Business Startups Archives - Page 10 of 11

09/15/201406/28/2017

Top 5 Most Profitable Industries

The capability of entrepreneurs to effectively and efficiently manage their own businesses is among the requirements to succeed in this field. However, there are other factors that contribute to the actual results of a venture.

One of these, apparently, is the general performance of the sector in which the entrepreneurs establish their businesses. According to a new report, healthcare and the real estate sectors remain the most profitable sectors, comprising almost half of the list.

Despite this, what topped the list is something that is not surprising as deals with money – accounting and other related services. These are some of the most profitable sectors are as follows:

Accounting and related services

There is no denying that proving accounting and related services, such as bookkeeping and payroll services, top the list of most profitable industries at the moment. According to latest reports, the sector has a net profit margin of 19.8 percent – primarily due to high demand and low equipment overhead and equipment costs.

Legal service

Next to accounting, which is also not a surprise, is legal services. With the rise of legal issues arising both between individuals and companies, there is nothing new with reports that among the sectors that reap a big margin is the field legal service. The only surprise, perhaps, is that it did not top the list this year contrary to the last.

Oil extraction; Machinery rental

Tied on the third place are sectors concerned with oil extraction and the leasing/rental of industrial and commercial machinery equipment.

The high ranking of these two is primarily on the current policy that focuses on increased production of crude oil and the rising number of constructions and industrial development in the country in recent years.

Dental services

The fifth on the list, dental services, is quite a surprise. Who would have thought that a specialized sector would be able to compete with, for instance, industries dealing with oil extraction? On another thought, however, the number of people requiring tooth extraction – not to mention other related dental services – will remain a demand so long as the humanity survives.

Real estate leasing; Brokers; Medical service

Tied on the sixth to eighth places are the real estate leasing, real estate brokerage, and the medical profession.

According to latest reports, the improvement of the economy has resulted in the better performance of the housing market, thus the good profit margin of real estate brokers. Moreover, however, this has also pushed the profits of those engaged in rental services, the prices of which have shot up in recent months.

Meanwhile, doctors, as expected, are in the list – primarily due to the increasing population, and partly due to the issues on health and lifestyle that is affecting the new generation.

Other health practitioners; Management companies

Tied for the ninth and tenth spots are other health practitioners and management companies.

Dentists and doctors are not the only ones reaping the increase in profit margin in the past months. Expected to join them are other health practitioners, who are very much needed just like the doctors and dentists in this part of the world.

With the growing trend of businesses outsourcing management strategies to experts, those who have management backgrounds have jumped at the bandwagon and established their own companies that provide the current demand – for a profit, of course.

These ten industries are just some of the most profitable sectors that those who consider establishing businesses – or even just applying for a job – should think about. Runner-up include outpatient care services, schools, real-estate related activities, death care services, and mining support.

More detailed information and useful advice can be found at Funded.com Created by Mark Favre, it offers expertise and assistance with developing and funding your concept, including a private forum for queries and discussions. If you need access to investors and funding providers, please do check our website.Funded.com
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09/17/201306/28/2017

Mistakes That Entrepreneurs Must Avoid When Pitching to Investors

Very few entrepreneurs are given a chance to pitch their businesses to investors. Unfortunately, not everyone who gets a chance to talk with potential source of financial support receives positive response. The reason: they often commit mistakes when pitching their business startups.

Here are some of the most common mistakes that business owners do when pitching their companies to potential investors.

Long elevator pitches

Elevator pitches are called as such because they are expected to be short – around a minute, which is the average length of a person’s ride in an elevator. And despite being called the “elevator pitch,” there are other instances when business owners are required to be brief when introducing their companies to possible investors. These include chance meetings in cocktail parties, meetings, or even introductions between common friends.

Such cases, which often happen in informal settings, are not boardroom meetings. And while investors may be interested in the pitch, talking about it for more than a minute or two is not appropriate. Doing so may put a bad impression on the part of the investor, therefore losing a possible deal.

Business owners must keep in mind that they should save the talk during an actual pitch.

Long presentations

During the actual presentation of the business, PowerPoint presentations are often considered as God-send tools. It provides the people around the room some visual information that could pique their interest on the topic being presented.

However, business owners must keep in mind that PowerPoint presentations are used as support and are not meant to be the star of the show. Therefore, entrepreneurs must be able to limit the length of the PowerPoint presentation so as not to bore potential investors.

These people want business owners to talk about their business startups and not just read from a prepared presentation.

Made-up proposals

Business owners want to impress potential investors. However, putting wrong information on the investment proposal, for instance blowing up the exit figures to impossible proportions, often raise eyebrows of investors.

Entrepreneurs must remember that investors value business owners who present them with the reality more than those who make-up information just to impress them.

