If you have difficulty understanding the current world financial situation,
the following should help...
Once upon a time in a village in India , a man announced to the villagers
that he would buy monkeys for $10.
The villagers seeing there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest
and started catching them.
The
man bought thousands at $10, but, as the supply started to diminish,
the villagers stopped their efforts. The man further announced that he
would now buy at $20. This renewed the efforts of the villagers and
they started catching monkeys again.
Soon the supply diminished
even further and people started going back to their farms. The offer
rate increased to $25 and the supply of monkeys became so little that
it was an effort to even see a monkey, let alone catch it!
The
man now announced that he would buy monkeys at $50! However, since he
had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would now act as
buyer, on his behalf.
In the absence of the man, the assistant
told the villagers: ' Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that
the man has collected. I will sell them to you at $35 and when he
returns from the city, you can sell them back to him for $50. '
The villagers squeezed together their savings and bought all the monkeys.
Then they never saw the man or his assistant again, only monkeys everywhere!
Welcome to WALL STREET.
7.11.08
3.11.08
Entrepreneurship - Finding Time for Business
Being an entrepreneur and running a small and medium enterprise is stressful
at times, and can be hectic. Success within a business though, absolutely
demands time management skills, or the chores that need to get done will be
left undone, and procrastination, as well as a serious " personal time
deficiency" will occur.
Several studies have shown that many first-time entrepreneurs spend too much
time on "non-essential" activities within a business, activities that have
nothing to do with business, or that have little impact on business success.
At the end of each business day )when it finally ends), they are left
feeling stressed out, burned out, separated from their personal lives, and
worse yet, with a felling of non-accomplishment and inefficiency.
You probably have met entrepreneurs like this occasionally in your own life.
They constantly seem "busy", yet they are constantly late for appointments,
don't ever have time to attend personal activities or outings, and are
always stressed out about what still "needs to be done' each and every day!
A "personal time deficiency" occurs when an entrepreneur seems to spend all
their time either working on the business, or thinking about the business.
The entrepreneur can neglect family, friends, activities and personal
pleasures, in pursuit of business functions. This is not only
counter-productive to the business (creativity shines through when
entrepreneurs also schedule time away from the business), but personal
losses can occur to the entrepreneur. Horror stories abound about divorce
among entrepreneurs, shattered family lives, and personal ruin.
What causes "personal time deficiencies"? A variety of factors:
1. An entrepreneur does not sufficiently plan every activity during
the working day, with a pre-set amount of time allotted for each business
activity. Without an active 'work schedule', an entrepreneur can feel
unrestricted, and therefore spend too much time on some activities and not
enough on others. All activities should be done 'on schedule' if possible
and within a certain amount of time. Too much "fussing over each activity
will lead to very little accomplishment each day. Neglect of other
activities will lead to a sense of little accomplished.
2. An entrepreneur becomes distracted quite easily during the business
day. Personal phone calls and activities need to be kept to a minimum. If an
entrepreneur were working outside their own business, for someone else, they
would not have the luxury of "dropping everything" and going shopping or out
to lunch, if time were not allotted for this! Also, family members and
friends could not drop in and "visit" whenever they liked. A business needs
to be viewed as any other type of employment, where personal distractions
could not, and do not exist!
3. Lack of succinct business plan that effectively spells out business
activities that need to be completed in an organized step-by-step fashion
and that entails certain accomplishments within a certain timeframe. A
business plan is essential for success in any small business, just as in
bigger businesses. A business plan Is the "blueprint" used for mapping out
"where" a business is headed, and just "when" it will arrive! A good
business plan will have weekly, monthly and yearly growth accomplishments
built into it, with planned implementations towards that growth.
4. An entrepreneur does not possess enough self-motivation to "be
their own boss". Half the battle of running a successful business is have
the correct mindset to do so. The gap between "employee thought processes"
and "business owner processes" must be bridged before business organization
is accomplished. Motivation is different in an entrepreneurial endeavor, as
no "boss" is standing over the entrepreneur, making certain they finish the
allotted chores each day.
