One of the commonly misunderstood components of an investment in a growing business by people who have not been there before is the concept of paying back the founders. That is, the company has a value, and people sacrificed in some way to help the company get to where it is today. That might have [...]
I regularly visit a site for owners of start-ups where people can post questions and get answers from others who are, or have been, in the same situation as themselves. Often I’ll see a question posted, and realize that the wrong question is being asked. That is, the question itself is valid, but the fact [...]
For a growing start-up, a major event in its early development as a company will be the acquisition of capital, whether in the form of a loan, a gift, or an investment. Founders who seed the company from their personal funds can consider their company as the recipient of a gift. When the money comes [...]
I was reading a question on Answers OnStartup from someone who was not happy with his founders agreement, and wanted to know his options for renegotiating. The agreement made was as follows: I early on pushed for getting an operating contract agreed to by all three because I intuitively believed “make things explicit” would prevent [...]
There is not a single niche market for which there is no competition – and I challenge you, my readers, to show me an exception. If you can understand who your competition is, and how you and they differ from one another, then you’ll understand the being novel is not that important. What is important is to be as good as possible at whatever it is you do.
Elie Kochman is the author of Advice for Small Business Owners and the founder of Optimal Upgrade Consulting. Using his experience working in the corporate world along with his exposure to the world of small businesses, he writes these articles to assist others avoiding common pitfalls of growing a business. His experience in the corporate world, building his own business, and working directly with other growing businesses has given him some perspective on the trials and pains of running a business.
