FUND - HOUSE FLASH

Next year digital ad spending will surpass $85 billion. Listed are the top areas companies are spending their ad dollars on:

- 46% - Brand Awareness
- 31% - Acquiring New Customers
- 29% - Introducing New Products/Services
- 28% - Retaining Current Customers
- 27% - Brand Promotion

FUND-HOUSE VENTURES 
PHOENIX, ARIZONA
ANGEL INVESTORS / MENTORS

SOCIAL LOAFING : Who's Best At Doing LEAST

Social loafing is defined as team members expending less effort when becoming part of a project group vs. working on their own. Social loafing is common and caused by a number of factors:

Who's Best At Doing Least

- Group Size: the more people assigned to a project the easier it is to slack-off and let others
   carry the load.

- Goal Achieveability: believe group's goal is not achieveable and effort futile.

- Goal Value: no meaning attached to effort expended.

- Goal Low-Balling: if goal is easily achieved and only requires a minimum of effort.

-  Skill Set Deficits: don't have the skills required so let others do the work.

-  Sucker Bet: seeing others loaf and does not want to become the work-sucker for the group.

To prevent loafing from occurring, management must do the following:

- Keep the Project/Task Groups small in number of members - there is no place to hide.

- Assign Accountability: give a specific task to each member of the group. This is key to motivation
   and group success.

- Clear Objectives: specific, quantifiable, and easy to measure goals prevent loafing

- Skills Match-up: ensure group members have the skills to achieve the goals.

- Feedback Loop: have each group member present their progress to the rest of the group at       predetermined intervals and incorporate feedback sessions with total group involvement.

Team members aren't always equal in terms of effort expended and social loafing is very detrimental to achieving success and minimizing the time to complete a project.  Be on the look-out for loafers.

Fund-House Hint: if necessary have group members participate in a peer evaluation process.


Stay in touch,
Jim Lavorato, Principal
Fund-House Ventures, LLC

Social Marketing: Chasing The Illusive ROI

Determining Return on Investment (ROI) is a staple in financial analysis but is a challenge every social marketer has to contend with.  In fact, the top challenge for social marketers is measuring ROI. 

Linking social marketing spending to business results has been somewhat illusive, and has become an area of focus for marketers and social platform operators. The more money marketers spend on social media, the more they expect to know how that money converts into revenue

Facebook sees the solving of this ROI dilemma as a huge opportunity to gain marketers' ad spending dollars at the expense of both TV and Google.  To this end, Facebook recently announced a shift in emphasis away from proxy metrics, such as video views and brand lift and towards sales metrics - with the goal of linking ad viewing to sales results. 

The problem is in many ways the doing of the marketers themselves as they are addicted to proxy metrics, such as: likes, comments, shares and retweets. Engagement metrics are still the most used measures to guage  a social campaign's success. When what should be used are conversion and revenue metrics, such as: website traffic, conversions, and revenue.

The hierarchy of social platforms in terms of ad dollars spent are Facebook, followed by Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.  Facebook and Instagram (owned by Facebook) are largely 'pay-to-play' platforms whereas the other platforms are more organically oriented - although this is changing as can be witnessed by LinkedIn's new 'Premium' offering.

Tracking the impact of advertising on social media sites is adequate but not inclusive. The illusive ROI remains unsolved but the problem is being addressed and to really spur-on more ad dollars the social platforms know they need to provide these measures.

Jim Lavorato
Fund-House Ventures




 

ANGEL INVESTING: It's All In The TIMING

Fund-House often gets asked when is the best stage of development to invest in: idea, pre-seed, seed, emerging, or performing.

For Fund-House the best time is the pre-seed stage. The idea stage is too risky because there is essentially nothing tangible to invest in and no foundation to build upon.  The idea stage is when the founder(s), family, and friends are putting up their cash - it's the riskiest time and returns are very questionable.  At this stage there is no hook for the rational investor to grab onto and move forward.

The pre-seed stage is where an angel investor wants to be. Angels get the best deals at pre-seed because the supply of capital is low but the demand is high.  Also, smaller angel investors can find better deals pre-seed because there is less competition for those deals; particularly, from venture capitalists and institutional investors who compete for deals at later stages.

