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Friends & Family As Sources of Business Funding

As a budding entrepreneur, it took a lot of hard work and diligence, but you finally have your business idea squared away and things are starting to make sense. While visions of success circle throughout your mind, there’s probably one haunting fear that remains: how on earth will you come up with enough money to fund this whole thing? That’s usually not an easy question to answer, but it remains critical that we find an answer if we ever want to turn aspirations into achievements.

One of the first places that entrepreneurs look for funding is from family and friends. Sometimes an entrepreneur may be so lucky as to have family and friends come to them before they even ask for funding themselves! But while the sentiment should be appreciated, a wise entrepreneur will consider drawing funding from these two groups of people very cautiously. And while many people draw a hard line on fundraising from family and friends, doing so isn’t always necessary. Yes, these sort of business transactions can have horrible consequences if they sour, but if entered into wisely and with enough analysis, it’s possible for great things to happen. And although the range of things to be considered when entering such an agreement is vast and nearly infinite, I’ve distilled the subject down to three important considerations to ponder when you think of starting a business with the help of family or friends. To emphasize, these aren’t the only considerations that need to be made, neither may they be the absolute most important of any consideration – my aim is simply to provide a few pieces of food for thought.

1. Will the investment dramatically hurt or imbalance the lifestyle of your family member or friend if the deal goes wrong?

Consider how financially stable the prospective investor currently is. For example, if your friend is living with unpaid student loans or other debts, she may not be the best candidate for a round of financing. Even if she is enthusiastic and willing to contribute cash, the risk that this transaction results in if your business fails are simply too high. This isn’t to say that she cannot still provide other types of capital, however. Even though financial investments are out of the picture, personal capital of labor or social capital of contacts may still be desirable!

2. What level of control, if any, does your family member or friend desire?

Some people will contribute money to your cause merely because they want to help you achieve your dreams, and without a second thought to having a role in the business aside from financial backing. On the other hand, other people will expect some role or control in the company. The level of control could range anywhere from having free products and services for life, or a paid position in the upper levels of management. When probing for their desires, be sure to recognize that giving some level of control to the individual may not always be a bad thing. If he is qualified and brings talent or experience to the position, it’s worth considering.

3. What is the payout for your family member or friend? Will it be financial gains or simply goodwill?

Aside from control in business, a second big motivator for investors is the result or “exit strategy,” and family members and friends are no exceptions. Ask the interested investor what her expectations are for the future. Would she like to see her investment double? Or would she simply like her money back after a certain number of years? Either way, planning for the future by evaluating the expectations made today can be instrumental in reducing tensions down the road.

Time Management Tips for Women – Making Time for Work, Family and Friends

Years ago when I worked for a technology consulting firm in the mid-80’s, I learned what would become of many hard earned lessons in time management. This was an exciting period me as well as the industry due to the lightning speed advances in technology. Our mid-sized firm was rapidly growing and I had recently taken on the role as Human Resources Director. This was a newly created role for the company and boy was I excited. However, my go-with-the-flow natural tendency would be challenged by the rigors and demands of my schedule.

I traveled extensively to top-tier universities scouting for super-smart talent, all the while, training all new hires, developing an HR system, raising two small children, and attending school at night. Yes, I was over my head. Well one day the owner sat down in my office, (as he could see my projects were piling up) and asked me to write down in 30 minutes increments what I was doing. Can you imagine that! I felt totally humiliated! That is a moment I will never forget, as then I realized I had never been taught to manage my time- effectively.

Flash forward to 2011, I’m now a work-from-home entrepreneur running an Internet Marketing firm and Style Coaching business. And things couldn’t be tougher to stay on task, and produce projects (such as this newsletter) on time.

When I see pictures of moms holding kids at a computer, I shake my head in sadness. That image has turned out more stressed out non-productive people you can imagine! There was a time I used to be one of them, but not anymore. Let me share with you the top time management tips of some of the most successful people I know.

1) Completely clear the clutter from your work space. Nothing creates more mental stress than to see piles and mounds of half completed projects. Immediately clear them away and notice the immediate peace that will overtake your spirit.

2) Work in solitude free from distractions. No TV, No music, No surfing the net, if your serious about working from home, achieving the success you desire you have to commit this no excuses. Now this was a tough one for me, because I love me some good music! Don’t get me wrong, I still crank up the music, but not while concentrating on completing a project.

3) Do not answer your phone. If your like me and have children, put the phone on silent and look at it every 15-30 minutes to see if you have missed THEIR call, no one else. Kids love to text- so use that tool to keep in touch. I’m baffled by parents who do not like to text, especially with their children. How on earth can they and you stay on task by engaging in distracting phone conversations throughout the day?

