Nobody wants to wait for anything anymore. Seed money is usually a relatively small amount of cash, up to $250,000 or so, that is used to prove a business concept has merit. All businesses have similar concerns and responsibilities, including marketing, research, development, purchasing, production, management, accounting, human resources, and customer service. First, financial, to make sure this business makes economic sense.
You know what your customers perceive to be value-added
You
must carry
your business in your brain. It
seems sensible to
plan to put up as collateral the exact item you re borrowing money to buy. The
Quality-Time-Cost Triangle suggests
that if one wants high quality work (side one) performed quickly (a second side), she will have to cede control of the third side and pay a higher price. A
small software company
whose mission statement included the goal of putting Microsoft out of business would be looked upon as foolishly naive.
Giving customers the lowest or discounted price to get them to buy
Although
having the latest
and best is appealing, it is sometimes, or even often, better to push old technology to its limits than to feel obligated to invest in the new. But
even if it
should, the savings thus effected might be swept away by the poor business management of the employer. If
you come across
as an overblown pretender, you can bet your plan will get short shrift. Without
any wealth, I
couldn't have invested or taken the opportunity to triple or quadruple my money.
Should Human Resource Management Be Your Primary Focus?
The
need to hold
large stocks of products is a big problem for any start-up because that requires a lot of money not only to buy the products, but also to store them, to transport them, to distribute them and even to insure them. In
most cases, you
want to have products and services that people can get quickly. As
an entrepreneur seeking
a bank loan, or any type of funding for that matter, you ll want to make sure you have everything in place, including all of your financial documentation as well as your credit history. Tell
people pleasantly that
you are a new bidder for their patronage.
Is Customer Service your company's main focus?
Seed
money is the
initial capital required to transform a business from an idea into an enterprise. Finally,
the effects of
what a manager does on the business landscape will not depend on his own actions or approaches alone, but form an integral part of a sequence of multiple, related, incremental actions and outcomes. Your
attorney, your accountant,
and your insurance broker are all crucial members of your team. If
you have something
to offer that is not on the market, this is a major selling point or competitive edge.
Nobody wants old news or information.
Leverage
ratios measure the
financial risk in an organization by comparing debt to equity or debt to assets. Financial
success allows you
to enjoy and design your life to do and get what you want. Remember,
if a supplier
is selling to you on credit letting you take delivery of goods and pay for them later that supplier is, in effect, your lender. Sometimes
that might mean
thinking a bit creatively.