To minimize risk, angel investors require a high degree of diversification with many small investments. Diversified investment portfolios are easier to build at the pre-seed stage because founders are happy to receive say $10,000 investment increments on say, a first-time $200,000 round. Those same companies are not going to entertain small dollar increments when they reach the emerging stage and are looking for $10 million.

Another big problem for Fund-House is avoiding non-business oriented entrepreneurs. This avoidance is much easier at the pre-seed stage as the business is somewhat already proven to have validity and you should be able to size-up the founder(s)' acumen.

Fund-House Hint: Entrepreneurs should not wait until the emerging stage to seek funding.

Jim Lavorato

FACEBOOK: Best For Sm. Bus. Marketing?

According to G2 Crowd, a marketing services provider. 80% of small businesses use Facebook for marketing - making it the most popular platform for d-marketing.

G2 Crowd, surveyed over 2,000 small businesses (those with 250 employees or less) and found that 24% planned to make investments in marketing and advertising a priority for 2018.  That puts promotion and marketing expenditures foremost before staff hiring or new equipment investment!

After Facebook came Twitter, as the next most popular marketing platform, followed by LinkedIn and Instagram. Although Facebook is currently free to use for marketing, organic reach on Facebook is only 2% of designated viewers. So, it's really pay-for-play on Facebook if you want to reach your demographic designated prospects.

The cost of on-line advertising is relatively inexpensive especially as compared to traditional media, such as static ads in magazines or newspapers. So, it has become a no-brainer for small businesses to gravitate to social media for marketing their product or service.

Does Facebook Work As A Marketing Tool?

According to G2 Crowd's survey a full 38% of respondents stated that Facebook was their most successful marketing channel. And, like all marketing channels, the key is to have unique stories and compelling headlines. Also you must follow your ad metrics. # of fans, fan reach, post engagement, negative feedback are several metrics everyone needs to follow.

Fund-House Hint: Use videos in all of your social posts if possible. Social media loves videos.


Jim Lavorato

Social Media Marketing: Get A Grip!

D-marketing Is Requisite 

Conquer Your Fear of Social Media

Social media marketing beats traditional marketing in that it is less expensive, provides analytics, is easy to use (once you know the use-tricks), and can reach out to vast numbers of customers all of which are pinpointed down to the smallest demographic.  Termed 'impressions' these pinpointed targets can only be dreamt about by traditional marketing venues.

The only drawback to social media is that there any number of platforms that must be mastered to unlock their full potential; therefore, determining which SM platform(s) are best for your product/service/company is important.

THE SM Must Platforms:

- Google owns search. So everyone must deal with it. A blog on Google is an imperative for any  company, no matter size. Getting a company's name and logo in as many items, posts, articles, etc. improves its Google search position. Post at least 4x per week or more and keep posting.

- Facebook  - Post photos, post videos, post links, post daily. Very good ad platform.

- LinkedIn  -  The B2B platform. Great for networking. Post videos. Post 3x per week.

- Tweeter  - Great for photos, links, and now videos. Post 3-5x per day.

- YouTube - All video, but more importantly linked to Google.

- Instagram - The mobile SM site. Used mainly by teens.

- Pinterest - Images and links. Post 5x per week.

- Snapchat - A lesser player. Not great for businesses.

What's Each SM is Best At:

Networking: Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Tweeter
Photo Sharing: Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Tweeter
Recorded Video: Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, Tweeter
Live Video: Facebook, YouTube, Instagram

Best Times To Post:

Facebook:  Thursday & Friday 1-3pm (Friday BEST). Use Fanpage Karma to track optimal times.
LinkedIN: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 9am-5pm (BEST Tuesday 10-11am )
Tweeter: B2B Weekdays 12pm-6pm. B2C Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday 12pm-6pm
Instagram: Monday BEST during off-work hours.
Google+: BEST late morning 9-11am Mon.-Thur.

There you have it. Good luck and keep those posts coming.

 Jim Lavorato for FUND - HOUSE

The 'PITCH' - How To Make It Successful

Be it for wooing investors, selling to clients, lining up vendors, or convincing a myriad of people that your business is viable, reliable, and trust worthy - the Pitch is all important.  In many cases, it's the make or break of the business and you have only one shot at it.

