http://www.financealley.com en-us editorial@financealley.com An interesting question came up the other day which warrants attention. The question was whether entrepreneurs should hire entrepreneurs. In thinking about how to answer this question, I started thinking about a book written by Michael Gerber entitled The... http://www.financealley.com/article_31774_15.html 24th February 2006 When companies enter into negotiations with venture capital firms, there are several issues which need to be defined and agreed upon. This article describes the key issues. Valuation. Valuation is the most prominent negotiating issues. Valuation is the... http://www.financealley.com/article_6388_15.html 25th August 2005 The most important function of a business plan is to create interest among investors so that they write a check. In achieving this goal, business plan writers are often challenged by determining the proper level of optimism in their plan. That is, they mu... http://www.financealley.com/article_6387_15.html 25th August 2005 Investors, like the rest of us, have different tastes. One investor may love a concept and/or business plan while the next may hate both. It is important to understand this as business plans are working documents and are always undergoing iterations. M... http://www.financealley.com/article_6386_15.html 25th August 2005 Venture capital firms are comprised of individual partners. These partners make investment decisions and typically take a seat on each portfolio company's Board. Partners tend to invest in what they know, so finding a partner that has past work experience... http://www.financealley.com/article_6385_15.html 25th August 2005 Corner computer desks are ideal for a corner space in the house or office. They give allow a worker to focus, giving the feel of an exclusive space. 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Businesses try to get as much information about their sales leads as possible. They need to find out what makes this per... http://www.financealley.com/article_6272_15.html 24th August 2005 Precision metal stamping is the process of making 3-dimensional metal parts, lettering and other embossing. This is a kind of metal stamping used mostly for decorative purposes. It is similar to normal metal stamping, which is the process of molding metal... http://www.financealley.com/article_6271_15.html 24th August 2005 Products for sale need to be displayed in a manner which best presents them in the customers' eyes. For example, clothing needs to be folded on shelves, hung from racks or displayed on mannequins. Books need to be displayed in shelves, spinning racks and ... http://www.financealley.com/article_6268_15.html 24th August 2005 A mannequin head is a life-size head that includes all of the features of a human face. Mannequin heads can be used in several different situations. They can be used to model hats, wigs, makeup, or be used as practice dummies by people learning to cut hai... http://www.financealley.com/article_6266_15.html 24th August 2005 Forging partnerships to improve market penetration has become commonplace, particularly for "new economy" businesses. And, most companies proudly mention their many partnerships in their business plans. The fact is that, regardless of whom the partners... http://www.financealley.com/article_6260_15.html 24th August 2005 While most companies seeking venture capital initially think about angel investors and venture capitalists, a large alternative source of financing is federal grants and loans. The two largest federal grant programs are run by the Small Business Administr... http://www.financealley.com/article_6259_19.html 24th August 2005 The Marketing Plan section of the business plan demonstrates how a company will penetrate the market with its products and services. The Marketing Plan should include "the four P's" – Product, Promotions, Price, and Place. Products and/or Services The... http://www.financealley.com/article_6256_15.html 24th August 2005 Many ventures are faced with the challenging task of raising venture capital. The first part of this process is finding the right venture capital firm (VC). While this may seem simple, it isn't. There are thousands of venture capital firms in the United S... http://www.financealley.com/article_6254_19.html 24th August 2005 When a company decides that it must raise capital, a key question that must be answered is how much the company is worth. For example, if the business needs $500,000 to get started and/or grow, how much of the equity in that company should $500,000 comman... http://www.financealley.com/article_6252_19.html 24th August 2005 Entrepreneurs and companies who are seeking venture capital often negotiate with one or more venture capital firms on a number of important issues. 