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Hub You - Brother, Can You Spare a Million?
A resume may not be who you are, but to a potential employer, it may be all they see of you and make or break your chance for your next interview. While many of us either spend long hours crafting the perfect resume (or pay someone else big bucks to do it for you) and may not want to mess with perfection, not updating your resume may cause more harm than good.If you are currently in the job market, evaluate your resume, and whether it's been six months or six years since you dusted it off, chances are you've acquired a new skill, shown leadership in an organization, or somehow improved since you last met with your resume.Add in anything new that will aid you in your job search, and as much as it hurts, delete anything that is out
Development that is funded by themselves, by supportive family members, and by interested friends.
We have seen a variety of ways in which entrepreneurs have obtained initial funding:
- Savings accounts
- Credit cards
- Lines of equity credit on their homes
- Personal loans from friends through promissory note
For those embarking on careers in business accounting, it pays to take accounts receivable training. In fact, it's essential for management trainees, systems analysts, and other business professionals to upgrade themselves and be in a better position to understand the accounts receivable aspect of business management. It may sound dull, but it is integral.Training encompasses all aspects of accounts receivable. The bill or invoice segment covers preparation, which includes vital details pertaining to the transaction. Training covers how to create a customer account and continue to make additions in order to include good and services and purchase and payments received.How and when a bill is paid must be recorded separately. The ca
You'd be astonished at how often we hear that question in our line of work. It's usually asked just after the inventor has done just enough scribbling to convince himself that he has solved one of the world's most pressing problems.
He might have. But...
There's an expectation by many entrepreneurs that if they create and patent what they believe to be a great idea, investors and customers will come knocking at their doors. Many are clearly surprised when they discover this isn't the case.
Inventors will spend months working on designs, perhaps prototyping them, creating the drawings and material needed to apply for a patent. They'll pour thousands of hours and thousands of dollars into the project -- all this without really understanding that all those hours and all those dollars are being leveraged at the wrong time!
Take a Tip from the Skunkworks
Look at the way product development is done in a large company: Someone observes an opportunity, gets an idea about it. The first thing that happens is an investigation of the opportunity, the initial inquiry that goes on prior to the first decision of whether to spend more time developing the idea.
Such projects are often launched as "skunkworks." One or two workers -- let's call them Mike and David -- have an idea and, after doing some initial inquiry, they present it to a manager. The manager, if the idea piques his interest, might say, "I'll tell you what. You're welcome to use our resources here to spend a couple of weeks on this, so long as you get the rest of your work done on time. Come back to me with a report on why you think it's the right thing to do."
You could think of this stage as self-funding.
Two weeks later, Mike and David come back with a positive report. If the manager is impressed, it's likely they'll make a simple presentation to the department Director. If the Director likes the idea, what often happens is that the two aspiring entrepreneurs are given the go-ahead to do some further development on company time.
Think of this stage as early angel funding.
You can see where this leads. If an idea turns out to be really good, the Director will end up presenting the idea to an executive team whose responsibility it is to approve projects. If the executives give the go-ahead, a full-scale project is launched and our erstwhile inventors have just received their first round of venture funding.
It works no differently for the independent entrepreneur.
The All-Important Initial Inquiry
The initial inquiry is all about assessing the opportunity. There is a mile-wide chasm between thinking an opportunity exists and the fact of its existence. If there is an opportunity, how big is it? How many people would be affected by a product that addresses this opportunity? Are there any other products or services out there that address the same opportunity? How successful are they? What is unique about them, and can you identify areas in which your own product could achieve an edge?
And so on. As you can see, the process of inquiry goes along for quite some time. At some point, the entrepreneur may gather enough information to achieve a level of informed confidence that constitutes a green light for further development.
Development that is funded by themselves, by supportive family members, and by interested friends.