So, getting the Pitch right is requisite. Here are the steps you need to make your Pitch successful:

• Choose your words very, very carefully.
• Know your 'Pitch To' client. Who are your pitching to and what are their needs.
• Pitch to the right people. Are you pitching to a decision-maker.
• Craft a Call-to-Action. Direct the pitch to an end goal by, ie setting up a follow-up meeting.
• Be Unique. Stay professional but stir-up curiosity and interest.
• Be Personable. Stodgy, begging, hungry is not the way to portray yourself/business.
• Be Informal and Personal. Perhaps share something about your life/business.
• Have a Central Idea. Be concise. Have a central point and repeat it throughout the Pitch.
• Avoid Metaphors in describing your business, it will only degrade you and your idea.
• Don't Be a Wise-ass. It's not about you. If possible, Pitch a team approach.
• Define the Target Audience. 'What's in it for them'. Check out their social sites prior to Pitch.
• Rehearse Often. A Pitch should never sound like it is scripted.
• want more, for the entire list email to: jlavorato@fundhouse.us.

Remember: Pitching is not easy. It takes time to prepare, time to rehearse, and time to properly present. Forget about the 30 second elevator Pitch, that was a 'not to bright idea' from some management consultant who obviously never gave a real Pitch. A Pitch should be concise and to-the-point - don't ramble, but cover all of your central points (which should never be more than three).

Fund-House Hint: All great Pitches start with a Question!

Jim Lavorato
jlavorato@fundhouse.us

Millennials Not Entrepreneural

They talk a good game when it comes to entrepreneurship but in reality Millennials don't go into business for themselves. For example, a full 70% of Millennials stated they had interest in business ownership with only 13% having a desire to work in a corporate environment. But, actions and not intentions speak the truth, as only 2% of Millennials are self-employed compared to about 8% for Gen Xers or Baby Boomers. The reason: fear of failure. Millennials carry huge student debt which makes taking risks untenable and entrepreneurship is nothing but risk taking and the unknown.

Starting a business is a very hard endeavor. It takes a lot of self-motivation and is very risky vs. a 9-to-5 job.  In starting Fund-House, I knew that a big part of my efforts would be spent nurturing ideas and concepts with Millennials in quelling their innate fear of failure and financial loss. To accomplish this I needed to understand the demands placed on Millennials so as to allay their fear of failure.

Mentoring and solid guidance in the areas of  self-promotion, branding, PR and planning (the most wanting business functions for Millennials) were essential to succeeding  as a start-up/emerging business consultant - investor.   Millennials are smart, self-sufficient, and possess a great capacity to overcome adversity, most importantly, they are energetic and willing to sacrifice but many are lacking in having a tolerance for ambiguity and find themselves running in sand when dealing with team-building and human resource issues.

Our main must-do at Fund-House is to make our Millennial clients entrepreneurial and managerial. You need both disciplines to succeed at starting a business and seeing it through the emerging and performing stages of business growth.

Jim Lavorato

Price Discounts Are Brand Negitives

When discounts on products or services are offered it is, in many cases, perceived as a lowering of value.  Discounting can also set a bad precedent and condition consumers to buying only when something is offered on sale.  When the focus is shifted to price, important things such as how your product solves a problem or makes life easier fall to the back-burner.

Once a company starts heading down the discount road, it's difficult to turn back, and over time, this continued discounting erodes margins until there is nothing left.  Instead, get back to the basics and focus on the fundamentals of brand building.

Building Your Brand

In brand building, you have to key in on what makes your brand special, and build off that. Without differentiation, your offering is simply a commodity and you'll be forced to compete solely on price.You must be truthful and precise when it comes to features and pinpoint how the customer will benefit from them directly.  It is also very important to exude confidence about your product or service and the brand behind it.

Know The Target

To effectively market and sell any product it is critical that you know the goals and struggles of your customer. It will help you position your brand in a way that makes purchasing your product the easy choice. Price becomes way less of an issue when you have demonstrated that your product can solve their problems - but be careful and not try to be all things to all customers.

Differentiation Makes For Brand Equity

Develop a creative way to illustrate what's special about your brand, positioning it positively against what's offered by the competition. Be prepared to invest in good, engaging advertising and PR to get your message out.  Building brand equity means that you can charge more for the same product then your competition - strictly based on your brand's reputation and perception in the marketplace.