Early discussion on valuation

Investors often turn their backs on business owners who start they pitches with valuation. Before doing so, business owners are expected to introduce first the business and its operations. Investors are there to provide money, but they would rather hear about the business first before getting information on the valuation which is, technically, their expertise. There is no need to walk them through on this process.

These are just some of the things that business owners must avoid when pitching their businesses to their potential investors. Following this would make them one step closer to getting some financial support.

08/12/201306/28/2017

How to Prepare Business Startups for Disasters?

Disaster preparedness should always be on the priority list of business start-up owners. Unfortunately, not all entrepreneurs out there seem to understand that everything can disappear in a matter of seconds during the onslaught of a powerful hurricane or tornado or floods.

The latest Small Business Disaster Survey showed that 74 percent of small businesses in the United States do not have recovery plans in case disasters damage a portion of the company. What’s more surprising is that 84 percent of small businesses do not have natural disaster insurances, and that 71 percent of these companies do not even have generators.

The possible cause of this phenomenon is the fact that around 76 percent of small business owners in the United States have never been affected by a major natural disaster. And while it is reassuring that not everyone is going to be devastated by a hurricane or tornado in the next few years, the reality is that the number of major weather events that hit the country is continuously going up.

Data from the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration showed major weather events (those inflicting damage of at least $1 billion) has increased from around two per in the 1980s to around 10 per year in 2010. More alarming is the data showing that 65 percent of businesses operating in the US are located in areas that have a high risk of getting ravaged by a natural disaster.

With this, it is only fitting for small and large business owners to invest in good disaster recovery plans to mitigate the possible harsh effects of natural weather disturbances to the companies. Some believe that “disaster recovery plans” are unnecessary expenses for businesses that need to limit its financial burden in order for it to survive. This is not a true claim.

Creating a plan does not need a lot of money. In fact, business owners can develop their own using information that they can get from the Internet or other sources. Planning does not have to be very extensive, but rather a concrete precaution in case of disasters.

Such plans should include the creation of back-up files in strategic locations in case a disaster destroys the original ones in the main office. Having a back-up power source is also a good idea, especially for businesses that rely on technology and machinery.

An alternative “home base” must also be established or conceived in case the main office becomes unavailable due to disasters. The plan should also talk about basic evacuation plan for employees in case an abrupt disaster strikes while everyone is in the middle of production.

No one wants to experience a disaster destroying his or her business. However, having a plan to address this issue is always better than having nothing at all.

06/04/201306/28/2017

The risks of family-funded startups

Funding remains one of the most pressing problems faced by business startup owners. More often than not, entrepreneurs find themselves thinking where they would get that money that would help them establish their respective businesses. And while there are a lot of funds available out there for business startups, the reality is that not all entrepreneurs get the financial support coming from angel investors or venture capitalists.

In the end, a lot of business owners who need financial backing rely on the easiest source of funds that they can think of – their family and friends. Initially, this idea is seen as a very good solution to the money problem. After all, relatives and friends are often seen as best people who can support someone who has started his or her own business. But is it really wise to ask your relatives or friends to invest in your business? For most experts, the answer is no.

Entrepreneurs are often advised that they should never mix their personal lives with their professional ones. Doing so would often result in problems concerning the overall performance of the business. A lot of professional entrepreneurs believe that asking for investments from family and friends are not good for the business due to the risks that could lead to serious relationship problems.

Business startups are not always successful. In fact, some studies note that only 25 percent of startups actually expand and become successful. For the remaining 75 percent, it means failure – and loss of lots of money. Such events, while usual for seasoned investors, are not often experienced by your relatives and friends. Unless they are fully aware of the risks, relatives and friends should not be asked for financial investments in business startups.

Moreover, rifts between those involve in the business can arise once the startup begins expansion. With the entry of secondary and more professional investors, the issue of profit often becomes a sore point.

History shows that a lot of businesses failed because of the problems arising between family members. Thus, business startup owners are advised not to get their family and friends involved in their businesses if they have other alternative to get financial resources.

05/27/201306/28/2017

Secrets of Successful Business Startup Owners

Successful business startup owners often say that their achievements have to be attributed to their luck. They keep on saying that they were fortunate that they have started their particular business startups on the right place at the right time. To some degree, this might be true. However, it is unlikely that the success of these people can simply be attributed to luck. It’s not.

The truth is that these business startup owners were successful because they have made the right decisions at one point or the other. They have followed a strict set of rules that made them successful. Luckily, these rules are secrets no more. Here are some of the things that ensure the success of fledgling entrepreneurs these days:

They know how to take care of themselves

The most successful business startup owners know that their most important capital is their own minds and bodies. Therefore, those who wish to make it big in their respective industries must know how to take care of themselves to ensure their physical and mental prowess.

Eating healthy and having regular schedule for physical exercise are simple things that ensure the success of business startup owners.

