Industry Education vs Industry Experience in Business

I have changed many things from the experts I profiled and researched over the past few weeks.  Some people say that the best way to learn is by doing and I have learned that the statement is very true.  I have changed by business model and my original thinking about my company.  I have found that the easiest answer is never the answer for the long-term situations.  Below are some of my experiences that have shape my thinking.  They discuss some of the big changes I made to my plan.

Although propaganda floods various media outlets one thing holds true, the economy is in uncharted territory, so always give yourself enough space in your budget for unexpected expenses.  As a former active duty Marine I rejoined the civilian sector thinking I should first complete my formal education to support my professional experience. The transition process didn't prep me for the next step. I can't sat what the transition process is for every Marine, but I can say that my immediate chain of command made no effort to ensure my continued success.  It wasn't a completely horrible experience I had to amazing Sergeant Majors that ensured I got the help I needed to succeed on my way out.  Even with their help I realized this was a teaching moment. Have you ever given everything to something only to be met with insult and injury?  Story of my life!

Eleanor Roosevelt said, "I am who I am today, because of the choices I made yesterday."  I started school full time shortly after leaving active duty only to find there wasn't much learning going on the institution.  I quickly found that school was the fastest way to go for broke. Some times you just have to “go for it” as Jayson Whitmore outlines or “Go it Alone,” like Bruce Judson.  I was blessed to be allowed to use the GI Bill enacted to allow veterans to take full advantage of their educational benefits. This is a great program that helped me get through the program with minimal debt; however my peers and even instructors weren't so lucky. While completing school I choose to work full time in an animation studio. During my time at the studio I traveled around the country, represented the company to million dollar clients and international advertising agencies, produced campaigns for international products, and negotiated international contracts.

I learned more from my hands on career than ever in a classroom, but after I finished my Bachelor's degree I choose to continue to my Masters program.  While in this program I decided to take the Movis Media Brand to a new level. We have signed new clients enabling us to operate in the now instead of what could be.  This exciting journey has pushed me to clear the thoughts that a formal education alone has a fighting chance in this economy without many other factors.  Never once has a client asked about my educational background, which I find ironic since that's what is mandatory right?  They focus solely on our results and professional, which can be credited to a proper upbringing. 

What makes an entrepreneur competitive in today's market?  Napoleon Hill wrote a book called "Think and Grow Rich."  This masterfully written text was beyond its time.  Mr. Hill talked about how Andrew Carnegie commissioned him to write this book and capture the inside stories of great entrepreneurs from all back grounds even humble uneducated beginnings including Thomas Edison and Ford.  Someone once asked Thomas edition why he continued to attempt inventing the light bulb after more than 10,000 failed attempts. Mr. Edison said after so many failures success became the only option.

The most important areas I believe investors will focus on when reading my business plan are the financial areas.  Although I know we have a strong concept with Movis Media Group, investors focus on the bottom line information.  What would be their return on investment?  Another key area is the marketing information and how we secure business.  Les Brown was quoted saying, "Shoot for the moon and even if you miss you will land among the stars."  You're more than what you have become go for it!  What do you think?

Business Planning Considerations

Business plan development is one of the most imperative, yet over looked aspects of new businesses.  More than 543,000 new businesses start every month in the US and “Entrepreneurial activity among ethnic groups is gaining traction as well. 39.8 percent of the nation’s current 11.5 million entrepreneurs belong to non-Caucasian ethnicities. 22.9 percent are Latino,” according to Forbes.com.  I recently sat down with international motivational speaker and businessman John Garcia to discuss his journey from working in fields picking cotton to sharing international stages with the worlds most powerful speakers including Zig Ziglar, Les Brown and Loral Langemeier just to name a few.

This powerful interview shed a brief light on the power of a dream well developed.  What else does it take to yield a significant return on your investment in order to skyrocket your dream?  Well this weekend I spent some time with the “Millionaire Maker” Loral Langemeier New York Times best selling author.  Her view on what investors are looking for in a business plan is simply return on investment.  She further delved into her philosophy and introduced me to her concept of saying “YES!!!” to your business and yourself.  

“The first thing we do when working with new clients on their businesses is to go back and see how much money they have given away,” said Langemeier.  Most new businesses and brands don’t know what they don’t know, so they leave money on the table.  There are more than 73,600 pages of tax code, so it’s important to build a team with specialists that can ensure you get everything you rate.  During a presentation Langemeier gave she had the entire room stand up and went through a list of scenarios to illustrate how many people were falling short when it came to their business plan, team support and growth.  Her point was that in order to grow to a new height you must “Do what you do best, and let the others do the rest,” similar to Bruce Judson’s principles his book “Go It Alone.” 

