entrepreneurship@slu COLEMAN FELLOWS SUMMIT 2014: "It's Not As Foreign As You Think! (a.k.a. The Seven Secrets of Success for Independent Professionals) Jerome Katz Coleman Foundation Professor in Entrepreneurship John Cook School of Business Saint Louis University
68
Embed
Jerome Katz Coleman Foundation Professor in Entrepreneurship John Cook School of Business
COLEMAN FELLOWS SUMMIT 2014: "It's Not As Foreign As You Think! (a.k.a. The Seven Secrets of Success for Independent Professionals). Jerome Katz Coleman Foundation Professor in Entrepreneurship John Cook School of Business Saint Louis University. Objectives for Today. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Welcome message from author
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
entrepreneurship@slu
COLEMAN FELLOWS SUMMIT 2014: "It's Not As
Foreign As You Think! (a.k.a. The Seven Secrets
of Success for Independent Professionals)
Jerome KatzColeman Foundation Professor
in EntrepreneurshipJohn Cook School of Business
Saint Louis University
entrepreneurship@slu
entrepreneurship@slu
Objectives for Today
1. Identify & leverage A/S skills for your own business.
2. Identify key resources and supports for the small business.
3. Clarify the critical success factors and pitfalls to avoid in your own business.
– Income Substitution• Full-time self-employment for
yourself
entrepreneurship@slu
Today’s Secrets
1. Act to Open2. Pick a Market3. Craft an Entering Strategy4. Price & Haggle5. Think Strategically6. Plan to Move Up7. Help Helps. Get some.
entrepreneurship@slu
S1 - Getting In: To Act You Need To Open
• Types of businesses– Professional practices
• Delivers standard services
– Consulting • Delivers specialized services
– Workshops (Inventors) /Studios (Artists)
– Retail/Wholesale Stores– Today any could be bricks,
clicks or both
entrepreneurship@slu
Key : Deciding What You Can Sell
• What do you like to do?– Can you do it now or do you
need to learn something 1st?
• What will people pay for?– You may need to look for
your customer somewhere else
• The sweet spot is where the two come together.
entrepreneurship@slu
Keep Your Eyes Open!
• Baby boomers are going to be retiring by the millions
• Those that own businesses will either sell them or have to close them down.
• You might be able to get these at great prices.
entrepreneurship@slu
S1(c) - Getting Into Business: Opening
• Get a Team– Prof. Association
• Inventors, Artists, Professions, etc.
– Mentor• Look for alums & locals big on
giving back, also from Prof. Assocs.
– Attorney: General vs. Specialized– Bookkeeper or Accountant
• Get referrals from people already in the business
entrepreneurship@slu
entrepreneurship@slu
S2 - Marketing Basics
• Market as key– Best: Client in hand at start– Use 6 degrees of separation
• Work, Schools, Church, Family
– Prospect via Internet, connect personally
entrepreneurship@slu
Marketing = Selling
• For most A&S driven firms, customers come from personal connections and contacts.
• The more people you know, the more likely you are to find customers.
entrepreneurship@slu
How Do You Find People?
• Alums (esp. successful ones)– Why alumni offices might like to
help you!
• In-class speakers & judges
• Family, friends & their friends
• Social network acquaintances
• Ask yourself – who can your product or service help?
entrepreneurship@slu
Prospecting Using LinkedIn
entrepreneurship@slu
Prospecting Using LinkedIn
entrepreneurship@slu
Search For Alums
entrepreneurship@slu
entrepreneurship@slu
Fine Tuning Location
entrepreneurship@slu
S2(b) - Marketing Basics
• Your package– Business Cards – get online or at
Office Depot– Pamphlet – you, your product or
service– Bio/Resume– Website
• Informational (2-3 pages can do it)• Go cheap but buy your domain (~$8), e.g.
www.jeromekatz.com - this also gives you your name as your email.
entrepreneurship@slu
Next: You Need An Irresistible Product
entrepreneurship@slu
S3 - Entering Strategy
• What will you offer?– Fit to your clients’ needs
• What do they want?• Don’t know? Ask!
