TODAY’S QUESTION: How do you start your business from anywhere?

TODAY’S QUOTE: “We are our choices. Build yourself a great story.” – Jeff Bezos

THINK BIG ANSWER: Start by figuring out what you’re passionate about, so you can launch a business around your passion.

If you don’t know both what you’re good at and what you like to do, take an online personality test (ex. Myers Briggs, etc.).

Once you know your strengths and likes, you can begin to brainstorm business ideas that allow you to leverage your passions.

The next step is to write a business plan for the business you’ve chosen to launch (during the process of writing your business plan, you should validate the viability of your business by testing your product/service out on a focus group of prospective customers to see if they’ll pay what you anticipate charging to purchase what you intend to sell).

When you’ve completed your business plan, you’ll need to do some or all of the following:
1. Choose a name for your business,
2. Register a domain name for your website,
3. Figure out what legal structure you want for the business,
4. File your company articles of incorporation with the state you’re starting the business in,
5. Apply for an employer identification number with the Internal Revenue Service,
6. Establish your corporate bylaws,
7. Apply for any necessary business licenses, bonding, and business permits (these may or may not be required, depending upon the type of business you’re starting),
8. Identify and comply with any required regulatory and environmental regulations (these may or may not be required, depending upon the type of business you’re starting),
9. Rent office space (if needed),
10. Establish utility accounts (if office space is rented),
11. Order business cards,
12. Open a business checking account,
13. Purchase accounting software and set up your accounting system,
14. Acquire a smartphone with any needed small business applications (if office space is rented, you’ll need to acquire both a phone and information technology system),
15. Secure small business insurance coverage,
16. File for trademarks, patents, or copyright protection (if necessary),
17. Notify your professional network of the launch of your business,
18. Create both a company disaster recovery plan, and a business continuity plan,
19. Hire any required professional advisors (a lawyer, accountant, and possibly a consultant), and establish any necessary contractual agreements with your hired lawyer, and
20. Identify what sources of funds are available to your business.

#thinkbigwithgeoffreykent #entrepreneurship #entrepreneurs #entrepreneur #startup #startupquestion #startupguy #startupmzansi

TODAY’S QUESTION: What is the best advice for raising funding for a first-time startup founder?

TODAY’S QUOTE: “You’re almost always better off making your business better than your pitch better.” – Marc Andreesen

THINK BIG ANSWER: First, have an excellent grasp of the assumptions made to create your financial statements.

The first thing an investor is going to look at in your business plan or pitch deck are your financials.

They need to quickly understand how much money you want, when you’ll be able to repay them, and at what rate of return on their investment.

If you’re asking for more than they’re willing to invest, for longer than they’re willing to invest, or at a rate of return lower than they could get from a comparable investment, they’re not doing your deal.

Assuming your financials meet the investor’s criteria for the type of deal they’re willing to do, they’re going to do their due diligence to validate the achievability of your financials.

This would require you (not a hired third party) to walk the investor through the assumptions you made to project revenues and expenses, and ultimately profits or losses.

The second part of this process is getting in front of the investor most likely to do your type of deal.

Investors invest in their comfort zone (or what they know).

Investment criteria will include the following: debt versus equity, investment amount, investment time period, expected rate of return on investment, geographic location, industry, and the team assembled by the entrepreneur to execute her/his vision.

Research has to be conducted to understand whether your deal matches the investor’s criteria (if it doesn’t, you’re wasting valuable time, when this time could be spent pitching to investors who are actually inclined to do your type of deal).

Finally, if you can logically explain your financial assumptions and pitch them to the investor most likely to do your type of deal, you’ve astronomically increased your chances of getting your desired investment.

#thinkbigwithgeoffreykent #entrepreneurship #entrepreneurs #entrepreneur #startup #startupguy #startupmzansi

Startup Mzansi!

Is now a good time to start a company? Well, it's definitely a better time than waiting for the perfect alignment of stars, moon, and planets. Join Startup Mzansi and let's start making things happen!

#startupmzansi #startupapp #startuplife

Your advantage with StartupApp by Startup Mzansi

- Track the completion of Startup profiles in real time
- Unlimited access to the network
- 24/7 access: anywhere and from all devices through app and web version
- Browse products offered by startups by description, categories, costs and market situation
- Access to a huge database of startup profiles and innovative products on StartupApp
- Startup Mzansi Scout: personal contact person who supports the search, evaluation and contact
- It's easy to find suitable partners for a cooperation, product development or investment
- Investing together, minimizing risk

#startupmzansi #startupbenefits