Check Out I-review Your-Company

Recently, "I-review Your Company" befriended me on Facebook and at the same time sent me a message asking that I try his services. He reviews your company, product, book, movie, music or food. To try to establish his clientele he is, for a limited time  offering this service for free. I looked at others he had reviewed and also liked the idea that he was local (Des Moines, Iowa area). My new book, "The Entrepreneur's Guide to Understanding Angel and Venture Capital" had only been released ten days earlier so I thought I would try it to promote the book.

He posted a short but flattering review on Facebook along with information on where to purchase the book and its price. He also shared the blog that I had written with all of his Facebook friends, as well as those following him on Twitter. For the last several days he has been using the book cover as his picture on Twitter and another company's logo as his profile picture on Facebook. Finally, he wrote to me suggesting other ways that I might promote the book on social media outlets.

I don't know how long his services will be free. What I do know is that he increased traffic to my fan page and this will certainly lead to increased sales of my book, as well as consulting services I offer. I suggest that anyone, especially in Iowa that has something they wish to promote check out "I-review Your-Company" on Facebook or "IreviewYC" on Twitter. And good luck with what ever you're promoting!

the unemployed entrepreneur®: TEACHER FRAUD

the unemployed entrepreneur®: TEACHER FRAUD: "The idea for this post came to me a couple of days ago, but I have to thank Tawana Necole (@CorporateChic on twitter) for sharing this quote..."

The Entrepreneur's Guide To Understanding Angel and Venture Investing Released Yesterday

My new book, "The Entrepreneur's Guide to Understanding Angel and Venture Investing," is now available at http://www.amazon.com/ and at http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ in either paper back or as a Kindle eBook. It is intended to be more of a primer for those that know little about the venture or angel investing industry, the criteria used for selecting investments and the process one must go through to receive funding. Any new or young business that has thought about seeking equity investing will find the book valuable as well as those people and agencies assisting small businesses.


It is not meant to teach someone all they need to know to become an angel or venture investor or even to teach the entrepreneur the intricacies of valuation or negotiating a deal. It does introduce these concepts and provides some advice on these subjects.

I think it would be a great book for a service provider to use as a resource with a small business or to lend out to them. It is an easy read. The actual text is only about 80 pages. Then there are another 50 pages of appendices that include checklists, a sample terms sheet, a glossary and a list of resources with links to their websites.

I hope you all take the time to read the book and please give me your candid opinions of the book. Thank you.

Is it Time for You to Start and Make a Brand New End?

Today I was reading a stream of comments on Facebook concerning a friend’s announcement that she is changing jobs. A couple of quotes cited in her original post and the comments had great timing. After all, we are at the beginning of a new year and this woman has cast off the old and begun anew. There is a lot here for entrepreneurs and “would be” entrepreneurs and what better time to look at this than a new year.


The first quote is from Harvey Mackay and it goes like this; ...."Although no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new end". I do not know the source of the other quote but its message is similar to the first one; “….every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.....”

There are a number of people out there that would advise any and everyone to become an entrepreneur. I believe it takes a special personality and set of talents to be successful as an entrepreneur but for those considering it, there is no better time than a beginning of a new year to investigate if you have what it takes and if your idea stands up to some scrutiny. Talk to people who have already made the leap, there are some great articles and books out there about what it takes to be an entrepreneur – read them. If you think you have what it takes, talk to some people about your idea. Does it make sense are there any critical flaws in your plan. Then get out there and see how big the market is for your product or service. Can the business grow? How big? What is the competition? What is your advantage? Are you solving a big problem or is your business a “me too” business?

All of the things I have mentioned can be done before quitting your day job. There is nothing wrong going through this assessment and deciding that either your not right for the entrepreneurial life or that your idea won’t fly. You may find that in two, five or ten years from now with a new or revised idea you’re ready to make the move. At least run your idea to ground.

By the way this advice is not only for the twenty and thirty somethings. More people than ever are making the leap in their 40’s, 50’s and even 60’s. I left a 30 year government and corporate career in finance to begin a consulting practice at 55 years of age.