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A warrant is like an option – it gives the holder the right to buy a security at a fixed or formulaic price, which is known as the "exercise" or ... http://www.financealley.com/article_6248_19.html 24th August 2005 Companies seeking capital often ask how long the Executive Summary of their business plan should be. The answer depends upon the use of the summary, mainly determining if 1) it precedes the full business plan, or 2) it will be used as a stand-alone docume... http://www.financealley.com/article_6186_15.html 23rd August 2005 Many people ask how many graphs or charts they should have in their business plans. As with most other business planning questions, the answer is "it depends." This article discusses the key factors influencing the number of graphs and charts to include i... http://www.financealley.com/article_6183_15.html 23rd August 2005 In developing their business plans, companies of all sizes face the challenge of determining the size of their markets. 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In fact, the quality of the IP and the management team are often the two most important aspects of a venture capitalist's investment decision. The chall... http://www.financealley.com/article_6179_15.html 23rd August 2005 Business plans continue to be an essential element of the capital-raising process. They must convince investors to take notice - investors that are shrewder today due to the ups-and-downs they have experienced over the past few years. Adding to the fin... http://www.financealley.com/article_6178_15.html 23rd August 2005 Most companies vastly underestimate the time commitment necessary to successfully complete a financing. In actuality, a company seeking financing needs to budget between 500 to 1000 work-hours to the capital-raising process, spread out over a 6-9 month t... http://www.financealley.com/article_6177_15.html 23rd August 2005 The Operations Plan is a critical component of any business plan as it presents the Company's action plan for executing its vision. The Operations Plan must detail 1) the processes that are performed to serve customers every day (short-term processes) and... http://www.financealley.com/article_6176_15.html 23rd August 2005 A Bahamas vacation is something that most travelers will never forget. The 700 islands of the Bahamas make up a 100,000-square-mile archipelago, extending over 500 miles. Including uninhabited cays and large rocks, it has a total estimated land area of 5... http://www.financealley.com/article_6100_33.html 23rd August 2005 More and more students, both in undergraduate and graduate institutions, are deciding to launch their own ventures upon graduation rather than taking the traditional route of working for another firm. 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The Governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, recently proclaimed that Florida "is a story of a robust economy, of technology innovation, of... http://www.financealley.com/article_3451_15.html 28th July 2005 When developing the competition section of your business plan, companies must define competition correctly, select the appropriate competitors to analyze, and explain its competitive advantages. To start, companies must align their definition of compet... http://www.financealley.com/article_3450_15.html 28th July 2005 An online forex broker is a firm that facilitates retail trading using Internet technologies. Global Forex Trading (GFT), one of the popular online forex brokers. It provides retail traders with a free demo trading account, allows users to open a live ac... http://www.financealley.com/article_3449_19.html 28th July 2005 The choice to incorporate a small business in Florida has several advantages. Corporations are separate legal entities and, as such, the corporation rather than individual owners pay both the taxes and the liabilities. If you are thinking of running (or... http://www.financealley.com/article_3336_15.html 26th July 2005 There are many ways to incorporate a business in Florida. While companies exist to do the legwork and paperwork for you, the most direct way is to contact the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporation's website itself. When you visit the w... http://www.financealley.com/article_3055_15.html 19th July 2005 How long should a business plan be? A business plan needs to be whatever length is required to excite the investor, prove that management truly understands the market, and detail the execution strategy. From surveys of investor needs, Growthink has found ... http://www.financealley.com/article_3054_15.html 19th July 2005 The Customer Analysis section of the business plan assesses the customer segments that the company serves. 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They are the division of the Department of State to contact for questions about incorporating in Florida. Besides providing excellent online information... http://www.financealley.com/article_2904_15.html 13th July 2005 Even the best new concept or existing plan will fail if executed poorly. The Management Team section of the business plan must prove to the investor why the key company personnel are eminently qualified to execute on the business model. The Management ... http://www.financealley.com/article_2902_15.html 13th July 2005 Angel investors are individuals who invest in emerging business ventures. Angels typically provide both capital and know-how to companies who are in either their start-up or expansion phases. To reflect the increased risk of investing in such firms, angel... http://www.financealley.com/article_2636_15.html 10th July 2005