We have seen a variety of ways in which entrepreneurs have obtained initial funding:
- Savings accounts
- Credit cards
- Lines of equity credit on their homes
- Personal loans from friends through promissory note
Many companies find payroll to be monotonous and taxing. This is so because of the many government authorities– federal, state and local-- who tax payrolls in America, plus the numerous unions, banks and credit unions, and health insurance plans that people can barely keep up with. Online payroll services help eliminate the stress and confusion related to payroll processing. One of the best benefits of submitting payroll online is the speed, precision and safety of the process.Submitting payroll was never made easier or, in some instances, even fun. Welcome to the world of online accounting!Completing your payroll online is quick and economical. Checks, previews and reports can be printed from anybody’s desktop. The company on t
Take a Tip from the Skunkworks
Look at the way product development is done in a large company: Someone observes an opportunity, gets an idea about it. The first thing that happens is an investigation of the opportunity, the initial inquiry that goes on prior to the first decision of whether to spend more time developing the idea.
Such projects are often launched as "skunkworks." One or two workers -- let's call them Mike and David -- have an idea and, after doing some initial inquiry, they present it to a manager. The manager, if the idea piques his interest, might say, "I'll tell you what. You're welcome to use our resources here to spend a couple of weeks on this, so long as you get the rest of your work done on time. Come back to me with a report on why you think it's the right thing to do."
You could think of this stage as self-funding.
Two weeks later, Mike and David come back with a positive report. If the manager is impressed, it's likely they'll make a simple presentation to the department Director. If the Director likes the idea, what often happens is that the two aspiring entrepreneurs are given the go-ahead to do some further development on company time.
Think of this stage as early angel funding.
You can see where this leads. If an idea turns out to be really good, the Director will end up presenting the idea to an executive team whose responsibility it is to approve projects. If the executives give the go-ahead, a full-scale project is launched and our erstwhile inventors have just received their first round of venture funding.
It works no differently for the independent entrepreneur.
The All-Important Initial Inquiry
The initial inquiry is all about assessing the opportunity. There is a mile-wide chasm between thinking an opportunity exists and the fact of its existence. If there is an opportunity, how big is it? How many people would be affected by a product that addresses this opportunity? Are there any other products or services out there that address the same opportunity? How successful are they? What is unique about them, and can you identify areas in which your own product could achieve an edge?
And so on. As you can see, the process of inquiry goes along for quite some time. At some point, the entrepreneur may gather enough information to achieve a level of informed confidence that constitutes a green light for further development.
Development that is funded by themselves, by supportive family members, and by interested friends.
We have seen a variety of ways in which entrepreneurs have obtained initial funding:
- Savings accounts
- Credit cards
- Lines of equity credit on their homes
- Personal loans from friends through promissory note
ProblemsIn many ways, the requests for technical assistance are symptomatic of the deficiencies in the users' training or the quality of the documentation they were given. Of course, the users have to read the training material; understandably, the reading can be monotonous. However, producing step-by-step videos for the purpose of instructing does not make economic sense. This is especially difficult if the user seeking assistance is extremely ill-informed.SolutionAn after-sales service team puts together technical demonstration online to explore and explain the problem. A panic button on the WEB site connects the client to a meeting room from where the presentation is made, simultaneousl
You could think of this stage as self-funding.
Two weeks later, Mike and David come back with a positive report. If the manager is impressed, it's likely they'll make a simple presentation to the department Director. If the Director likes the idea, what often happens is that the two aspiring entrepreneurs are given the go-ahead to do some further development on company time.
Think of this stage as early angel funding.
You can see where this leads. If an idea turns out to be really good, the Director will end up presenting the idea to an executive team whose responsibility it is to approve projects. If the executives give the go-ahead, a full-scale project is launched and our erstwhile inventors have just received their first round of venture funding.
It works no differently for the independent entrepreneur.
The All-Important Initial Inquiry
The initial inquiry is all about assessing the opportunity. There is a mile-wide chasm between thinking an opportunity exists and the fact of its existence. If there is an opportunity, how big is it? How many people would be affected by a product that addresses this opportunity? Are there any other products or services out there that address the same opportunity? How successful are they? What is unique about them, and can you identify areas in which your own product could achieve an edge?