They have activities outside their businesses

Focusing on the business is necessary to ensure its success. Too much attention, however, is not. Successful business startup owners often have other interests outside their businesses in order for them to have a much-needed break from the stress of handling a company.

Having a balanced life often keeps the business owner focused and relaxed that is an important secret to the success of the business.

They know how to lead

Financial capital and passion for the enterprise are not just the things needed for the success of the business. More than these, business startup owners must be able to lead the entire team to attain their goals. No business will thrive without the support of an effective leader who will anything for the good of the company.

They know when and how to make the right decisions

Once in a while, business startup owners would find themselves facing problems that they have to resolve immediately. A common characteristic of successful entrepreneurs is that they all know when to make a decision in order to solve a problem.

The success of the business is often not reliant on the “rightness” of the decision, but in the willingness of the owners to stand by their choices and accept the possibility that they have to amend their earlier decisions for the good of the company.

These are just some of the things that ensure the success of business startup owners. Following these is a big leap toward the victory that entrepreneurs want to attain.

04/15/201306/28/2017

Available Corporate Venture Funds for Business Startups

In recent years, the number of available venture capital funds for business startups that are coming from traditional sources has started to go down. Fortunately, there is a viable alternative – corporate venture funds.

It can be noted that a several multinational corporations have started to allot some of their funds for business startups. Latest data show that roughly around 900 corporate venture funds are currently available for new businesses. Last year, around 16 percent of companies have acquired corporate venture capital, a number that is expected to increase this year.

Corporate venture funds have been available for more than two decades now. But recently, corporations have started to embrace this trend even if it would disrupt the status quo. The reason, they can’t afford not to anything about it.

Several companies have recently declared bankruptcy or have started to vanish because it failed to recognize the changing landscape of the market. For instance, rental company Blockbuster would still be a major player if it recognized startups such as Netflix. This is similar to the case of Kodak. If only it recognized newbies Shutterfly and Instagram, it might have averted declaring bankruptcy.

Fortunately for some companies, they still have time to catch up with the situation. Nielsen, for instance, has already allotted money to fund small investments. Dell is doing the same, maintaining that it will continue investing in startups even with plans for it to be taken private.

Corporate venture capital allows public company to focus on the long term. For instance, American Express Ventures will participate in merger of e-commerce and payments industries. It is also looking for new technologies that could be utilized for the next decade.

If you are an owner of a business startup who is in need of capital, then it is a good idea to look for venture funds from corporations. Securing one would be a good thing, especially since big companies could assure a successful future for your business startup.

03/26/201306/28/2017

Guidelines For Successful Postings

Rules and Guidelines For Successful Postings

Posting your Funding request is essential part of raising capital as creating your Business Plan. In order for you to get the funding you should be able to catch the eyes of the investors. Here are some tips you can follow to attract Investors and funding providers.

Title. Make your title attractive this is the first section our investors will see. Include the title of your business or invention. Make it enticing and give them something they want to hear and continue reading to your letter.

Posting. Write a short summary of your Business idea or Invention that will catch investor’s attention. Make it 2 to 3 paragraph short and make it concise and simple. Avoid too much information and do not copy and paste your Executive Summary. Your posting is not to be confused with a chat or blog. You are selling you and your business to investors and funding providers to raise capital and any posting that is not about your business is not allowed. Remember, concise and to-the-point.

Attach your Business Plan or Executive Summary. If you are looking for an Angel Investor or Venture Capital make sure you attach your Business Plan don’t wait for the investors to ask your Business Plan. Remember your Business Plan is the eye view of your business/invention. If you don’t have a Business Plan yet at least upload an executive summary. (You can use the Free Executive Summary template available upon creating your membership). This will give the investor the immediate reaction that you are serious in getting funds.

Private or Public posting. We have two ways of posting your request either public or private post. If you publically post be aware that everyone who not a member of funded.com will see your postings. While private posting only our registered investors and funding providers can see your funding request.

Avoid Personal Information. Even though we pre-screen funding providers, it is an ever increasingly large group and it is ultimately up to you to protect yourself from anyone saying who they are not and promptly reporting any concerns to us. Therefore we suggest not putting your email or telephone number on a public post. Private postings may not have the traffic like a public posting but is limited to our investor network that is viewing your funding request. Keep in mind that if there are investors that are interested in knowing your business venture they can always email you via funded.com and you will receive an email notification on your personal email if they replied on your posting.

Be patient for responses give some time to our investors to see your request. If you are not getting any responses try to re-write or revised your posting. You may also call us and we can look at your posting and give you tips for success. Try to be more creative and remember you want to create interest in your business or idea and sometime it takes time for investors and funding providers to notice you, especially the right one that will fund you.

