Networking…The Key to Success

Networking is the ultimate key to success in business. I completely agree with what was said in class. If you don’t have any networking experience in the industry you wish to pursue a career in, you have no right to be working in it. The majority of my knowledge I have consumed about Finance has not come from college, but has come from workers from within the industry. Setting up informational interviews as well as obtaining an internship, and establishing contacts within the industry has helped me excel at a faster rate. Creating “networks” within an industry leads to endless amounts of opportunities. From my positive and successful networking within the financial industry, I have now opened my eyes to networking with entrepreneurs. I have recently within the last few months came up with a golf website that I feel has a major upside to it and I am currently networking and learning about how to grow this idea from an “idea” to a reality. Just speaking with entrepreneurs within the computer industry has helped me more than anything. I plan on conducting more informational interviews within the industry to gain more knowledge and more insight about how to grow a successful company.

The Importance of The SalesMan/Women

I feel that the salesperson of the company is one of the most vital positions for the company to fill in while hiring. Bringing in a great a great sales person could take your company to the next level. The sales person in my eyes is so important because he is the one going out and meeting with clients and trying to sell your product. A good sales person knows how to market a product, making it appeal to the buyer. By having on board a great sales person could lead to an increase in sales. When I’ve interviewed entrepreneurs, they all said how important their sales people are. They also have told me that in the early goings of their business they were the ones on the road selling there product. When starting a business in order to save cost they told me hiring a sales person come later on. At the beginning it’s you who is going out and finding investors and showing your product to perspective clients.

They all have told me that a great sales pitch and presentation is vital to keeping the investors/customers attention and hope that they are interested in the product. They told me when they finally get to the point to hire someone it’s usually the toughest position to fill. They have said it’s the toughest position to fill because they’re putting their product and pretty much their business in this person’s hand. This person is going to be going out representing your company/product and trying to sell it. If he doesn’t do a good job selling and representing the product you could potentially lose clients, not sell your product and ultimately leading to the demise of your company. They see the sales person as a major point of the business stage; he can either take this company and product to the next level or not.

In my opinion if you have a good product I feel it’s a majority of the time going to sell and have investors involved regardless. But I do feel for a product on the brink having a good sales person could be the difference, especially when competing against competitors in the same industry.

Is Giving Up a Controlling Stake Worth It...?

I look at financing as one of the most crucial and important parts of a startup business. While working at Citigroup I’ve had the opportunity to speak to many entrepreneurs and discuss where they feel there business is and where they want it to go. Working in Mergers I’ve hear numerous times an entrepreneur wanting to find more financing and wanting to expand the company, but when they were raising capital they either gave up to much ownership of the company to one Venture Capitalist firm or, they gave ownership away to numerous investors, which took the power out of the entrepreneurs hands. Although raising capital and trying to raise as much as possible at the beginning feels like it the best thing for the company, eventually it could turn into a nightmare. Seeing your company grow, and wanting to see it grow to it’s full potential and having that dream crushed by the investors or venture capitalist firms is something I surely do not want for my company. My main goal for my start up is to make sure that my management team and I are in control of the controlling stake of the company and eventually have the final call on all decisions.

Net-Working Update

I have recently completed my first and second e-mail. These interviews were completed at Cenntriss Corporation in Long Island. This company is a computer programming company that creates a program that does scheduling for schools. I met with the Founder and Co-Founder of the company, and they gave some insight into what were some of the most vital points in starting up the company. They told me that they had previously worked in the software industry and saved up money to begin putting the wheels in motion to creating the company. They said they first before even started thinking about hiring or search for more funding, they first needed a product, which they were able to start creating themselves. Creating a product, a target and where they were planning to start selling it were the first things that came to their mind. They told me if you have a product, and you feel strongly about it then your road to success is just beginning. They told me more than anything that you have to first be ready to go through hell with the company. It’s going to get tough before it gets easy. The hardest thing they told me was how much how close they were to going bankrupt with their life savings and loans and how much debt and broke they were about to be. Basically what I got out of this interview is that it’s a long tough road, but you must be willing to stay in it until your last dollar and penny, because your definitely not making it off of your first whatever amount it is.

Networking Up-Date: Part 1

While visiting my roommate out in California for spring break other than playing some golf, and enjoying some good wine I also found time to unintentionally interview a very successful entrepreneur. Out of everyone’s conducted interviews I feel like this might be the most unique. It all started yesterday, St. Patrick’s Day when I and my roommate Spencer were enjoying a nice Guinness out under the California sun. We were sitting and enjoying these Guinness at one of the few tables at the pub. Eventually we were approached by these two men who really wanted this table and we offered to give it to them, being the nice guys we are. After a brief argument with this woman who was sitting by our table for an hour and waiting for us to get up; we eventually were able to hand over our table to these two men and their wives. Due to the fact that they asked us first was the ultimate reason, not because the woman was a nagging….you get the point.

