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Category Archives: Growth!
Find your “teacher-customer.”
Your customers know what they want more than you do. Find one to teach you. This insight came from personal experience and from a good friend who advanced the notion of the “teacher-customer” years ago. I internalized this phrase, … Continue reading
Everything changes from concept to release! (And another story…)
You can take “everything changes” as a rule, not an exception. You’ll recognize the truism, “No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy” first stated by German Field Marshall von Moltke in the 19th century. This variant of … Continue reading
What I learned from losing a million…Market knowledge comes FIRST.
Know your market and competition, or don’t spend a dime on anything else. I have stated previously that I love absolutes – statements with no wiggle room for gray-area responses. Well, here is one of those, and it deals … Continue reading
Posted in Finding your ideal niche, Growth!, Positioning
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Money comes smart or dumb. Find smart.
This statement could be considered controversial. We have previously made the case that professional investors demand more in the form of restrictive covenants and lower valuations. Now we explore the other side of that coin. Professional investors usually bring “smart … Continue reading
Raising money for your business: What are the options?
This post will be perhaps a bit longer than usual, but certainly of great interest for those with interest in or have need for more capital… This stage is critical to many businesses and a passing option to others, depending … Continue reading
Posted in Growth!, Raising money
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Use metrics and a dashboard. ACT upon variances.
Have you ever driven a car that had no speedometer? I had that thrill when a student at the Richard Petty Stockcar School of Driving recently at a motor speedway in California. With a wide track, angled aggressively at … Continue reading
Posted in Growth!, Positioning
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Your budget and forecast light your goal.
Let’s spend a few moments defining a sometimes confusing set of terms. A budget should be created each year as a result of a series of negotiations between departmental managers and their superiors through to the CEO, all in … Continue reading
Posted in Growth!, Ignition! Starting up
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Strong strategies and tactics support your goal.
Now we’re getting organized. There are many ways to express the roadmap for your enterprise. One of the most popular was used by the U.S. Army late in World War II, and adopted by a number of high profile businesses … Continue reading
Posted in Growth!, Positioning
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Map your goal and use your map.
It’s time to speak of some sort of business plan. As a professional investor in early stage companies, I have long discounted long, detailed business plans in favor of a concise “executive summary” followed by a believable spreadsheet-based financial … Continue reading
Posted in Growth!, Positioning
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Set a realistic goal. When reached, set another.
There’s a big difference between your vision for your company, your mission and your goal. Your vision tells the world what you want to be as you contemplate in advance how you will change the world for the better. … Continue reading
Posted in Growth!, Positioning
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