Adding Value 

Moving away from price-based promotions to ones that offer additional value requires creativity. Forget about rebates or buy-on-get-one ala the fast-food chains.  It could mean something as simple as bundling an additional accessory to the sale. What you are striving for is enhancing the customer's experience beyond your product. For example, offering a lifetime warranty entwines you with that customer for the long haul. Paying for a six month subscription to a content streamer, like Netflix is another example of solidifying the relationship.

FUND HOUSE Hint: Never, never, never, never, never, compromise SERVICE, ever!


Jim Lavorato for Fund-House www.fundhouse.us.

'FULL STACK' Web Applications

Website construction has evolved dramatically over the last few years. Gone are the days of information only, in-house sites that required an IT person to maintain.  Today, websites have replaced entire desktop applications and allow data storage in the cloud - using cloud services and their software.

Now, 'Full Stack' (the term used to represent the skill-set required to develop apps that include all the layers of  the application 'stack' from IT infrastructure, servers and database management, server-side app code, front-end technologies (such as, HTML/CSS/JavaScript), cross-browser capability, visual design, and user experience design.

So, in constructing a modern website you must answer these questions:
- What are the means to writing a 'Full Stack' web application?
- What are your required needs assessments?
- What IT support and maintenance is going to be required?
- How do you manage the third party, cloud-based software service provider to fulfill our needs?
- How does the new site interface with mobile apps?

Constructing a bleeding-edge website is not what it was just a few years ago - be prepared and count on building a 'Full Stack' site.

Jim Lavorato

Online Reviews: You Must Deal With Them

The dreaded 5 Star Rating

Online reviews can be your biggest curse or the love of your life - and are totally out of your control. A few words posted next to a five star scale rating can be do or die for a business! So, it is imperative that any online review, good, bad, ugly, be dealt with swiftly and efficiently.

A recent review of online reviews by ReportLinker discovered the following:

- The level of trust by consumers of online reviews is incredibly high! 59% of consumers believe that online reviews are as trustful as personal recommendations - with a full 7% saying that online reviews are MORE trusted then personal recommendations.

- 33% of consumers go to search to find reviews, with 25% going directly to review websites.  This means that two-thirds of all consumers go to OTHER sites, than yours, to look for reviews of your business and products/services.

- Besides Google, the top social sites for review ratings were Facebook, blogs, and Twitter.

- When needing specific product reviews, Amazon and eBay led the way, with 57% of consumers using these sites for product reviews.

- 51% of the survey respondents admitted they had written a review within the last 12 months. 49% stated they reviewed when they were very satisfied while 34% said they review when very dissatisfied.

- Content matters most in reviews (not credibility). 62% of consumers said that content of the review was MOST IMPORTANT and not the credibility of the reviewer - NOW THAT'S SCARY.

Like it or not, this is the world that we live in. Every business, large or small, must be proactive in managing their online reviews. Address them individually. Respond to all and, if truthful correct any problems quickly.  Remember, reviews are not only going to your  website or social accounts but are resident on other sites as well. Spend time to search these review sites as well.

James Lavorato
Fund-House

Artificial Intelligence: There's No Stopping It

The current thought is that AI will either revolutionize every industry or become smarter than people and drive us out of existence. 

The real answer is no one knows, but we do know that AI is affecting us. Language processing, speech and facial recognition, self-driving cars, and evolving machine intelligence are but several of the ways AI is impacting human society.

In current usage, AI refers to either a computer that can learn from experience and improve its performance over time, or a computer that can recognize voice and other 'natural' human inputs and respond in a useful way.

Products, such as ECHO and Alexa are already acclimating consumers to interacting in a familiar way with very powerful, evolving machine intelligence.  For example, your ECHO knows that every morning at 6am you wake and turn on a light. That habit can be replicated  by ECHO and automatically be done each morning.  It's all about perfecting the experience and baking-in that intelligence and creating systems that will know what users want and when they want it.

Another area in development is what is termed 'reaction aware' or emotion-sensing AI systems which use up to 40 billion data points combined with deep machine learning and advanced computer vision technologies to sense and analyze feeling.

Powerful AI, like I have been discussing, is very expensive to develop and deploy, requiring huge amounts of coding, powerful processors, and very high bandwidth to make work. So, for now, the best AI goes into cars, smartphones, banking, healthcare, and digital signage. A limiting factor to AI's growth is the tremendous amount of data that systems must gather and process in order to develop deep intelligence about the real world.  However, in time this impediment will be overcome.

