Financial Help and Preparations

The significance for the financial help is to keep the company from going under. This will help management understand the necessary steps needed to run the company smoothly. The first thing is to understand the role and significance of management understanding the  balance sheet and what goes where as far as the assets, liabilities, and owners' equity. What is debited and what is credited or what are the categories for the income statement. 

Also the next thing in preparing the financial abilities for the company you should know how to budget things. The budget consist of: operating budget, cash budget, and a capital budget.  In the operating budget you have the sales forecasting and the forecasting. This helps through preparation of the sales forecast. 

The cash-flow budget provides an overview of the cash inflows and outflows during the period. By pinpointing cash problems in advance, management can make the necessary financing arrangements. This includes cash sales, cash payments received on account,  and loan proceeds.  Please view the video below. 

Marketing Challenges

The marketing challenges play an important roll in developing the marketing concept, however you must know how to deal with each situation that abreast you. In developing this there are three concepts: marketing philosophies, the factors that make up a marketing philosophy, and the market segmentation.

Introducing the marketing philosophies you must take into effect the production-driven philosophy, sales-driven philosophy, and consumer-driven philosophy. The factors that make up this is the competitive pressure, entrepreneur's background, and short-term focus. 

The market segmentation is the process of identifying a specific set of characteristics that differentiate one group of consumers from the rest. The variables for both demographic and benefit do vary in many ways. Demographic: age, marital status, sex, occupation, income, and location. Benefit: cost, style, trends, and convenience. Below is a video on how to overcome the challenges of a young entrepreneur and the necessary steps to take to do so.

Developing the Entrepreneurial Plan

When developing an entrepreneurial plan there are many pitfalls when selecting a new venture. The things that make up the pitfalls are (1) lack of objective evaluation, (2) no real insight into the market, (3) inadequate understanding of technical requirements, (4) poor financial understanding, (5) lack for venture uniqueness, (6) ignorance of legal issues.

Along with the pitfalls comes the phases in starting the start-up business. In order to begin you must first have a "prestart-up phase". This begins with an idea for the venture and ends when the doors are opened for business. Second is the "start-up phase" were the commences with the initiation of sales activity and the delivery of products and services and ends when the business is firmly established and beyond short-term threats to survival. The third phase is "poststart-up phase". This phase lasts until the venture is terminated or the surviving organizational entity is no longer controlled by an entrepreneur. Below is a video detailing what are the assessing opportunities for an entrepreneurial.

Venture Capital 101: Sources

Venture Capitalist are the most valuable and powerful source of equity funding for new ventures that are starting up. They are looking for ventures that provide market research and strategy, management-consulting, audits and evaluation, assistance in negotiating technical agreements, counseling and guidance in complying with government regulations among other things. 

The important things that venture capitalist are looking for when presenting the business plan are: (1) proposal size, (2) financial projections, (3) competitive advantage, (4) company management, (5) investment recovery.  Among these factors you should include successful funding preferably from the demand side: characteristics of entrepreneurs, characteristics of the request, characteristics of the enterprise, and the sources of advice.

In order for an investor to be interested in your business you must go through a evaluation process. This will consist of four stages. The initial screening is stage 1. This is a quick review of the basic venture and to see if it meets the criteria for the investor. Stage 2 is the evaluation of the business plan. This stage goes in depth on the reading of the plan and if it is going to be done the way it was pitched in the meeting. Stage 3 is oral presentation which explains the plan to the venture capitalist. Lastly, stage 4 is the final evaluation where after analyzing the plan and visiting with suppliers, customers, consultants, and others, the venture capitalist makes a final decision.

The video below will explain all the things needed to gain a venture capitalist for your company. Please take a look.

Legal Challenges Entrepreneurs Face

There are many legal challenges entrepreneurs face on a day-to-day basis. All the entrepreneurial ventures revolve around what are the major components that make up the legal concepts. They are (1) inception of the venture, (2) growth and continuity of the venture, (3) the ongoing venture. All three concepts go into details about what proceedings go into affect. List goes as follows:

1. Inception of an Entrepreneurial Venture discusses the laws of governing intellectual property (patents, copyrights, and trademarks); forms of business organizations (sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, and franchise); tax considerations, capital formation, and liability questions.
2. Ongoing venture: Business Development and Transactions discusses the difference between personnel law and contract law.
3. Growth and continuity of an entrepreneurial venture discusses tax considerations, governmental regulations, and continuity of ownership rights.

Pathways to Successful Ventures

Entrepreneurs creating new pathways for their start-up businesses are very important. There are several steps to take in order for your start-up business to be a success. In order to get a business started you must create or have an idea of what you want the new venture to be; then obtain a franchise to use your skills and abilities to not only satisfy yourself but your clients as well. Lastly, being able to acquire an existing venture when you are done with the first one, you will not have a hard time starting another one. 

