Ventureweek

From Openforum.com By Susan L. Reid

J. K. Rowling is the English writer who has authored all seven beloved Harry Potter novels. Her rise to fame and fortune is inspiring. As of June, 2011, she has sold over 450 million books that have been translated into 67 languages. The final book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was the fastest-selling book of all time.

At age 46, her fortune is estimated at $1 billion. Forbes has named her the first person to become a “U.S.-dollar billionaire by writing books.” In 2008, the Sunday Times Rich List ranked her as the “twelfth richest woman in the United Kingdom.” And in 2010 Rowling was named the “Most Influential Woman in Britain” by leading magazine editors.

When this all began in 1990, however, things were very different. She was not a published author. She did not have a lot of money. She was living in London, working as a researcher and bi-lingual secretary for Amnesty International, and her mother had just died. She later had to go on state assistance to provide food and a home for herself and her baby daughter. How she got from there to where she is today is a story filled with invaluable tips for today’s entrepreneurs.

Tip 1: Don’t rush to roll out your product

“Destiny is a name often given in retrospect to choices that had dramatic consequences.” 

Although Rowling had been a writer all her life, she was slow to publish. She said, “I had written two novels before I had the idea for Harry, though I’d never tried to get them published (and a good job too, I don’t think they were very good).”

All too often, as small business owners, we rush to get a product out before its time, before it’s been fully considered or tested. Rowling sets a great example of getting a product just right before presenting it to the world.

Tip 2: When a great idea grabs you, grab back

“You sort of start thinking anything’s possible if you’ve got enough nerve.” 

Great ideas are unmistakably powerful in their announcement and come when least expected. Rowling says:

“Where the idea for Harry Potter actually came from, I really couldn’t tell you. I was traveling on a train between Manchester and London and it just popped into my head. I spent four hours thinking about what Hogwarts would be like. By the time I got off at King’s Cross, many of the characters in the books had already been invented.”

As small business owners, we know when a great idea is upon us. The problem is, we often question it, second-guess it and rationalize it away. Not Rowling. She recognized the mark of a powerful idea, seized upon it and went with it.

Tip 3: Persevere, persevere and persevere

“It is our choices…that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

Rowling moved to Portugal to teach English as a Second Language in 1991 and married her first husband the following year. They divorced in 1993. The next year, she moved to Scotland. At this point, she was an unemployed single mother living on welfare. In 1995, she completed her manuscript for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, typing it out on an old manual typewriter. She handed in the book to twelve publishing houses. They all rejected it.

Rowling never gave up. She did not stop just because life was hard. Despite all the changes and setbacks she was experiencing, she carried on. She persevered. As small business owners, we would do well to keep her example in mind.

Tip 4: Don’t let anyone sidetrack you from your goal

“If you’re holding out for universal popularity, I’m afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time.”  

Finally, Bloomsbury, a small publisher, agreed to publish the first book. Her editor, though, says that he “advised Rowling to get a day job, since she had little chance of making money in children’s books.”

It’s a good thing she didn’t let this advice discourage her—all seven volumes of the Harry Potter series have broken sales records. What a shining role model Rowling is for small business owners. She didn’t let anyone stand in the way of her goal—not even herself.

Tip 5: Each of us has a unique contribution to make to the world

“I just write what I wanted to write. I write what amuses me. It’s totally for myself.” 

J. K. Rowling never went searching for the kind of success she’s received. “I just wrote the sort of thing I liked reading when I was younger (and still enjoy now!). I didn’t expect lots of people to like them, in fact, I never really thought much past getting them published.”

It wasn’t fame or wealth that J. K. Rowling sought. No. She simply wanted to contribute to the world in general, and to children specifically. As today’s entrepreneurs, this is so important to learn. Focus on the unique something you have to offer to the world. The rest will surely come, in ways you may not even be able to imagine.

Rice university conducted a study showing consumers are benefiting more from daily deals than merchants, as a number of merchants found the deals unprofitable or polarizing for some employees. Another recent study conducted by Cooper Murphy Copywriters showed that even when merchants turned a profit, they were still unsatisfied with the whole experience.

The daily deal market is here to stay. The question is how will the industry evolve and further benefit the business community.

Post written by Ty Danco. Ty is an angel investor and startup mentor. Read more of his thoughts at tydanco.com.  From Onstartups.com

You’ve got a killer idea, a good prototype, a terrific market opportunity, and maybe even some funding already. But you still may lose potential investors that have nothing to do with your deal, and everything to do with you. Here are 5 of my non-negotiable hot buttons that will make mturn down an investment, no matter how good the financial prospects appear.

1. You knowingly mislead people. If you’re not trustworthy, it’s over. Full stop. It can be as simple as pretending to know answers when you don’t, implying that you have investors or contracts that aren’t real, or giving half answers to questions that conveniently leave out non-flattering but significant information. Note that I’m not going to dump you simply for painting the rosiest plausible picture and showing hockey stick revenue numbers that seem ridiculously ambitious. Investors expect some amount of hype, and we can put up with that. But you have to be honest.