AI's immersive, man/machine collaborative environment might seem uncomfortable but it will shape our future.  Robotic factories are already making better robots for manufacturing cars. Future AI will surely impact humanity in ways that we can not imagine. In the best case scenario AI will contribute to a win-win world, but don't be so sure.

Jim Lavorato

Influencer Marketing: How It Works

Just in the last year ad spending on social media platforms grew by 40% - spurred-on by influencer marketing!

Influencer marketing is the process of using the voice (and face) of trusted personas to hawk your product, service, company.  As social space is more and more cluttered with ads it pays to have your brand leveraged by using influence as a marketing ploy. The issue becomes which one and how do I manage the influencer to get the expected marketing and sales results.

Your goal is to create a distribution channel to break through the ad clutter, so finding the right talent match that can help you do this is like a dating selection process - lots of people but you're looking for the right match.  There are five key issues which must be addressed in selecting which influencer to use.

1. Who is following the Influencer? Use of demographics and finding out the 'engagement' of the Influencer with his/her posse. Do they comment?  Do they tag their friends in comments?  The goal being to tap into the Influencer's fan base (which are going to buy, use, and repeat buy) your product or service.

2. Does the Influencer's audience align with your target market? Just because an Influencer has a large fan following doesn't mean he/she is a good match for your brand.  Certain personas may be terrific for you while others a complete wash-out.

3. What's the Influencer's history? Follow the Influencer on social media before deciding. Create a secondary account and see how your prospective Influencer performs. Do they make questionable or controversial posts? How well do they fit into your marketing strategy?  Vetting the Influencer thoroughly before signing up for their service is requisite.

4. How affordable is the Influencer?  Are they a celebrity, wide-range influencer, trail-blazer, or micro-influencer? These are the broad categories in play and each level has its price.  Your best bet is to mix as many levels as you can afford, keeping in mind your goals and which demographic you want to reach and engage with.  No matter which level you choose, you must research the Influencer's stats so you can negotiate a fair price - it's quality and not quantity you're looking for.

5. What are YOUR goals? Who is your target? What are the expected results from your ad campaign? You will need to set specific benchmarks - such as, awareness, reach, sentiment, or action and have a timetable for results.

Influencer marketing, like all marketing, is to generate new customers, while retaining the old ones. Understanding a talent's influence is essential to a successful match and the requisite marketing impact. Check out WHOSAY and Match Platform for more info.

For Fund-House
Jim Lavorato

Industrial Revolution 4.0

The first industrial revolution came about when manufacturing meet steam power. The second, when electricity came about to power factory machinery. The third, when digital technology was introduced and because of the growth in the ever-evolving digital domain a fourth industrial revolution is now upon us - Industry 4.0.

IR-4.0 brings together information-technology and production-technology where automation applications and robots influence production performance and production quality - reducing human-induced inefficiencies and errors. Smart machines that operate in measured and fixed ways to enable precise planning , increasing productivity and quality, and minimizing down-times and failures.

In IR-4.0, investment in smart machinery and robots is a necessity. Use of the Internet of Things to bring together information technology and industrial design to elevate industrial production to a new level.  A level where robots communicate with each other, detect the environment with sensors, and determine the production process' needs through data analysis.  Where brand dependency is replaced by benefit dependency, the goal being using robots, enabled by artificial intelligence, to take over production completely.  For many businesses that rely on human labor, the switch to brain power rather from muscle power is what IR-4.0 is all about.

As Industrial Revolution 4.0 takes hold and evolves, new industry sectors will emerge as others disappear, drastically impacting companies, countries, and people across the globe.

Jim Lavorato

"Kiss, Bow, Or Shake-hands"

The title of this post is also the title of a book authored by Terri Morrison and Wayne Conaway.  It is a guide, and good start source, in the study and understanding of cross-cultural differences and their impact on doing business in different countries - through verbal and, more importantly, body gesturing and messaging.

This is the second of a two-part post on body language and its importance in dealing with others on a daily basis in both personal and business relationships.

In the world of body language, cultural differences reign supreme. Nodding your head, direct eye contact, hand and arm gestures are examples where cultural differences can have very different meanings. Lets take hand signs. Look at the hands and see if you know what they signify.