For those of us that have already taken the leap into entrepreneurship these quotes have applicability, as well. Many of us need to adjust and re-adjust are product offering, marketing or operations several times before we get it right. I started my consulting business 18 months and I am not where I want to be or where I thought I would be when I started. I have needed to change directions a couple times and now that I have, it is probably time to re-focus. Right now I see myself going in too many directions.

Look at where you are with your business. How do you recreate your business to make it more successful and what do you change to make it more personally fulfilling for you? Is it a change in personnel, a new marketing campaign, dropping some products or adding others?

Too often we don’t step back from where we are to take a fresh look at where we want to go and how we can get there. Whether it is a dead end job or a business that is not providing a living wage or fulfilling our personal needs we need to assess our situation periodically. Where are you in this process? I’d like to here what you are doing to assess your situation and where you wish to be a year from now.

Developing an Entrepreneurial Economy in Iowa

There has been a great deal of discussion in Iowa over the recent months and years about how to encourage entrepreneurial development. The formation of new businesses has lagged other states for decades and now that the recession has curtailed new plant locations all eyes are on starting new businesses. Certainly we need to do something after all unbeknownst to most, we were the slowest growing state in the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century was not much different.


Most of the proposals have as there centerpiece an angel or venture capital fund. This is not new either it goes way back to the 1980’s with the creation of the “Iowa Fund” and the “Iowa Product Development Corporation.” These were followed by the Business Development Finance Corporation and the Iowa Capital Investment Corporation. All of these have been noble experiments but in some cases they were not given enough time to work and in other instances they were ill conceived. None of them were enough.

When I say they were not enough, I don’t mean enough money although that could be argued. Providing investment capital does little good if there is little or no entrepreneurial culture, support services or training. These initiatives really need to come before at least simultaneous to the investment capital. They will cost as much or more that the funds directed toward investment capital and they must be given years, perhaps decades to work. If one reads documents prepared by those involved in the North Carolina “Research Triangle” initiative one finds that significant results were not seen for ten to twenty years following its launch.

An entrepreneurial development program that will bring success needs to identify potential service providers and train or re-train them. It needs to educate local and regional leadership and get there buy-in. It needs a commitment from these leaders to work regionally instead of parochially. Those same leaders need to re-direct most of the funds committed to traditional economic development towards developing entrepreneurial businesses. Finally, we need to change the cultural mindset of Iowans. This is the toughest because Iowans have engrained in them the notion that it is better not to take on risky or unfamiliar endeavors than to try and fail.

This initiative is doomed to failure if we do not do something that has opportunities for all regions of the state to succeed at some level. This means an initiative that may be statewide but where program design for a particular region is largely developed locally. The programs should also be, at least in part funded locally, as well.

I have seen this type of program work in other states not unlike Iowa. Recently I have had the opportunity to work with a group of people in Caribbean and South American Nations on an entrepreneurship program for a twenty nation area. I have also had the opportunity to provide input to those attempting to rebuild the economies of Iraq and Afghanistan. In all of these cases I have recommended a comprehensive program that begins with education, training and the building of support services.

I believe that state government has some role to play in all of this. And just like local governments needs to re-allocate funds away from traditional economic development programs and toward entrepreneurship. I also firmly believe that if we are to make significant progress in changing Iowa’s economy the lead and most of the funds must come from philanthropy. This is the only way to keep politics out of it, to keep it flexible and to make quick decisions when necessary. It is also the only way to get a commitment for sustainable. The problem with some of the funding programs mentioned earlier was that they were subject to the whims of people running for office every two or four years. A change in legislature or governors office could doom a program or take it a different direction.

I think this is far more important than many initiatives funded through foundations and other philanthropic organizations. It will take millions of dollars over a number of years but will return far more over the long term. Let me know if you agree or if you are someone with financial means whether you might consider financing a piece of it.

Words for Entrepreneurs to Live By

"The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion." - Thomas Paine

I ran across this quote yesterday and copied it because it is the way I hope I live my life. As I thought more about it I began to think this is the way I attempt to run my business, as well - how applicable this is for entrepreneurs. First of all in today’s society business persons must think globally.

As an example, today before 10:00 am I spoke to two people who were born outside my homeland of the United States. In the first situation I was the customer or client, the person I was speaking to was a female born in Bosnia, who fled prison during the war, lived in Germany for seven years and is now in Iowa running her own business. In the second situation I was the supplier or in this case contractor. The person I spoke to was born in Trinidad and now lives in Jamaica and again runs her own business in Kingston. Whether we like it or not we are in a global society and to be successful in business or in life we must not only except it but embrace it.

