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.
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.”
Tell us about yourself
Katarina Strandberg – Swedish Business lawyer in love with investments and building companies. Love people with grit and passion, love to solve problems and team up with great persons for great results. Learning and training are always a core of my every day.
How many hours a day do you work on average?
“Smiles” it depends how you define work, but up to 14 hours
Can you describe/outline your typical day?
Very varied, from standing on stage, writing guest articles and doing workshops to sitting in complete isolation with focus on producing top quality legal documents such as shareholders agreements and finding legal and business solutions.
How has being an entrepreneur affected your family life?
It has
i) made me a very happy and inspired mom and its clear that this positive energy that you can really create your own life as impacted my children in a positive way,
ii) it has given me great freedom, even if I work a lot I can most often choose where and when I preform.
What motivates you?
Solutions, building and scaling – seeing positive results – interactions and meeting great people, gaining their respect and confidence and getting to connect people.
How do you generate new ideas?
I train. Thai fighter. It´s 100 % focus mind and body.
What is your greatest fear, and how do you manage fear?
My greatest fear is to die without enough passion in my life.
How did you come up with the name for your company?
The Swedish Villa.
It was all to the credit of my amazing co-founder Leila Falkenberg. She did it as a reference to the Swedish childrens story about Pippi Longstocking and her creative and inclusive house Villa Villekulla.
How did you raise funding for your venture?
Through outreach and network with business angels, and through presenting us as founders in a very honest, passionate and transparent way.
How do you build a successful customer base?
First and foremost by word of mouth, networks and recommendations, and of course through digital communication about our experts, and showing the results the
Experts produce which has made international brands, big and small, turn to us trusting us to really deliver as a loyal creative partner.
How does someone get you excited and willing to commit?
Showing a great work ethics, doer mentality where you find solutions and act on them directly without “busy-work”.
As a entrepreneur, how do you see the market is growing in your country?
Very-very exciting and positive! Sweden as a great eco-system, great understanding for sustainability and a great stable and safe society why it is good for risk spreading for international investors to look to Sweden and that creates even more synergies.
How do you advertise your product/service?
Nr 1 is organically and transparent through our social media channels. Linkedin and instragam are what we focus on.
To what do you attribute your success?
My and Leilas dedication, hard work and non-stopping respect and admiration for each other as persons and professionals in our different fields. We focus and love competence and doing a great job on each and every project.
What was the reason to start an IT company ? Are you from the same background?
I would say we are a hybrid – IT and personal service in one. And that is one of our Unique Selling Points. We saw a need for that, where we function as digital nomads and can provide the top creative unique services to every corner of the world in a transparent, result oriented and cost efficient way.
What do you look for in an employee? The most important thing to us is that they fit into our corporate culture!
Hard worker, in love with responsibility and delivering great results – need to like accountability. Action, solution, and positive are features that are a must.
What made you choose your current location?
As digital nomands our key point is that we can sit from anywhere and to the best work ever – so the location should be less relevant for us. We do however love to travel and meet clients and organizations in person when Mr Covid so allows again.
What kind of Corporation is your business?
Service, B2B, within marketing and communication. We take the side of the brand and help them procure the right talent and projects for their specific needs. We are brand advisors and we have put together a unique community of top level creative experts is all areas of marketing and communication so that the client always gets the best without having to hire or pay a non-transparent hug project fee to an advertising agency.
Do you work locally or internationally?
Internationally
What’s your company’s goals?
To peacefully disrupt the marketing industry by making creativity king again. And to show that sustainability and financial results go together.
What are your responsibilities as the business owner?
Oh where do I start. First and foremost, to show what we stand for. Secondly to be transparent and show us and what we do. We are part of many international NGO communities and contribute through also our professional experts work communicating for the brands their social responsibilities.
Does your company help the community where it is located?
Yes! We are dedicated to diversity and inclusion.
Have you ever turned down a client?
Yes!
If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?
Be ready for challenges and mentally focus on grit and focus. Hard work pays off. Never feel sorry for yourself always see the possibilities and work for them.
For Industry News chk https://www.entrepreneursface.com/ Resouce section
The author of the first Croatian ebook on the topic of sponsored and native articles. It is written in Croatian language and was downloaded by 2.000 marketing professionals.
His main focus is brand development, marketing communications planning, content marketing and digital platforms.
Tell us about yourself
I am Bojan Bernik from Zagreb, Croatia.
I am a serial entrepreneur who enjoys traveling and creating new businesses.
I am a founder and co-founder of 3 companies;
Morgan Grey marketing agency.
Morgan Code software development company
Alter Advoco sales outsource company
How many hours a day do you work on average?
It depends, because during winter when it’s cold and dark I usually work around 10 hours per day and during summer months I work four hours per day and spend most of my time outside.
Can you describe/outline your typical day?
My typical day is composed of a few hours of emails and calls, an hour of meetings, face to face and a few hours of exploring new ideas and creating stuff.
How has being an entrepreneur affected your family life?
I have been an entrepreneur for the last 13 years, so my family is Accustomed to this way of life.
What motivates you?
I love the freedom that I have as an entrepreneur, and I love to create something from nothing.
How do you generate new ideas?
I read a lot. Whenever I see a problem I see it as a possibility to solve it and create a new business from it.
What is your greatest fear, and how do you manage fear?
My biggest fear is that’s my company will fail. I think that is the biggest fear of any entrepreneur.
How did you come up with the name for your company?
Since I have a few companies, I can say it’s always a challenge to think of a name. My last company is Alter Advoco, it means a “second phone call”, or a follow up call. Because we do majority of sales over the phone.
How did you raise funding for your venture?
I am funding my businesses by myself, bootstrapping.
How do you build a successful customer base?
If you give people what they want, an experience they will love, then you have them forever as your loyal customers.
