by theEmother | Jan 6, 2014 | build a Mother of a Business, business ideas & thinking, Finish Unfinished Business, Online Strategy incl. www, so you think you're in business, start with the end in mind, the business model
This is all about defining the specific goals, deliverables, project sponsors and internal and external team members your Business wants to get from its Online Strategy activities. Whilst it sounds rather large, potentially draining and incredibly time-consuming, it does not need to be like that. Not in the way I do it anyway…
Questions to be reviewed and answered:
- assess the current environment
- what are we good at?
- how do we know what we’re good at?
- who is the audience?
- what do they want?
- what does we want?
- why do they buy?
- why do we think they buy?
- who are our advocates?
- what are their demographics?
- what have they bought previously?
- what are the “longtail” segments?
- what are the trends?
- how are we tapping into the trends?
- what do we want done?
- how do we measure what we’re doing?
- what does the collection of the information mean?
- what are we doing differently as a result of this information?
- what technology is currently in use?
- what technology needs to be accessed?
- how will the offline/online businesses work together?
- who will do what?
- what options do we have?
- how will we know we’ve got it right?
All these questions focus on Getting Clear…
How clear are you?
by theEmother | May 14, 2013 | aCE talentNET, build a Mother of a Business, business ideas & thinking, Buy a Mother of a Business, Finish Unfinished Business, growth by acquisition, start with the end in mind
I’m always curious to know why Business Owners quite freely jump to the suggestion of bringing in an equity partner when thinking of growth. Especially if they claim they have funds to add to the pot! Whereas the option of Growth by Acquisition rarely gets a look in.
I’m not suggesting for one minute that it’s not an option, not at all. But it is often flippantly thrown about as one of a number, almost without real considered thought behind it.
Knowing someone, whether it be for a long time or short, does not mean you know what they will be like as a business partner. Let’s not mention all the decisions you’ve always made will no longer be all yours to make. Plus there’s the issues about how to spend money, what to do with profits, what staff to bring on, what role each of you are to play, etc…
The way I structured this decision, way back in the heady days of aCE talentNET was to have my prospective business partner work as a sub-contractor for 12 months. If a relationship is going to work, or not, doubts will have raised their head by the conclusion of that time frame, enabling both of you to shake hands and walk away, before any real damage is done.
I wish we had followed the same protocol when bringing on partner #3 but that’s another story. Warning: don’t always let reputation get in the way of adhering to your process.
Having had one way work and the other be a disaster, I know which I will repeat again in future. Something I strongly urge all Business Owners to really think through when broaching the same topic in considering growth options.
Think about it from an Exit Strategy point of view. How much easier is it to at least get to the sale decision when there’s only you. The more people you add to the decision making process, the more delay fatigue will potentially set in.
Growth by Acquisition on the other hand means you may be able to negotiate to have the best of both worlds ie the additional revenues and client list, without necessarily taking on the exiting partners… think about it…
by theEmother | May 13, 2013 | build a Mother of a Business, business ideas & thinking, so you think you're in business, the business model
Very pleased to be No. 93… got to love that!
An infographic by the team at CouponAudit
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by theEmother | May 9, 2013 | build a Mother of a Business, business ideas & thinking, so you think you're in business, the business model
An idea has been rolling along, sometimes with momentum and other times stalled, for 14 years now. It is still almost the centre of the Dreamers world. Money has been spent, aeroplanes have been boarded, presentations have been made, so many coffees, lunches and dinners consumed… but has it all worth it? Will the “thing” ever get over the line?
Well, the Dreamer thinks so. Met him for coffee today (yes, another one) and got the updates on the status of a number of ongoing projects, all related to the BIG dream. With a select few that help keep it alive, there’s lots of interest (always is), lots of talking (always is), lots of nothing concrete happening though and lots of no money following suite! When do you cut your losses and stop?
“Never” is his response. It’s the reason he gets up in the morning and the reason he says up late at night. He firmly believes the world will be a better place once the BIG idea kicks in, which provides the ongoing flame to keep stoking the fire. If the Dream fuels the activity, is that such a bad thing? Regardless of whether it eventually ignites, or not?
Who are we to say? Maybe the world will be a better place and maybe it won’t. But if it provides a fire in the belly that drives continuous activity rather than instead performing veggie-like curled up on the couch, isn’t that the payoff? All hail to him I say, gotta love the commitment…
by theEmother | May 6, 2013 | build a Mother of a Business, business ideas & thinking, EXIT execution, exit strategy, Finish Unfinished Business, so you think you're in business, the business model
Today I spent time in a meeting that I had arranged but was being led by another party. The reason for the meeting was to help the Business Owners “get clear”…
“Get Clear”about what? About their options, as opposed to pinging around from one option to another in the hope that one sticks!
This is what happens when you don’t know who to talk to, nor do you know how to find the right person. Mind you, it happens to all of us when we are moving into new territory!
When it’s a big ticket item like hanging on to 100% of your business that is on the cusp of greatness, where capital raising is required, there’s nothing more disheartening than to find you not only don’t meet bank criteria and the accountant offers you details on your situation but is not able to direct you much further, unless you’ve got family and friends with deep pockets, what do you do?
Fortunately I was in a position to assist these particular clients, hence the meeting today. The beauty about the meeting today was having a learned colleague who could ask all the right questions and have a pretty clear idea on how to assist.
It went so well that a proposal is under construction… Fingers crossed it all works out so they can win the “first prize” they’re after!