My feeling is that there are two ways to do this. One is by attempting to sell to them without knowing their culture, beliefs and traditions. Depending upon the product one is selling this may work for a time, possibly even for five or ten years but eventually someone who understands the customer and their needs will take away the market.

A better way is to fully understand the needs of each customer and provide the product or service in a way that best fills their needs. Even if your product is the same for customers regardless of geography, the payment terms may be different or the way the product is sold or perhaps the way it is delivered. This gets to the part of the quote “…all mankind is my brethren,…”. A customer is a person or group of persons and they should be treated with the same respect and understanding as the customer down the street or across town regardless of race, religion or politics.

All too often, I think business people whether in the U.S. or elsewhere look at customers in a different land as a market to be exploited instead of individual customers with distinct needs and ways of doing business. When we think this way more often than not we have difficulty even penetrating the market let alone capturing it. But if we take the time to understand what they have gone through and what their distinct problems are, we can identify how to help them just as we might the business across town.

Finally, and possibly the most entrepreneurial important part of this quote, “…and  to do good is my religion.” – means that the product or service we produce and sell must do good, it must somehow improve the condition or need of the customer and hopefully mankind.

There are many people who call themselves entrepreneurs who are just out to make a fast buck. I see them on social media and through spam e-mails everyday. They are no more than snake oil salesman and are throwing the word entrepreneur around all over the place. These people are no more entrepreneurs than the person who leaves his or her idea or invention on the shelf and never gets it to market.

The true entrepreneur has a product or service that they truly believe will help solve a problem, large or small and in the end will help people. Whether they are right or wrong about this, they are passionate about what ever the product may be and work day and night to tell the world about it. It is more about seeing their dream to fruition than it is to make money. Making money is only secondary - a way to develop their next product or get even wider distribution of the existing one.

In the end, if successful these products and services will be more sustainable and these true entrepreneurs more financially rewarded than anyone with a get rich scheme. The bonus is that they will be rewarded psychologically, as well. This is the way I approach my business everyday – First and foremost, is what I am doing morally and ethically right and second is it helping someone? If not, hopefully I move on.

So even though Thomas Paine was not referring to business when he said, "The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion"  I believe it applies to entrepreneurs and their businesses today more than ever before. What do you think? Am I reaching here? What have your experiences been? Please comment below.

What Entrepreneurial Training Would be Most Valuable to You?

For the past eight months I have been providing training to economic development professionals on different topics related to working with entrepreneurs. It seems there is a great need for this in Iowa and other Midwestern states. Economic development professionals are skilled at working with established firms, whether those they are attempting to attract into their area or those that are well established in their community. When it comes to helping a star-up or young company, especially ones that may have some technology or non-traditional product it is another matter. I will continue to provide this training, with such workshop topics as "Working with Entrepreneurs," "Developing and Entrepreneurial network and Culture,"  "Assessing Entrepreneurial Opportunities," Entrepreneurial Finance Basics," and "Creating a Regional Angel Fund." 

Are their other topics that you think are missing for community leaders and economic development professionals? Is a half day workshop on each topic that is presented on site the right format? Are economic development professionals the ones that will move entrepreneurial development forward in a community or region or should I be targeting someone else?

I have also developed a couple hour workshop entitled "Is Their an Angel on Your Shoulder" for entrepreneurs that are trying to decide whether angel investment is appropriate for their business. This course could certainly be expanded to four or even eight hours if desired. There are also numerous other topics that could be provided in a workshop format for entrepreneurs. One that comes quickly to mind is, "Preparing Your Business for Outside Investment," and another, "The Pros and Cons of Receiving an Angel or Venture Investment." Can you think of others I should offer? What days work best? Is an eight hour intensive course better or two four hour segments? Is it better if taught in person or would a webinar or some other remote method be better? Are you willing to pay more for an in person workshop. How far would you travel to take such a workshop?

I would like to hear from as many of you as possible so that I can better design courses on meaningful topics and improve those already developed. Please let me know what you think. Thank you.