Helpful Tips
We are often asked by interested parties whether or not the business idea they may be considering truly has $30 - $50 million growth potential within five to seven years. We offer the following points to consider as you ponder that question:
- Start with your customer in mind. Are you considering individual consumers as your primary audience, or is your product or service targeted to a business or institutional customer?
- What geography do you have in mind for your customer base – regional, national or international?
- What need does your product or service address, and how is that need currently being satisfied, if at all, in the marketplace?
- What is the anticipated selling price of your product or service, and how many sales (units) must be sold to reach the $30 million sales level?
Answering these initial questions requires extensive self-study and research and will serve to get you started. You will find additional questions and guidelines to guide you through the development of your early stage business or idea under Investment Process.
The following additional tips are offered to further stimulate big ideas and tomorrow’s successful companies:
- Think Innovation – create something new, exciting and different that could be truly valuable to a consumer or business customer. Connect with members of the technical community (engineers, doctors, scientists, chemists, software specialist, etc.) to form strong management teams and leverage one another’s strengths.
- Growth Mindset – think in terms of broader geographies for doing business, expanded product lines, and key strategic relationships. Rather than thinking that you lack the resources (money and people) you need to run your business the way you would like, assume that you do have those resources. Then explain in detail how your business would operate with them.
- Research, Research, Research – leverage the incredible power of search engines such as Google to research your potential market, look for competitors, relevant studies, etc. Competition for investment dollars is fierce, and truly requires each applicant to “bring their A-game”. There is no substitute for proper preparation.
- The Value of Guidance & Exposure – receiving critical strategic advice and direction, as well as access to a variety of other potential resources, is most important at the early stages of developing your business. Becoming engaged in the process is where the real value exists.
We also encourage you to visit our Useful Links page, which has several valuable resources available to entrepreneurs.