Do you think both John Garcia and Loral Langemeier have valid points?  I am finding quickly that the more you surround yourself with people that have been where you want to go the stronger your business plan development will be.  Thanks for reading I look forward to your feed back.

Building your team

What happens when you have a great idea, but no one to help develop your concept?  Well statistics show that the average person will let the idea die or eliminate the possibility of success in their minds.  How do you find a team to help develop and grow your dream?  Where are all of the other go getters hiding? 

Well I don’t have all of the answers, but in recent weeks I found a few options that have brought me a little closer to accomplishing my goal of creating an application that could revolutionize communication as we know it.  It started with an idea.  Then I looked online for the answers.  I found quickly that no incubator or investor wants to work with a sole proprietor, because there is no team unit established.  A team can be cultivated together, but a sole proprietor needs a team built, which in itself is a challenge.  After facing the hard reality that I needed a team, I did what most people do I tried to think of people I know.  I thought I had the perfect person to join my team as a cofounder, but I quickly found that this person had no follow through.

The question at this point became what should I do next? Where do you find people that are interested in developing a new business?  Well, after finding an incubator program I admired, I found a company called the CoFounder’s Lab.  This website is filled with doers.  People signed up on this website are looking to join a start up, looking for someone to join their start up or open to collaboration.  I met a potential cofounder for my project and we have been collaborating on our projects for the past few week.  This was the best initial option for starting our team.  What obstacles have you faced?  Do you know of any other websites that connect business people?  Are you interested in collaborating?  I hope you are enjoying this journey.  I look forward to your thoughts.

Incubator Programs

An incubator program is “an organization designed to accelerate the growth and success of entrepreneurial companies through an array of business support resources and services that could include physical space, capital, coaching, common services, and networking connections.”  

Recently I have been researching various incubator programs as well as funding sources to help both develop and expose my companies products and services.  The more I research I find the more I am sure that finding the right incubator or investor will make the difference between a successful venture and one that reaches a plateau at half mass.  Although I am sure this is the best option for my company and I it may not be a good fit for you.  Let’s examine how the current market place works with new businesses and products. 

The most recent experience I have with the current market place is developing an app I will be launching early next year.  The app market is enormous and constantly growing.  There are more than 675,000 apps available via the Apple App Store and Google Android store not to mention more than 25 billion downloads in the Google Android store alone.  What does this mean for developer?  Well one thing that is abundantly clear is that there is a huge billion-dollar market for their products and significant outlets for distribution.  What are the down falls?  The major down falls are the amount of competition and the dynamic shifts in technology.  Technology is a long way from the standard black and white monitor that took immense amounts of coding to get a dot on the screen or the black and white tube television that weighed much more than today’s digital devices that can fit in your pocket. 

            After addressing the information above you can clearly see that both beating the competition and maximizing exposure are vital to emerging success.  One Incubator program I have came across while I was traveling this summer is Tech Stars, which is a company base in Boston and New York.  Although there are more than 900 incubator programs nationwide, Tech Stars’ success rate and overall benefits have sparked my interest.  It’s great to have a product that could change the way technology works for consumers, but if you have no outlet to ensure its exposure and success that product will never blossom to it’s full potential.  Currently I am still in search of a good fit as far as incubator programs and investors, but I am well one my way to getting the information I need to make an informed decision.  What do you think?  Are incubators good or bad?  Comment or connect with me on Facebook and let me know.

Legal Consultation

Movis Media Group is a media management and consulting firm that focus on taking projects from concept to completion.  While researching entertainment representation for my company I was referred to a South Florida attorney tat has worked in the entertainment industry for more than a decade.  He has been a practicing attorney since the 1970’s.  His expertise is entertainment law and consulting.  I met with Mr. Black to discuss what legal steps I needed to take in order to build a secure foundation.  I outlined the details of how Movis Media Group operates as well as what projects we are developing or plan to develop over the next few years.

         Some of the things we discussed in our initial meeting are non-circumvention, non-compete and non-disclosure agreement.  We also discussed legal fees and retainer fees.  Mr. Black specializes in contracts, copyright, trademark clearances and business organization.  He has worked with some of the industries leading artists.  He also advised that it is important work with attorneys that special in the area in which you need counsel.  For example, we discussed trademarking my company branding and logo.  Mr. Black suggested a trademark specialty attorney. 

         We also discussed what fees are necessary to secure sufficient protection.  The initial start up costs would cover securing the initial structure. After meeting with Mr. Black and addressing my legal concerns I decided he is a great resource for knowledge.  His experience and background are more than I could have expected for initial consultation.  One of the best things about Mr. Black is that many people know his work and his business is spread through word of mouth.  I heard about him through a past client and when I connected with him I realized other people I have worked with have also entrusted their legal guidance to Mr. Black.