5. An entrepreneur does not actively "separate" business and personal
time in their minds, and plan their personal time as effectively as they do
their business activities. Having personal time will refresh and energize,
not distract from the success of a business. It is absolutely necessary to
plan personal activities into each day, and also stick by the plan for those
activities. This is an emotional health issue, and one that needs
consideration by every entrepreneur, as it is often times too easy to became
couth up in the business to the exclusion of all else.
Overall, all the above aspects need to be managed in order to balance an
entrepreneurial lifestyle. The life of an entrepreneur is without a doubt,
an "atypical" lifestyle. It is a lifestyle that needs more work and more
determination than other types of lifestyles. Time and energy can be
balanced in this lifestyle, but it may take a while to achieve this. When a
balance is achieved, "time starvation" will disappear.
Written by Jennifer Lee for SME Indonesia, September 2008 issue.
Read more articles on facebook, click facebook badge below
If you'd like a free copy of SME & Entrepreneurship Magazine or Media
Profile, please contact to:
SME Indonesia Marketing Department
P : +622165314229
at times, and can be hectic. Success within a business though, absolutely
demands time management skills, or the chores that need to get done will be
left undone, and procrastination, as well as a serious " personal time
deficiency" will occur.
Several studies have shown that many first-time entrepreneurs spend too much
time on "non-essential" activities within a business, activities that have
nothing to do with business, or that have little impact on business success.
At the end of each business day )when it finally ends), they are left
feeling stressed out, burned out, separated from their personal lives, and
worse yet, with a felling of non-accomplishment and inefficiency.
You probably have met entrepreneurs like this occasionally in your own life.
They constantly seem "busy", yet they are constantly late for appointments,
don't ever have time to attend personal activities or outings, and are
always stressed out about what still "needs to be done' each and every day!
A "personal time deficiency" occurs when an entrepreneur seems to spend all
their time either working on the business, or thinking about the business.
The entrepreneur can neglect family, friends, activities and personal
pleasures, in pursuit of business functions. This is not only
counter-productive to the business (creativity shines through when
entrepreneurs also schedule time away from the business), but personal
losses can occur to the entrepreneur. Horror stories abound about divorce
among entrepreneurs, shattered family lives, and personal ruin.
What causes "personal time deficiencies"
1. An entrepreneur does not sufficiently plan every activity during
the working day, with a pre-set amount of time allotted for each business
activity. Without an active 'work schedule', an entrepreneur can feel
unrestricted, and therefore spend too much time on some activities and not
enough on others. All activities should be done 'on schedule' if possible
and within a certain amount of time. Too much "fussing over each activity
will lead to very little accomplishment each day. Neglect of other
activities will lead to a sense of little accomplished.
2. An entrepreneur becomes distracted quite easily during the business
day. Personal phone calls and activities need to be kept to a minimum. If an
entrepreneur were working outside their own business, for someone else, they
would not have the luxury of "dropping everything" and going shopping or out
to lunch, if time were not allotted for this! Also, family members and
friends could not drop in and "visit" whenever they liked. A business needs
to be viewed as any other type of employment, where personal distractions
could not, and do not exist!
3. Lack of succinct business plan that effectively spells out business
activities that need to be completed in an organized step-by-step fashion
and that entails certain accomplishments within a certain timeframe. A
business plan is essential for success in any small business, just as in
bigger businesses. A business plan Is the "blueprint" used for mapping out
"where" a business is headed, and just "when" it will arrive! A good
business plan will have weekly, monthly and yearly growth accomplishments
built into it, with planned implementations towards that growth.
4. An entrepreneur does not possess enough self-motivation to "be
their own boss". Half the battle of running a successful business is have
the correct mindset to do so. The gap between "employee thought processes"
and "business owner processes" must be bridged before business organization
is accomplished. Motivation is different in an entrepreneurial endeavor, as
no "boss" is standing over the entrepreneur, making certain they finish the
allotted chores each day.
5. An entrepreneur does not actively "separate" business and personal
time in their minds, and plan their personal time as effectively as they do
their business activities. Having personal time will refresh and energize,
not distract from the success of a business. It is absolutely necessary to
plan personal activities into each day, and also stick by the plan for those
activities. This is an emotional health issue, and one that needs
consideration by every entrepreneur, as it is often times too easy to became
couth up in the business to the exclusion of all else.