A - means OK but in many countries like Russia and Brazil it is a sexual insult.
B - means '1' or 'OK' but can mean 'No!' in some cultures
C - in the U.S. it means '2' or 'Peace' in Europe 'Victory', in Australia 'Up yours'
D - 'three' in Europe
E - 'two' in Europe, 'waiter' in the U.S., in Japan 'an insult'
F - 'four' in Western countries, 'an insult' in Japan
G - '5' in West, 'Stop' everywhere
H - 'small penis' in Europe
I - 'protection against evil' in S. America and Italy
J - 'two' in West, 'go to hell' in Greece
K - 'screw you' in U.S.
L - 'one' in Europe, 'good/ok' in U.S.
M - 'hang loose' in Hawaii, 'want a drink' in Holland
N - 'I love you' in U.S.
O - 'stop' in West, 'I'm telling the truth' around the world

Hand gestures are but a small part of body language and non-verbal gestures we all use. You need to study all forms of body language and make sure what there meaning is - not only in the U.S. but in relationships with non-Americans as well.

Jim Lavorato

Body Language: What It Tells Others

7% of what we communicate to others is verbal - the other 93% is communicated through our body language or body messaging. In this two-part post I will explore the concept of body language and how you can use it to communicate with others while figuring out what others are communicating to you.

Part I - The Non-verbal Language of Humans - What Your Body Says Matters!

Standing, sitting, posture, posing, facial expressions, eye movement, hand gestures, are all parts of how we communicate with each other on a daily basis.  Much of what you communicate and have communicated to you be it with the store clerk, waitperson, co-workers, clients, friends, family, superiors, are all dictated by body language - your's and their's.

Worst Body Messages You Can Send:

- Avoiding Eye Contact: signals deception or lack of openness and concealment.
- Slouching: shows lack of self-confidence and poor self-esteem.
- Weak Handshake: demonstrates a lack of authority and shows submissiveness. Too firm a shake or too long a shake can be interpreted as aggression and lack of confidence.
- Folding Arms: indicates dis-interest and shutting down, a defensive posture.
- Looking Down: saps all the power out of your persona and makes you look weak.
- Angling Body Away From Others: shows dis-comfort and dis-trust of who you are communicating with.
- Fidgeting & Touching Hair: in men or women reveals a discomfort or anxiety and lack of self-esteem and confidence.
- Invading Others Space: 18" is as close as you want to get closer than that and most N. Americans feel uncomfortable.
-Frowning & Scowling: the most common no-no and the most used of all body language as these facial gestures are unconscious reactions showing unhappiness or disagreement.

Over the next several days be aware of the above and see how often these body messaging indicators are used by yourself and others around you.  Then, start to communicate with others by consciously not doing the above while 'listening' to what others are telling you.

In Part II of this post I will be discussing the cross-cultural aspects of body messaging and what may be socially accepted in one country would be totally abhorred in another.

Jim Lavorato

What's In A Name? Everything!

At Fund-House we expend a lot of brain-power developing names and logos for company-clients.
Naming is the start-point for building a company's identity and brand so a lot hinges on getting the right (and proper) name and logo.

In developing and designing a company name the final result must be unique yet fit into what the business does - it's reason for being. Many companies use the family name, for example, Ford, Johnson & Johnson, and JP Morgan Chase . Others, like law, accounting, and consulting often use the partners names. Small businesses often use the family name, such as Joe Smith & Sons. However, naming experts, Fund-House included, believe using unique names can be far more effective than family names. For example, the most profitable and successful family-named business is Kinder Morgan. My guess is that most of you reading this post never heard of Kinder Morgan,  yet it is N. America's largest energy infrastructure company.

Naming your business is one of the most important things a start-up does as it begins its journey, if the name is off, everything else about the business is impacted. There are several 'not to dos' in naming a business.

- Don't have too many people involved in the naming. Just keep it to the very important few.
- Don't take two unrelated words and blend them, for example, QualiServe. This over-used phrase       naming is not suitable in today's marketplace.
- Don't use complicated, literal names. For example, the name 'Search Engine Management Company' instead of Google.
- Don't use map names. This may work for local tradesmen or restaurants but as your business grows it will become a hindrance. 3M and KFC are examples of companies outgrowing their geographic names.
- Don't use cliches. Words like Apex or Summit are totally overused and have no meaning.
- Don't use made-up names. This may work for pharmaceutical drugs but they are usually mispronounced and misspelled  (making internet search difficult) and must rely heavily on advertising to get behind the name and explain what the company actually does.