The first step in the entrepreneurial process is to (1) identify an opportunity (decide when the economy is right for you to begin business i.e. location is a big key when the opportunity is on the table). (2) Develop the concept (decide on what you want to decide on for your business venture i.e. have a business plan to go by). (3) determine the required resources (what is needed to make the business a success; start-up capital, investors, and other things that will move you forward). (4) Acquire the necessary resources such as furniture, tables, supplies, and etc. (5) Decide who will be doing what in the company, what person will manage and who will do the work behind the scenes. (6) Harvest the venture (network, network, and network) means do what is necessary for your company to be a success. Give your clients the best quality at a reasonable/affordable price. 

In the video below Alex Glassey will explain the types of Financing Entrepreneurial Ventures investors are looking for when businesses are looking for capital. 

Diving Into The Types of Processes

What is innovation? Is it something that you are born to do or know? The answer is no. Innovation is  a key process where entrepreneurs convert opportunities into marketable ideas. It is also a combination of creating a vision into an idea and going through the necessary steps to see it through implementation. 

The four types of innovation are: invention, extension, duplication, and synthesis. Invention is new products, services, or processes. An example is Thomas Edison who invented the light bulb. Extension is new or different application of an already existing product, service, or process. An example if Facebook by Mark Zuckerberg. 

Nevertheless, you have duplication and synthesis whom also play an important role in innovation. Duplication is the creatitivity replication of an existing concept. For instance, Wal-Mart department stores, or Hewitt-Packet personal computers. Lastly, syntheis is the combination of existing concepts and factors into a new formulation; for example; Fed Ex created by Fred Smith.

Social Entrepreneurship: NEW AGE GO GETTERS

Bill Drayton said it best, "Social entrepreneurs are not content just to give a fish or teach how to fish. They will not rest until they have revolutionized the fishing industry." We as entrepreneurs have an important influence greater than we could imagine. In essence, social entrepreneurship is a great way to change society. Everyone would be in business for themselves and learn the ins and outs of being an entrepreneurial.

Watching this 1 1/2 hour video, actually can be a great simulator for students in high school all the way through college. The panel of host gave great insight on who they are and how they got started. It took hard work and perseverance to get to where they are today. They all basically stepped out on faith and believed in their dream. In today's society they are called, "GO GETTERS"!

They gave up a lot over the years to get where they are: financial risk, career risk, family and social risk. These risk played an important part with each person. The companies that they started and got other investors to invest in helped them along the way.

Economic Development: Old vs. New

Location is an important tool in the world of economic development. Many entrepreneurs and companies thrive on this because location, in most cases, will either make or break your business. Economic development is the adoption of new technologies and improvements in everyday living.

In class we discussed the difference between North and South Huntsville, Alabama. The further you go out towards University the more businesses are being built and are thriving compared to those that are South of University. Those that are not thriving are in the urban areas where a lot of people have to travel to other parts of the city just to find something to do. 

For example, in the urban areas you find more cash advance loan buildings than banks. You will also find more businesses such as restaurants, gas stations, schools, and fast food places on University, and down South Huntsville than in the middle of North-west Huntsville. 

Northwest Huntsville could have some wonderful attractions and businesses if people would start taking care of things and building up their community instead of trying to tear each other down, but they want the best things for their children. There should be more places like this picture with booming businesses throughout the city of Huntsville, Al.

After watching this video on "Huntsville Alabama: A Smart Place" hopefully your dreams and determination to build Huntsville back up is your game plan. Take a look: 

How Bad Do You Want It?

Developing the entrepreneurial mindset is one of the most self growth events in a person's life. Who you are, what you think, your personal habits and beliefs absolutely determine the results you get and challenging yourself to overcome and change what's not working is very important. Entrepreneurs are independent individuals who are determined to persevere in life and in the workforce. Being an entrepreneur is all about "give and take" (meaning you have to give up things in order to get where you want in life). For example, financial risk, career risk, family and social risk. 

These are the most important risk that an entrepreneur should worry about when they are putting themselves and others through a transition. The financial risk varies in the entrepreneur's desire wealth. The probability of loosing money instead of gaining is a hard pill to swallow when you put all your eggs in one basket.

The career risk is the second risk that entrepreneur take into consideration when starting their business. If your business is not doing well at the time, make sure you have a back up plan to pick up on. Never go into something without thinking every thing through. Lastly, the family and social risk is a crucial thing because it takes time away from love ones and you miss out on precious times with your children. 

It does not matter how long you run the race as long as you finish.  You can start by viewing this video:

                   

HOW BAD DO YOU WANT SUCCESS?