– Think features, not price• If it is “right”, people will pay more
– Look for products (vs. services)• E.g. instead of personally checking
grammar, sell an template add-on to word that checks what you would.
entrepreneurship@slu
Checking the Competition
• You can use Google to find websites of competitors– Look for services/products– Look for recurring themes– Look for testimonials for types
of customers to pursue
entrepreneurship@slu
entrepreneurship@slu
entrepreneurship@slu
entrepreneurship@slu
What do you do next?• Check out competitors online.• Look for reviews on Yelp, Google,
elsewhere…• See what your friends say.• Go visit.• Question: what do you think they
do well? What’s missing?• Think about what you can do
better!
entrepreneurship@slu
S3 - Entering Strategy
• Why should they pick you?– Trust– Expertise– Providing a distinctive product or
service
– NOTE: You don’t want to be the cheapest!
entrepreneurship@slu
Why You Need Record Keeping
• To keep track of business– Customer lists, project lists…
• To keep track of money– Are you ahead of the game?
• To pay taxes– Government requires you to
keep track
entrepreneurship@slu
Record Keeping
• Level 1: Paper ledgers, day-timers– Office Depot
• Level 2: MS Excel – Templates @ office.microsoft.com
• Level 3: Quickbooks or NolaPro Online
• Level 4: Accounting Packages specific to your profession
• KEY: Keep it simple to keep being consistent
• Consider a bookkeeper – barter!
entrepreneurship@slu
entrepreneurship@slu
Don’t Freak Out, You Know This…
• Cash Flow – like a checkbook/debit card
• Profit & Loss – like a budget
• Balance Sheet – like a tax return
• Start-Up Costs – like a remodeling estimate
entrepreneurship@slu
S4 - Pricing: Figuring Hours
• Think “You vs. Employee”• Solo can be slower (fewer
supports) or faster (expertise)• Iceberg rule: they only see a
fraction of what it takes– Usually 2 or 3 to 1– Also true for employees
• That’s why you bill hours + overhead.
entrepreneurship@slu
Pricing: Figuring Rates
• Comparison Figures (salary.com)
– Was looking for aConsulting Biologist
– Title not used in Salary.com– Looked for biologist– Then looked at the alternate titles– Found it in Biologist V
entrepreneurship@slu
entrepreneurship@slu
entrepreneurship@slu
entrepreneurship@slu
entrepreneurship@slu
entrepreneurship@slu
Pricing: Figuring Rates
• Comparison Figures (salary.com)
– Consulting Biologist (Biologist V)– Average Salary: $103,463– Benefits (33%) $40,000– Overhead (20%) $20,000– Total Hourly Average is $81.73– Assume only 60% billable hours
81.73 * 1.6 = $131 / hr.
entrepreneurship@slu
entrepreneurship@slu
Price too high? Haggle
• Clarify in-house cost• Provide extra value (e.g. web
access, faster results, guarantees)
• Stretch out payments• Bundle this service with others
(repeats, this + another service, etc.)
• Get them to find other clients and sell the syndicate a package (or offer a rebate for referrals)
• Offer a “bare bones” version (if you can live with it)
entrepreneurship@slu
5 - Strategic Thinking
• Master a deliverable, package it, promote it & price it lower or offer it faster– Expectant mothers, diabetics
• Leverage groups you participate in – They trust your hour estimates
• Website/newsletter for visibility• Reading business news like obituaries,
listening to gossip at church– Katrina opportunities
• Distribute products you respect
entrepreneurship@slu
S6a - Move Up: Income Substitution
• Ride Circuit – Go Outstate • Adjunct Instruct • Go deep in one industry – e.g.
Nursing Home Trade Assoc. for a dietician
• Expertise by web – About.com• Snowball sample – Referral
design
entrepreneurship@slu
S6b - Move Up: Wealth Creation
• Tech Transfer– Leading edge technologies– Popularization, e.g. California