03/21/201306/28/2017

3 common pitching mistakes of business startup owners

Securing funds from venture capitalists or angel investors is one of the most difficult tasks of business startup owners. Not only do they need to convince potential investors that they will benefit from the deal, they are also tasked to convince them to believe in the potential of their ideas.

Venture capitalists and angel investors are experienced when it comes to choosing which startups to fund. Most of the time, they know how to separate the entrepreneurs who lack the ability to run a viable business to those who are made to be successful. In order to avoid falling into the first category, business startup owners should avoid committing these obvious pitching mistakes:

Asking for a non-disclosure agreement

While it is understandable that you wanted to protect your ideas, asking your potential investor to sign an NDA on your first meeting is a major turn-off. Unless you have patented algorithms or formula that could be considered as your intellectual property, you have to realize that NDAs do not have much value in the business startup world. Keep in mind there are hundreds of other people out there who might have been thinking the same way as you do.

Asking your potential investor to sign an NDA is a sure way to shoo them away as it inserts a level of untrust worthiness in your supposed partnership.

Talking about equity splits

Opening your pitch with the idea of equity splits at early stage may turn away a lot of potential investors. Of course, it’s important to deal with agreements and percentage points, among others. However, talking about this too much instead of focusing on the product and other more relevant things would surely upset your potential investor.

Determining who will be the CEO is important, but spending all your time arguing the pros and cons of appointing one is futile, especially for business startups that have yet to establish a name for itself.

Failing to present a financial plan

Investors want to know how they will benefit from a deal. So a good business startup owner is expected to present a financial plan detailing how is he or she planning to gain revenue. Be realistic, a business without a detailed financial plan is not a business.

03/01/201306/28/2017

Things to Do When Raising Capital for Business Startups

Business startup owners often have a hard time securing investments from angel investors or venture capitalists. This reality, however, should not discourage entrepreneurs from seeking capital from potential investors.

The truth is, while it is difficult to secure financial support from these people, it’s not impossible to get the money that could boost the capacity of one’s business. Here are five things that could help business owners secure support from angel investors or venture capitalists:

Stop talking, start working

With the number of available tools out there, business owners are now capable of producing prototypes of their products even with a small budget. So instead of just presenting your thoughts using a PowerPoint presentation, you must allot some time and money producing an early version of your product.

These days, angel investors and venture capitalists prefer business owners who “show” their ideas rather than talk about it in front of the potential investors.

Expand your network

Securing referrals from established entrepreneurs can boost your chances of getting the attention of potential investors. With the number of startups seeking for financial assistance in the market, many investors are not paying attention to requests which are not referred by people whom they are acquainted with. Because of this, any entrepreneur who wants to secure capital for his or her startup should expand his network and get referrals from the right people.

Learn the market

Before approaching a potential investor, a business startup owner must first understand the market that he or she intends to work with. Understanding the business landscape, including your competition, will give you insights on how would you present your business to angel investors or venture capitalists.

Choose a long-time investor

A lot of entrepreneurs prefer having a lot of people investing on his or her startup. And while this is usually a good indicator of the status of the business, owners must also understand that many of these investors might choose leave the company after a few months of partnership. This could be disastrous, especially if no one from your pool of investors would stick around with you. In searching for capital, therefore, business owners must look into the possibility of getting investors who are really interested in sticking with the business for a long time.

Understand your investors

Finally, the business owner must try to understand the desires of his potential investor to boost his chances of securing investments. Some angels or VCs might want short sales cycles or a payout after a few years of partnership.

02/19/201306/28/2017

Taking Action: Establishing a Successful Business Startup

There are various factors that have to be considered before one can establish a business startup. This is a very important reminder to every person who eyes the creation of his or her own business. Some people tend to believe that having a good business idea and a competent business plan would ensure the success of a business. Unfortunately, it’s not true.

The reality is that the success of a business startup greatly depends not just on the idea and the plan but also on the actions taken by the owner. What will happen to a potentially revolutionary product if its creator fails to sell it to investors who would assure its distribution to the market?

The bottom line is, a business startup will not flourish if the owner fails to take the appropriate actions and measures that will help the company. It’s like publishing a book – a person can do the best research and write a flawless manuscript but would not be able to publish it because he or she fails to approach people who would critique and actually decide on publishing it.

This is also true when it comes to business startups. While it is necessary to spend some time working on proposals, market analysis, and PowerPoint presentation, one must also accept the fact that it is more important to actually approach potential investors.

Try approaching customers to assess your product or service. You would be also able to understand more about the market. This may help you in establishing your business. The key – stop with your usual activities and start taking actions that would enable you to establish your business startup.

This is not advice to those who have already perfected their business ideas and plans. Actually, these are also applicable to students and other people who are interested to start their businesses but have no idea where to start from. Instead of waiting for that evasive business idea, why not get involved in projects or activities that might spark your interests in a number of fields.

Take action, for it is the key to a successful business startup.