Overall, all the above aspects need to be managed in order to balance an
entrepreneurial lifestyle. The life of an entrepreneur is without a doubt,
an "atypical" lifestyle. It is a lifestyle that needs more work and more
determination than other types of lifestyles. Time and energy can be
balanced in this lifestyle, but it may take a while to achieve this. When a
balance is achieved, "time starvation" will disappear.
Written by Jennifer Lee for SME Indonesia, September 2008 issue.
Read more articles on facebook, click facebook badge below
If you'd like a free copy of SME & Entrepreneurship Magazine or Media
Profile, please contact to:
SME Indonesia Marketing Department
P : +622165314229
The Basic Rules for Finding Business Investors
When it comes to finding business capital, most entrepreneurs spend most of their time wasting their time seeking the wrong investor, making the wrong offers or making offers that won't result in the needed financing.
Here are nine rules that will help you find the money your company needs to grow.
1. Define Your Target Market. Everyone isn't interested in investing in your company. Develop a profile of potential investors in your company. Angel investors rarely invest in businesses more than fifty miles away from their homes. Venture Capitalists won't invest in local businesses.
2. Have a Concise and Defensible Business Plan. Your business plan should be focused on your Target Market. It must ring true! It must show your commitment to your company's success. A badly written business plan may not render your investment opportunity absolutely unfundable. After all, someone might see the genius behind the clutter. However, any investor who regularly funds companies usually lacks the time to find the genius behind your words. 3. Hire competent advisors! You need a business attorney; an accountant and a business finance advisor. Carefully select all three advisors, if you want to raise money for your company. If you fail to do so, the odds are you won't raise any money and you might find that you are spending money to explain your efforts to State and Federal Regulators.
4. Define your niche market and focus on developing it. Your product or service may have universal appeal. However, your use of risk capital funds should be to develop a smaller niche market with the investors' funds. Spending a million dollars to develop a U.S. Market for your product or service is rarely a credible proposal. Spending a million dollars to develop a California market for your goods or services is far more believable. Focus on an achievable niche market. Use your profits to see that niche market grow to be an international market.
5. How will your investors make money from their investment in your company?' You need to clearly define your investors' exit strategy. The investors not only need their risk capital returned to them as quickly as possible, they need a return on their investment commensurate with their risk.
6. You must be willing to surrender control of your company to your investors. Most investors expect at least a 50% equity interest in your company for their money. If you won't surrender control, there is little likelihood that you have a serious exit strategy for your potential investor. Why? Because ultimately an exit strategy is about a change of control. If you won't give control to your investors, you won't agree to any exit strategy that benefits those investors.
7. Your view of what your startup company is worth is grossly inaccurate. If your company has revenues, discounted cashflow and profitability formulas are a sound basis for valuation. If you have a startup company, your cash investment plus your sweat equity is a good basis for valuation. Over value your company and forget about finding investors.
8. Your plan is local in focus You might find local angels to fund a good local restaurant, bar or nightclub. However, sophisticated investors strongly prefer risking their money on companies with a national or international market for their goods or services.
9. Keep your company's books current and accurate If your bookkeeping is a mess, forget outside investors. If you haven't kept your books in a detailed and accurate fashion before you started your money hunt, potential investors realize that your accounting won't improve after they make their risk capital investment. If they can't trace how you have spent their money, they won't give you the money to spend. Cashflow projections are rarely accurate. If your company has cashflow and your cashflow projections deviate very much from your past performance, nobody will believe them and in due course they won't believe your business plan. If you are a startup company, you are better served outlining and documenting the sources and potential of your revenue stream than trying to estimate it's size. Your goal should be to muster enough evidence to show a realistic potential of at least $25 million per year in three years after the investors' funding.
If you don't have a written business plan, write one or have a professional write it for you. If you lack a strategic plan, write one or have a professional write it for you. Always remember that sophisticated investors are hiring professionals to play Devil's Advocate. Their job is to find the weaknesses in your business or strategic plan. Write your documents in such a way that there are no serious misstatements of material facts.