Worst is a coverup: An entrepreneur presenting to an angel group was discussing his record as a “successful repeat entrepreneur”, but didn’t give particulars other than “the last company he founded went IPO.” When upon questioning he told us the name of that company, it only took a few minutes on Google to discover that 1) the company was now defunct, having been in the middle of a penny-stock trading scam, with multiple lawsuits still ongoing; and 2) that the founder/CEO had a different name than the man presenting. He responded to the first fact that he had been the victim of those scams, and to the second that he had decided to change his name. Needless to say, no checks were written to that company. His new company actually had acquired rights to some interesting technology, but the integrity question made it a total no-brainer pass.

2. You haven’t done your homework. Unfortunately it’s not the norm that an angel will have deep knowledge of the sector you are in, so we’re going to ask questions, and lots of them. But imagine what our reaction will be if you don’t know the answers to our basic questions about your own markets, your competitors, or worse, haven’t even considered an obvious question. At best you’re too green to invest in, shown by your chase of angel investments before you are ready. The good news is that this is easily correctible. Do your homework before you pitch angels; when you practice your pitch dozens of times before mentors and other entrepreneurs, chances are you will have had a chance to think about and respond to almost all of the obvious questions. But until you get to that point, don’t burn your bridges pitching to investors too early. Work on your business model and your pitch until they are shining jewels.

3. Your projected expenses are unreasonable. As mentioned above, I don’t really mind—and come to expect—entrepreneurs showing revenue projections that go straight to the moon. However, I will scrutinize projected expenses, hard. If they are unreasonably low—for instance, having a model that depends on external sales without any meaningful salaries or commissions, not budgeting in legal expenses, etc.–that marks you as a greenhorn that needs to go back to school. Worse than the greenhorn is the greedy entrepreneur who is looking to raise money to immediately go back into his or her pocket. This is especially true when the entrepreneur has been on the beach, or an “independent consultant” for a period of time. It’s no sin to need or get a paycheck, but if you are looking to angels to fund your six-figure package, that’s a telltale sign of greed. Down the road, a me-first priority will manifest itself in losing employees, creating lousy margins, and other bad scenarios. The CEO needs to take the lead in all aspects—including demonstrated hunger, commitment, and sacrifice. If you’re focused on the short-term rewards, there won’t be any long-term rewards around for us investors.

4. You don’t follow through. This is another “tell”, as poker players say. This won’t be evident at a first meeting, but in the follow-up. Dharmesh and many other angels are correct in saying that diligence can be quick, given that startups will change directions. I too believe due diligence needn’t take more than a week or two, but I still think that in most cases there needs to be several interactions between entrepreneur and potential investors. Why? With the biggest risk for startups being execution risk, we need to assess whether you will do what you say you’ll do. If you call us when you say you will, if you follow-up on our questions quickly and efficiently, those are all positive indicators that you are accountable and will deliver on promises. There’s no shame in putting a reasonable but later date on some deliverable because you’re busy—I hope and want you to be busy, and maybe even you’ll earn bonus points if you turn something around earlier than promised.

5. You’re dogmatic. It’s easy to say no to someone who is a jerk. But assuming that you’re not arrogant, full of yourself, and “getting high on your own supply”, you can still turn us off by not considering alternative viewpoints. When you answer questions before we finish asking them, when you don’t take the time to really listen to what people are talking about, when you assume you know every answer cold even before it’s clear where a comment is coming from, that’s another telltale sign of too much hubris and not enough coachability. There are plenty of people who are uncompromising—Steve Jobs is just one example—but Steve Jobs are few and far between, and I’m willing to bet that he listens before he rules.

This is not to say that the investor is going to be right or that you are wrong. I especially like it when an entrepreneur has considered an option I just proposed and educates me why they have decided not to go down that route…as long as they have taken the time to listen. But an absolute black and white dogmatic approach that leaves an impression of “my way or the highway” raises the likelihood of an inflexibility that will most likely doom your company. Pivots happen…and you have to be open-minded along the way as you build your company.

For a good entrepreneur, it shouldn’t be hard to avoid these potholes: you do your homework, you don’t lie, you follow through, you’re not short-sightedly greedy, and you’re open to hear what others think about your strategy and prospects. Miss any of those, and you become a bad bet—low odds that can’t be papered over by any amount of experience, social proof, traction or the other building blocks that attract an angel’s attention. When our due diligence shows that you’re not going to let us down in those five areas—now you’re a whole lot closer to being bankable.

This post was written by Jon Clark at Sean Culligan at OpenSymmetry’s UK office.

From Leapcomp.com

In designing an incentive compensation scheme there is no one perfect design, there are however some common best practice design principles that characterize effective schemes.

Effectively implementing these seven principles will provide immediate value to the sales organization therefore we would recommend that you consider how your organization compares.

1. Clear link to strategy
Plans need to link clearly to company goals, hold participants accountable for the results they control, and pay for results focusing on margin or profit rather than volume.

2. Accurate, Transparent and Consistent
Performance should be accurately measured and a transparent and there should be a consistent link between performance and plan payout. Where possible, this process is automated to ensure effectiveness.

