Business with Heart

I WANT to be able to help anyone that needs help securing funding. Unfortunately, what I want and I what I can actually offer, are not one and the same.

I have recently been approached by a few small businesses looking for funding; I say recently because a few have stuck in my mind, but I am regularly approached by business that are too small for me to be able to help. I look over the information they provide me with and my heart sinks. With some of these deals, I immediately share that I would like to help but they do not fall within the parameters of my funders. With others, I try to push them in the right direction (if I know it).

Currently I am looking at a deal for a company based in Mexico. The financial statements I looked at were in pesos and the conversion to dollars did not look very appealing. The company did have something going for it in the form of potential contracts so I sent it to a mortgage loan correspondent that I work with who may be interested. I am pretty sure that he is going to pass on it, but I wanted to try rather than just assume.

I spoke with an entrepreneur last week who was looking for some sizable funds simply for research and development of a prototype. He needs angel investors interested in buying into his idea and helping to shepherd it through the prototype and to the next step of fundraising. This is not what I do, but I did try to talk it out with him and gave him some leads to follow up on.

Obviously, we need to create a balance of not trying to help everyone if we know that we cannot. With that being said, it also takes a lot of integrity and heart to try to help those who need our help. If it is just taking a phone call, or maybe a quick coffee meeting, then I try to help people on the right path if I can.

The awareness for today is to help when you can. Do not disregard your own business, but if a small amount of your available time can help someone else, then I say do it. We can all remember a time in our lives when we needed the help of others and someone helped us. Let us now help others in return.
~Paul

Investing in Your Own Business

The idea of investing in one's own business has come up a lot recently. While it is great to use OPM (other people's money), one needs to believe in her own venture. When I am working with clients looking for debt financing, it is generally a requirement that they have put in cash equity themselves into their business. This shows potential lenders that the owners believe in what they are doing and also that they are taking on risk just as the potential investor would be.

I am not saying that you should use up all of your savings on your business, but I do remember a class in business school discussing using up all of your credit on credit cards and loans to get a business going if you are an entrepreneur who believes in his own business.

The awareness for today is to pay attention to whether you are putting as much money (or time or anything else) into your business as you are asking for or expecting of others.
~Paul

Long-term Networking

Okay, so I got some private responses regarding my post debating dropping my Chamber membership from people reminding me that associations like the Chamber of Commerce are not about immediate connections, but rather about building relationships over time. I agree. The Boulder Chamber of Commerce has been great for building relationships; many of them have turned into friendships as well.

After a couple of years (hopefully less, but sometimes more), you should get a pretty good feeling about what does and doesn't work for your business. I am very happy with the relationships that I have made through the Chamber, but I am also quite aware that the majority of them are not even potential clients.

My plan is not to stop networking completely, but rather to target events, groups and organizations that are more in alignment with my services and goals.

The awareness for today is to put your energy towards the "right" events, groups or organizations, rather than the convenient ones.
~Paul

Dropping My Chamber Membership?

I am currently an ambassador for the Boulder Chamber of Commerce and have have been since 2005. I have always liked the Chamber and felt that it was one of those organizations you join in any community you may live.

Recently, however, I have been internally debating whether or not I want to renew my membership. Regardless of how financially flush I may feel, $325 is still $325 and if I am not getting anything out of it, then perhaps it is not the best use of my money.

As an ambassador I have attended many, many events over the years. I really like helping connect people to local resources and I enjoy the networking. As I wrote in a previous post titled "Junk Networking Events," I have been cutting out events that do not benefit me or my business. I have gotten very little business out of the Chamber, always feeling that it was more about establishing myself in the community rather than building a good referral network.

In discussions with others recently I have learned that I am not the only one considering stepping away from the Chamber; others also believe the value is just not there.

I would love to hear opinions from my readers; either comment directly on the blog or send me a private note through my contact option on the right.

The awareness for today is to simply be aware and live life with integrity.
~Paul