It's possible to find naive investors for any business project. However, it often costs more money to find these dupes than they will contribute to your company. Naive investors losses billions of dollars annually. Swindlers and the starry-eyed entrepreneur spend billions of dollars trying to find these investors. You are far better served putting together a professional investment package and seeking sophisticated investors to fund your company. It's your only realistic chance of bring your vision to life.
from thecomfortablelife.com
~
Here are nine rules that will help you find the money your company needs to grow.
1. Define Your Target Market. Everyone isn't interested in investing in your company. Develop a profile of potential investors in your company. Angel investors rarely invest in businesses more than fifty miles away from their homes. Venture Capitalists won't invest in local businesses.
2. Have a Concise and Defensible Business Plan. Your business plan should be focused on your Target Market. It must ring true! It must show your commitment to your company's success. A badly written business plan may not render your investment opportunity absolutely unfundable. After all, someone might see the genius behind the clutter. However, any investor who regularly funds companies usually lacks the time to find the genius behind your words. 3. Hire competent advisors! You need a business attorney; an accountant and a business finance advisor. Carefully select all three advisors, if you want to raise money for your company. If you fail to do so, the odds are you won't raise any money and you might find that you are spending money to explain your efforts to State and Federal Regulators.
4. Define your niche market and focus on developing it. Your product or service may have universal appeal. However, your use of risk capital funds should be to develop a smaller niche market with the investors' funds. Spending a million dollars to develop a U.S. Market for your product or service is rarely a credible proposal. Spending a million dollars to develop a California market for your goods or services is far more believable. Focus on an achievable niche market. Use your profits to see that niche market grow to be an international market.
5. How will your investors make money from their investment in your company?' You need to clearly define your investors' exit strategy. The investors not only need their risk capital returned to them as quickly as possible, they need a return on their investment commensurate with their risk.
6. You must be willing to surrender control of your company to your investors. Most investors expect at least a 50% equity interest in your company for their money. If you won't surrender control, there is little likelihood that you have a serious exit strategy for your potential investor. Why? Because ultimately an exit strategy is about a change of control. If you won't give control to your investors, you won't agree to any exit strategy that benefits those investors.
7. Your view of what your startup company is worth is grossly inaccurate. If your company has revenues, discounted cashflow and profitability formulas are a sound basis for valuation. If you have a startup company, your cash investment plus your sweat equity is a good basis for valuation. Over value your company and forget about finding investors.
8. Your plan is local in focus You might find local angels to fund a good local restaurant, bar or nightclub. However, sophisticated investors strongly prefer risking their money on companies with a national or international market for their goods or services.
9. Keep your company's books current and accurate If your bookkeeping is a mess, forget outside investors. If you haven't kept your books in a detailed and accurate fashion before you started your money hunt, potential investors realize that your accounting won't improve after they make their risk capital investment. If they can't trace how you have spent their money, they won't give you the money to spend. Cashflow projections are rarely accurate. If your company has cashflow and your cashflow projections deviate very much from your past performance, nobody will believe them and in due course they won't believe your business plan. If you are a startup company, you are better served outlining and documenting the sources and potential of your revenue stream than trying to estimate it's size. Your goal should be to muster enough evidence to show a realistic potential of at least $25 million per year in three years after the investors' funding.
If you don't have a written business plan, write one or have a professional write it for you. If you lack a strategic plan, write one or have a professional write it for you. Always remember that sophisticated investors are hiring professionals to play Devil's Advocate. Their job is to find the weaknesses in your business or strategic plan. Write your documents in such a way that there are no serious misstatements of material facts.
It's possible to find naive investors for any business project. However, it often costs more money to find these dupes than they will contribute to your company. Naive investors losses billions of dollars annually. Swindlers and the starry-eyed entrepreneur spend billions of dollars trying to find these investors. You are far better served putting together a professional investment package and seeking sophisticated investors to fund your company. It's your only realistic chance of bring your vision to life.
from thecomfortablelife.
~
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