3. Uninterrupted flow of key strategic messages
There is an effective flow of key messages (for example growth, increasing profitability per customer, quality customer retention) from the sales strategy to sales targets to salesperson role to incentive plan measures to payout.

4. Significant on-target opportunity
Plans have an on-target payout which is significant and consistent with company/product status in the market. For example, a new product/service in a new market requires a more highly leveraged plan.

5. Promotes positive behaviors
The plan should influence sales behavior in a way that drives positive selling and which prevents negative selling behaviors.

6. Simple
A plan should be simple, using as few performance measures as possible. If the salesperson can’t explain how it works in under a minute, it’s too complex.

7. Differentiation
Plan payout should differentiate clearly between excellent and average sales performance.

The daily deals space has exploded in recent years.  A new site is looking for it’s own piece of the pie within the industry.  Munch on Me is a new site that provides daily deals, much like Groupon or LivingSocial.  However, it has two major differences over its rivals. Moreover, these differences could really allow the company to develop a brand rather quickly. First,Munch on Me only focuses on food. Secondly, the daily deals are for individual dishes, not entire restaurants. Munch on Me’s target audience aren’t people looking for any deals. Rather they consists of foodies, who are into food as an experience.

This site might be more valuable for a restaurant because it’s targeting the type of people who are more likely to become repeat customers. Time will tell how successful this concept really is. But we have a feeling that they have created a niche within a very crowded space.

Snap Fitness, one of the fastest growing fitness franchises in North America, recently launched this promotional contest. Participants in the contest , which ends Aug. 15 ,will win a new Snap Fitness franchise . The franchise has an estimated value of $250,000.

In addition to the franchise itself, the prize also includes standard equipment for an average-sized club, security deposit for facility leasing, $20,000 working capital allowance, and, like all new franchisees, training at headquarters, site selection help, and a dedicated account manager. The company will track the winner, provide assistance as necessary and pick up the $15,000 franchise fee.

The winner will have to pay royalties in the amount of $449 a month, plus $75 for advertising and some other similar fees for membership billing, based upon store volume. A few other franchises have ran similar promotions the last few years. It’s an effective way to further garner attention within the competitive franchise landscape.

Excerpt from Harvard Business Review.

By James Caan is a British entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and former panelist of BBC’s Dragons’ Den, on which the US spin-off show Shark Tank is based.

“Certain business presentations have all the elements of a good pitch, which can be condensed down to the following components:

Prepare, prepare, prepare.Before you present, obtain as much background knowledge as possible on prospective investors. Use Google and especially social media as a resource — LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter are packed with information on your investor, and (as with any other presentation) if you know your audience you can engage with them on a personal level. Above all, remain observant and always look for opportunities to break the ice when meeting new investors. On one occasion in my business career, I noticed a stack of golfing photos in the investor’s office and proposed discussing the pitch during a round of golf. We ended up closing the deal on the course. At the end of the day, people want to enjoy business relations, and that personal touch can make all the difference.

Create a journey for the investment. Ideally, this journey will demonstrate a persisting problem that will be amended by the new business proposition. Demonstrate why and how you came to develop the idea to solve the problem. As an investor, if I can relate to the problem — and find it compelling enough — I’m more likely to invest.

Convey your enthusiasm. If a person has the drive to make a business work, then their proposal is going to be more appealing. You need to succinctly explain why you are a qualified individual to invest in, and importantly how you plan to execute the idea. I remember a particular entrepreneur on Dragons’ Den who pitched me an idea which — honestly — did not seem particularly innovative. However, his heartfelt account of his life story, passion to succeed, and personal motivations inspired me as an investor. I ended up agreeing on an investment and he went on to develop a seriously successful business.

Back up your pitch with hard data. When it comes to business feasibility, investors are only interested in facts, therefore make sure your numbers make sense. You have to be prepared for in-depth questions on turnover, sales figures, break-even points, gross and net margins (profit), and so on. Investors are very fond of hard facts, so don’t rely on hiding behind technical terms and growth projections.

Leverage your image.Be creative with projecting an established image of yourself and your business. I remember when I started my recruitment company, I could only afford a miniscule office (it was actually a broom cupboard) at a grand office building in London. As a consequence, I would meet my clients in the impressive entrance hall and suggest we nip out for coffee at the Ritz, explaining that the office was far too busy to talk privately. With this gesture, I would maintain the image of an established business, even though the reality was that I was too embarrassed to bring anyone to my “office.”

With a commitment to being completely open about your passion towards the business offering, your pitch has a better chance of being received with that same enthusiasm — even if you’re coming from the humblest of beginnings.”

Israeli startup Get Taxi has just launched in London, England and plans to expand their taxi app quickly through Europe.Get Taxi was founded last July and launched its application earlier this year. Get Taxi is a virtual taxi stand, where users can call a cab their location. The smartphone’s GPS locator identifies the caller’s location and notifies Get Taxi’s call center, which informs the caller of the taxi driver’s name and estimated waiting time.