4) Choose a time of day to respond to email. We live in a society of email overload by stuff you’ve signed up to receive and loads of other mystery email that show up in your box. Whatever email account you use, most offer sophisticated tools to help sort and prioritize your emails. Don’t respond randomly throughout the day or you’ll lose precious moments staying focused and on task to complete what you really should be focused on.

5) Block out time in 30 minute increments for projects-then take a stretch. It’s important to know where your time is going and what you’re doing so you can adjust to stay on track. If your like me, your managing several blogs, writing newsletters, coaching clients, board responsibilities, all the while creating new and exciting projects. You cannot overemphasize the importance of time and energy control when you are trying to run your own business or simply be productive. You need to learn the value of time blocking, activity batching, and scripting your day. Stretching sends vital oxygen to your brain and energizes your cells. Try it, it really works!

6) Put your family and friends on notice about your schedule changes. This is a hard one for them to accept. Most people don’t believe you can make money from home, but oh are they dead wrong. By responding to their every request, you’re giving them permission to devalue what you do. What’s even worse is that you’re not getting the results your hoping for, and we all know what that leads to-frustration, fighting and non-productivity.

7) I strongly recommend going to bed early. Even “cool and hip” New York Times best-selling author and celebrity Neil Strauss admitted that an early morning schedule allowed him to get more done. You’ll find that you’ll get “2 hours of afternoon work” done in 30 minutes of morning productivity. Again, I was sure success hinged on the idea of working myself to a pulp. Yep, that’s about what you will become. Pulp!

It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth, and wisdom. ~Aristotle

If working from home to you means relaxing with a laptop and coffee in hand at your local Starbucks or mentally fussing about things that need to get done at home, your aren’t going to create the life you’re hoping for. I’m sorry to tell that’s just not going to happen.

Here’s how to get MORE done. PERIOD.

You need to get serious about simple planning and a time management checklist.

The very last thing you should do each workday is to prepare a schedule/checklist for the next day’s work. Develop a template based on your current projects and literally block time for each task.

In order to “create” this schedule, you’ll need to use a journal to record how you are spending your time right now. Recall my opening story of having to “track my time?” Carry a notebook with you for a couple of days and write down exactly what you are doing every 15 minutes. Do this all day for three straight workdays. You will then identify the things that cause you to waste time, and you can work on eliminating those.

You may notice patterns of falling into the trap of checking emails that then taken you to far away places, like sports sites, fashion newsletters, twitter, etc. You see where this is going and so is your time. See that’s why having your schedule is so important. It will bring you right back to where you need to be.

Lastly identify the time of day when your most productive. What I’ve found is this may interfere with another family task. This is where family and friend support is so important to fill in those spaces of time so you can stat on task. Otherwise, you may find success eludes you for a long time, until you apply these time tested principles.

Social Media Marketing – Make Friends and Gain Customers Online

Today’s business can benefit from Social Media Marketing. This involves using websites that bring people together in an informal cyber-setting. The majority of these sites are free to join and use. The best news is that, by making friends on these sites, you can foster business relationships that will help you win over friends and associates.

Facebook or MySpace are two of the primary Social Media Marketing sites. Setting up an account with either is easy; just follow the virtual form that is given. When you enter your data, include your company name and important information about your company. This will become a part of your profile for people to see whenever they visit your home page.

You do not have to stop there, though. Continue with your marketing by updating your status frequently. Go onto Facebook or MySpace and write a bit of news or information about your company as a post. You can also post links to your website whenever you choose.

The important thing to remember about these Social Media Marketing websites is that you want to make friends online. You will be given a chance right away to invite people to be your friends. It is a good idea to start out with as many friends as possible, but having even a few is helpful. Over time, you will be given the option to add friends who have mutual friends with you. The more friends you get, the more people you will reach.

Twitter is also becoming popular these days. People like to tweet messages about what they are doing and read about their friends. Again, use this Social Media Marketing tool to make as many friends and potential customers as possible. You will have followers, some who will decide to follow you with no prompting from you at all. It is also a good idea to follow others, as these people will probably follow you. The things you can post are similar to what you can post on other sites such as Facebook and MySpace.

There are special Social Media Marketing groups online that work as insiders’ clubs. You are asked to join, and then you ask others to join. This is a way to create a professional network. LinkedIn is one of these directory type programs you can use. Not only can you create a network of associates; you can also get people in other businesses involved who might, then, be your customers.

Social Media Marketing is the one of the best ways to reach people through the Internet on a personal level. It is all about making friends and then updating them on your business. It will only take a fraction of your time, and it may pay off in large rewards.