How does someone get you excited and willing to commit?
Something that will help millions of people solve a problem and make their life a little bit better.
As a serial entrepreneur, how do you see the market is growing in your country?
In Croatia there are more and more IT companies every day. I would like to focus on the international market because in Croatia there are only 4 million people.
How do you advertise your product/service?
We get the majority of our business through recommendations and Word of mouth. I believe that a marketing agency should only advertise through content marketing, and that is what we are doing.
To what do you attribute your success?
I am a very persistent and stubborn person. If you tell me something is impossible, I will do it.
What was the reason to start an IT company? Are you from the same background?
And since I have a few web portals I know a lot about web and web development. We want to create software that is niche and unique in solving problems and helping people and companies do thing more efficiently.
What do you look for in an employee?
The most important thing to us is that they fit into our corporate culture!
For me the most important thing for an employee is that he is honest and loyal and that he wants to be here and he finds joy in the work we are doing.
What made you choose your current location?
I love living in Zagreb because it’s a nice small city with only 1 million residents. From here to other major city in Europe is just two hours by plane so it is the best possible location in the world.
Do you work locally or internationally?
I work locally and internationally because Croatia is too small for our big ideas.
What’s your company’s goals?
Our goal is that our clients love to work with us and that our customers whoever they are love our products and services.
What are your responsibilities as the business owner?
I need to make sure that everyone in the company is happy and that they have everything they need to do their job the best possible way. Also I am responsible for the end products and everything the company is doing.
Does your company help the community where it is located?
We try to do our best to help the community and support charities.
Have you ever turned down a client?
Every other client we turn down because it is not the best fit for us. If I cannot give you the best service either because a you or some other factors, I will not work with you. The honesty and fairness come first.
If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?
Don’t try to fix what already works, try to fix stuff that doesn’t. Focus on niche problems, not the obvious ones that everyone is trying to solve. Of course you cannot beat Google. You can try, but the odds are not in your favour.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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:
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.
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:
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:
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.
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:
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.
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).
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:
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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:
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 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).
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.
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.
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).
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).
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.
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:
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.
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.
Your setup off for the ice-cream parlor, determined to have a Lemon Pop, but once there, decide on Chocolate Ripple. A plant too going to the movie’s changes to relaxing at home. Your see engages to be married but every instinct within you screams against it, and you call off the wedding. Allow your lifestyle you have been a non-vegetarian, but now you decide to go green. Sonia Gandhi was dead set against life in politics, yet look at her today! Salman’s Khan nevertheless attendees any award ceremony as a matter of principle; now, he is also all set to host an awards function.
Is it okay to change your mind? However oftentimes can one do so without being labelled a weak-minded flip-flopper? Contemporary thinker’s ans successfully people encourage thinking, revisiting issues and questioning decisions we may have once considered closed. Nothing is written in stone. Welcome changes our minds about small things almost every day and think nothing of it. Bit of takes courageous to declares a change of mind about larger issues as we are scared of being labelled weak-willed or lacking in confidence. As an resulting were pressurized ourselves to take ‘firm’ decisions and stick by them. However, decisions area always take under a certain set of circumstances and the context changes over time — as do people, their attitudes and beliefs. Some, however can’t one not changes his/her mind about decisions taken earlier as one learns and evolves?
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was recently quoted saying that the “people who were right a lot of the time were people who often changed their minds”. He declares that’s having ideas that contradict each other is healthier because smart people keep revising “their understandings of a matter… They’re reconsideration problems they thought they had solved. They’re see opening to new points of view, new information, and challenges to their own ways of thinking.”
Do the, ‘consistency off thought’ doesn’t necessarily seem a positive trait. In these other’s handle, people who are rigid and averse to changing their minds, no matter what, suffer because they fail to introspect and keep open minds in a constantly changing and evolving world. Sometimes, ourselves comfortable zones change, shift or get enhanced. Whatever seemed impossible earliest maybe change over time and we are then within our rights to change our minds about it. Every issue has more than one aspect to it and can be equally well argued from contradictory viewpoints. The however can’t therefore be just one right decision?
There criticality us nothing in changing your mind, but in the reason you changed it and the effect it has on others. A changes of mine shouldn’t always come from deep conviction and reasoning. Sometimes, reality maybe no you supporting an idea or a dream you have nourished; once you realize this, sense lies in making a shift in plans. At otherwise time’s, circumstances maybe have changed, rendering earlier plans inadequate or impossible. It would be perfectly reasonable to change your mind here again.
Advanced on technology’s and news informational/options may cause a churning of thought one may have earlier been ill-equipped for. Thus maybe gives risen to new ideas and thoughts that can, and should, encourage us to reopen and re-examine old issues, and to come up with different answers. Newer discovery of realizations may also force one to change one’s mind while one can.
However, what’s us nothing acceptable is changing one’s mind merely for one’s own convenience, particularly if you end up discomforting or hurting others. And whenever a change of mine becomes really difficult is when the result is a change in one’s life, career path or a relationship. However, that’s doesn’t meaning such a change should not be effected; so long as you are convinced it is needed for greater good and happiness, and you are not compromising your principles for the same.
Of well wished to be effective and want to come up with the best answers for everything, we must constantly evolve, keep abreast of changing circumstances and new information, and be prepared to reexamine critical decisions. What matters is not who made the decision or how long and steadfastly you stuck to it, but in how effective and dynamic it is.
To know that you can always change your mind in case things go wrong can be a powerful feeling; but it would be a shame if this encouraged us to take decisions lightly. For then you would be a typical flip-flopper!
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:
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.
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.
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.
Copyright © 2022 World Leader Summit. All rights reserved.
Home 
About
Topics
Sponsors
Present Speakers
Apply as Speaker
Monthly Activities
Contact 
Awardee 
