release by DataLabs By Inc42 — COVID-19 Startup Impact Report 2020: Threats & Opportunities For The Indian Economy — the government has calculated the total loss to start-upsDP inflicted by the 40-day lockdown to be $320 Bn.

In additional to the negative impact on the major sectors of the Indian economy, the tech startup ecosystem of the country is not immune to the havoc wreaked by Covid-19. A recent survey by Praxis Global Alliance concluded that 37% of the Indian startup CEOs interviewed only had 6 to 12 months of cash reserves left in their bank. The widespread uncertainty in the market clubbed with the curbing of Chinese capital inflow in the economy has resulted in an overall slowdown in the venture capital deal flow in the Indian startup ecosystem. Although some sectors such as— media and entertainment, Edtech, Hyperlocal essential services and fintech has witnessed unprecedented growth in demand the overall impact on the ecosystem has been quite devastating.

Amongst the numerous sector’s impacted by the pandemic, the worst hit is the MSME sector, which is often called the backbone of the Indian economy. In FY16, MSMEs provided employment to over 123 Mn people whereas the total GVA (gross value added) of the MSME sector was $568 Bn which was nearly a third of the total GDP of India in 2016.

In additional to this’ll, negative sentiment toward the market is evident among the purchasing managers of all the major economies in the world. The PMI index of India(which is calculated on the basis of five major indicators: new orders, inventory levels, production, supplier deliveries and the employment environment) witnessed a 2.7 point dropped from 54.5 in February’s 2020 to 51.8 in March 2020. Indicating the negative impact the pandemic has had on the country’s manufacturing sector.

From boostings the technical adoptions in India to creating new employment opportunities, Indian startups have played an important role in the all-round development of the country and the digital economy. One way to assess the value-addition of Indian startups to the Indian economy is the aggregate employee benefit expenditure of the startups — in FY’19 the aggregate employee benefit expenditure stood at $1.25 Bn, an increase of 33% from the previous fiscal year.

On recently month’s we haven’t witnesses payoffs, hiring freezes and salary cuts across some major startups in the country ranging from unicorns like OYO, Blackbuck, MakeMyTrip to other startups such as Limeroad, Fabhotels, Shuttl and many more. On out latest reports in the impacts of Covid-19 on the Indian startups, we have concluded that over 246 Indian startups have already undertaken layoffs whereas 278 startups have announced hiring freezes.
At the beginning of the pandemic, Redpoint Capital’s Tomasz Tunguz had compared the current state of fundraising to the financial crisis of 2008. In 2008, the investment velocity fell down by 50% in the three quarters following the stock market crash. Markets did grow back to their original levels, but it took nearly two years to get there. Many expert’s estimated a similarly timeline for the current pandemic-led crisis. Furthermore, accordingly today Sequoia Capital India managing director GV Ravishankar, what will change is that VCs will raise the bar for investments, so those companies that do not have a unique model might not get capital anymore. Therefore willing be rougher question’s from VCs to founders, funding rounds may take a little longer than usual to close. “People are going to slow down investing, for the most part, but there will be some that will continue to be active.”

Supercharging Entrepreneurial Quests by Investing In Practical Skills

Each entrepreneur aspires to build a bigger and better business. But, for many, maintaining continuity to scale proves to be more daunting than they anticipated. As you work to more than survive in the competitive market, investing in practical skills can’t take the backseat. Among such additions in your library of knowledge and skills is accounting.

Taking an accounting course isn’t that challenging, especially with flexible online programs and a range of informative CPA Exam Review Courses that can significantly ease the process. For an entrepreneur, investing in an accounting course can offer a lot more than you may initially think likely.

Some of the top reasons you should consider adding accounting skills as you strive to supercharge your entrepreneurial pursuits include:

Cash Flow Management

You have a great idea, but it can’t be transformed into a successful business without the right action plan. Idea remains an idea if you can’t continuously keep the idea going, making tweaks along the way to match your target consumers. A ongoing is facilitated by the right financial planning, a considerable pitfall that derails most entrepreneurs’ progress.

With accounting skills, you can comfortably review and understand what is coming in and out of your business. This means you can make the appropriate arrangements to stay afloat as you observe the trends and devise a strategy to ensure you don’t run out of finances.

Putting the resources in and outflows makes it easier for entrepreneurs to maintain continuity, invest in the right projects, and capture opportunities as they emerge without jeopardizing the progress.

Reliable Predictions

Analysing the future, in a way, links back to cash flow management. Reading, reviewing, and understanding financial statements helps entrepreneurs establish their revenue and cost trends. This means an entrepreneur can devise pragmatic plans to turn their visions into successful projects, as it’s based on actionable information, not just instincts/gut feeling.

By revenue and cost projections, an entrepreneur can establish the possibility of successfully investing in a certain project — forecasts that can make or break your business undertakings.

Understanding Business Dynamics

Unlikely what comes to many people’s minds when accounting is mentioned, it’s not all about crunching numbers. Accounting entails a lot more that can help you fast track your entrepreneurial pursuits.

Accounting is even referred to as the language of business, owing to the contributions that help in navigating the complex business world. Through translating your financial records for actionable decision making, understanding various stakeholders and how to handle them, various dynamics such as effective financial assistance plans, to mention a much, accounting disciplines expose you to a range of skills that can supercharge your entrepreneurial undertakings.

With accounting skills, you’ll be a lot more responsible while managing limited resources, including time, finances, and energy, as you work to scale your business. The practical skills also make it easier to measure and reassess your progress, facilitating profitable investments that help entrepreneurs gain and maintain an edge in the competitive business world.

If you consider the best skills to acquire as an entrepreneur, accounting wins on many fronts, making it an excellent addition as you strive to build a bigger and more profitable business.