Anyways it turned out that these two men were extremely successful entrepreneurs, and were very found of me and Spence solely because how loyal we were. After introducing ourselves we got to talking and we eventually came to the point of what they do. They explained to us how one of them, Greg, owned a wine bottling company. Basically his company manufactures the wine bottles themselves and then sells them to the winery’s so they can bottle there wine. He was telling us how difficult it first was for him, not being able to make a profit and incurring a loss every year. Like other entrepreneurs I spoke to, Greg as well had prior experience in the industry and new that he company was an important factor that wouldn’t stop growing as well as being able to set up networks with winery’s throughout California and the rest of the country. Other than asking Greg about the how he began his business and what was the turning point a major point was talking about financing and the importance of managing the space funds and limited time (the time left before the venture is bankrupt and has no investors waiting in line.

This friendship I’ve made was simply over a stupid table that meant absolutely nothing to me. But it shows you if you do the right thing and are a loyal person you will eventually meet and have the ball bounce your way. Me and Spence are extremely happy with the networking possibilities, advice and friendship we were able to grow in a short period of time. What I learned from this interview is that the financing is the time tables you have left to succeed before you fail, so everyday you need to make the right choices and do everything you got into your business and just be absolutely determined to win and be successful. He told me if he had any advice it would to be work as hard as you can everyday while your young, put your mind to what you feel can succeed and if “your smart and have a good idea” you will eventually succeed. He tells me working hard and breaking his back when he was in his twenties and early thirties was more than worth it; because he just went and ordered his second Ferrari; and life is not hard after you buy your first.

Once again thank you to Greg and his wife for a great dinner and great meeting you folks.

The Importance of a Business Plan

After discussing in class the importance of a business plan, I found it a very interesting subject and it intrigued me to read more. I’ve never been apart of creating a business plan myself yet, but I feel learning and understanding what I need to include into one will help me out in the future. In class the business plan that was presented on the overhead shows how a bad business can ruin a company’s reputation. I found that the keys to a good business plan are to be able to have a clear mission statement, specialize/ have a targeted market, and make sure that everything in your proposal in correct and clear. The one thing that I found very interesting was how the company listed museums that were not yet clients. An article I read I feel describes a business plan perfectly, this article relates a business plan to a resume, but it’s a resume for your proposed business. When applying for a job you always want to present yourself in a good way since a first impression is the most important. The same thing with a business plan, coming off with a good first impression will always help your company grow and raise capital, but it all starts with a business plan.



I found this website that is very helpful in describing a business plan.

http://espresso101.com/newsletter/388

A Perfect Day...

It would start out by waking up with the sun slowly rising over the horizon at 5:45am. It would be a beautiful Friday spring morning, 70 degrees and no humidity. To start the day, I throw on a pair of my Nike running shoes and take a nice short morning jog. I like taking jogs before work so I can clear my mind for the day ahead and think of what the day has in store for me.

When I return from my jog I go upstairs to my master bedroom and take a nice warm shower. After my shower I’ll go into my walk in closet and throw on a brand new black pin stripe Versace suite with a gold tie, gold tie’s are my good luck ties. Next I’ll walk downstairs and sit down and enjoy my eggs, hash browns and double bacon, with a nice glass of O.J. prepared by my wife. During breakfast take a quick scan through the morning news to see what’s going on in the world. I’ll grab the Wall Street Journal and a few other readings and hop into my car and get driven into NYC for work.

Arrive at the office at 7:45am and get started on the work I have in front of me for the day. Hopefully I’ll be able to get out of the office by 1:30pm, take a half of day. I’ll start the weekend off right by going to the horse track and watching my own and my other friends’ horses’ race. It will be a good day at the track we will all have a successful betting day as well as profitable day with our horses running. After talking to the trainers about the horses a few of us will leave the track and go shoot nine holes before the sun sets. After an afternoon with the guys I have to make some time for my wife.

Since I’m always multi-tasking with work, the horses and designating time for my family I’ll make a phone call to the Land Rover Concierge and ask them to make a reservation for me and my wife at one of our favorite restaurants on the island, usually one of our favorite Italian restaurants. I’ll take a quick shower spend some time with the kids and head out to dinner with my wife. I’ll enjoy a good dinner, have a few glasses of wine and kiss my wife and tell her I’ll see her in a bit. She obviously knows since the Knicks are in the playoffs I’ll be at that game that night at the Garden with the guys. After watching the Knicks defeat Lebron and the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals, I finally get to see the Knicks back in the NBA finals. After the game there is nothing better than grabbing a nightcap with my buddies and celebrate the Knicks win. I’ll be out later than I expected, and since I always come home late I have my flower guy who is always open late and I’ll stop buy and get flowers for the wife. I’ll head back to Long Island, probably having to apologize to the wife when I get home, but hey it was a hell of a night, and a day, and thank God tomorrow is Saturday and I’m able to sleep late!