And so on. As you can see, the process of inquiry goes along for quite some time. At some point, the entrepreneur may gather enough information to achieve a level of informed confidence that constitutes a green light for further development.
Development that is funded by themselves, by supportive family members, and by interested friends.
We have seen a variety of ways in which entrepreneurs have obtained initial funding:
- Savings accounts
- Credit cards
- Lines of equity credit on their homes
- Personal loans from friends through promissory note
The hidden job market has been touted as the place to go if you want to find the best jobs. It’s been said that this sector of the job market accounts for seventy-five percent of all the job openings out there. If that is true, then what we see in the classifieds and on the Internet job sites account for only twenty-five percent of all job openings. So the question becomes, is the hidden job market a myth or does it truly exist?The hidden, or unadvertised, job market does exist, and can be located. When a company advertises a job opening in the classifieds and on the various job sites, it takes three to four months for that position to be filled. Since companies lose money every day a position remains open, advertising a job openin
It works no differently for the independent entrepreneur.
The All-Important Initial Inquiry
The initial inquiry is all about assessing the opportunity. There is a mile-wide chasm between thinking an opportunity exists and the fact of its existence. If there is an opportunity, how big is it? How many people would be affected by a product that addresses this opportunity? Are there any other products or services out there that address the same opportunity? How successful are they? What is unique about them, and can you identify areas in which your own product could achieve an edge?
And so on. As you can see, the process of inquiry goes along for quite some time. At some point, the entrepreneur may gather enough information to achieve a level of informed confidence that constitutes a green light for further development.
Development that is funded by themselves, by supportive family members, and by interested friends.
We have seen a variety of ways in which entrepreneurs have obtained initial funding:
- Savings accounts
- Credit cards
- Lines of equity credit on their homes
- Personal loans from friends through promissory note
When Keisha Case decided it was time to go back to work and join the legion of working mothers, it wasn’t whether or not to return that was the tough decision – it was what to do.“My decision to get back in the workplace was mostly financial but when I look back I realize it had much to do with my education, too,” said Keisha, a working mother of one and former globe-trotting student and educator. “I wanted to be able to contribute to our family income but still stay at home during the day with my son. Some of my suggestions got shot down by family but other ideas got a better response.”So Keisha began a job working from home managing a company called About Town Moms, a tight-knit organization that led moms and their wee
Development that is funded by themselves, by supportive family members, and by interested friends.
We have seen a variety of ways in which entrepreneurs have obtained initial funding:
- Savings accounts
- Credit cards
- Lines of equity credit on their homes
- Personal loans from friends through promissory note
The Turning Point
At some point in an idea's development, the entrepreneur must obtain more funding to continue. That point usually occurs when the concept has gone through a certain amount of validation and is ready for primetime.
Certain types of products lend themselves to the process of bootstrapping: The entrepreneur manufacturers a number of units and offers them for sale. This simple market test both identifies the strength of demand and generates revenue that can be used to manufacture more product.
Other types of products require larger outlays of working capital. At that point, the entrepreneur -- armed with the results of research, confidence, and a often a prototype -- seeks out angels with deeper pockets, an investment banker, or a venture capitalist.
One must have done the initial inquiry deeply enough to be able to present a compelling argument to a potential investor. That means doing an extensive market study, quantifying the market size, understanding the competition, and qualifying the ideal customers.
It is a lot of work, to be sure. And it is not as simple as walking up to investors and getting them to believe in what you're doing. That will not happen until you have done some due diligence on your part. The fact is, if you are not confident enough in your idea to take financial risk yourself, how can you expect an outsider to do so?
Belief and Determination Make It All Happen
When you believe in an idea, when you have mounting evidence that supports it, you will find the personal resources necessary to make it a reality. But you must do the up-front work yourself. There is no magic angel, no substitute for self-funding.
And that seems right. Without our own passionate devotion to our ideas, they can gather no momentum. Ideas without momentum go nowhere.
But ideas with a head of steam can build their own tracks.
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