Take the time to develop a good, expressive, memorable, and creative name for your business. Use expert assistance in naming and logo design and in trademarking and/or copyrighting the name/logo.
This will be money will  spent. Normally, the charge is $3000-5000 for naming and logo design. That would also include a tag-line if necessary to communicate what the company does.

A naming consultant, like Fund-House, should present 3 to 5 names that have already been trademark searched.  Your task is determining: which name best fits your business objectives, which accurately describes the company, and how does it sound when spoken.  Normally it takes 4-6 weeks for to develop appropriate company names and logos and several more weeks for the client to decide which name is best suited for the business.

So, what's in a name? Well, everything!

Top Brands And What They Share

So, you want to Brand something - yourself, a product, a service, a group, a life-style, whatever. More importantly you want the Brand to be successful, known, purchased, used, and valued. Well, the best place to start is by looking at the top global brands and seeing what they have in common.

The 20 Top Global Brands (based on value):

1. Apple
2. Google
3. Coca Cola
4. Microsoft
5. Toyota
6. IBM
7. Samsung
8. Amazon
9. Mercedes Benz
10. General Electric
11. BMW
12. McDonald's
13. Disney
14. Intel
15. Facebook
16. Cisco
17. Oracle
18. Nike
19. Louis Vuitton
20. H&M

These 20 companies vary greatly in terms of products or services offered and in terms of culture and markets served. Seven tech companies (Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Intel, Cisco, and Oracle). Six consumer products companies (Coke, Samsung, McDonald's, Nike, Vuitton, and H&M). Three auto (Toyota, Mercedes, and BMW). One entertainment in Disney. One social media, Facebook (I do not consider it a tech company). Two hybrids (IBM and General Electric),

So, what are the common threads that run through these Brands that make them the Tops. There are only four but these are the Brand drivers for all of these companies.

- A Clear Growth Strategy.  The new corporate buzz-word these days is streamlining. Agility and focus are front-and-center in the corporate offices of these companies.  The goal: to send a clear and concise message to everyone through your Brand.

- Managing the Blur. All business sectors are impacted by technology, which is ever evolving, so being able to effectively manage ambiguity at every facet of the business is paramount.

- Borrow From The Best. All brands and businesses are moving at an accelerated pace making significant operational changes harder and harder - so top global brands borrow from the best. Aligning with other businesses, acquiring and embracing what others do exceptionally well
is what extends the core offerings of a brand.

- Zeroing In On The Customer. Being customer-centric is a MUST. Branding is not an exercise in vanity, but a tool to be used to deepen and identify who you are in the marketplace. Strong brands normally grow stronger as their defining element to brand success is user experience.

In brand building and development a business cannot follow it must lead and have a clear sense of self. The Brand and business culture must be cohesive and built around people.

Best,
Jim Lavorato

Anyway, What Is A Brand

Simply - a Brand is a promise. 

Brands and colors

For hundreds of years,Western cattlemen branded their herds for identification not because they thought the herd would be stolen but because they wanted to make sure people knew that their stock was of a certain quality and value.The same holds true today - Brands are a measure of quality, consistency, and value.

- Why do consumers buy branded products or services?

Because they know what they are buying. They know its quality and trust that it will be exactly that which was promised by the seller.  Breaking that promise is non-recoverable. A Brand will never be able to salvage a bad product or service or bad management. A business builds its Brand on repetition and trust and the stronger the Brand the more it is trusted.

Fund-House Logo

- How do you get your Brand known?

It takes less than 7 seconds to grab a consumer's attention whether by traditional means, such as print media, ads, or even radio spots or new media via website, social, or blogs.  In today's digital domain it is all about WIIFM (what's in it for me). What are the benefits to the a buyer of your product or service as compared to others.

- What colors should be used in developing a Brand - logo, social pages, stationary, business cards-to-company sway? I get this question all of the time and my answer depends upon the product/service and what industry it is part of.

Red: creates positive emotions, urgency, impulses. Many companies use red for their branding, especially those in the food and restaurant industries.

Blue: again, used by many companies to evoke sense of authority and trust. Used extensively in the financial industry.

Yellow: stands for youthfulness, grabs attention and creates feelings of happiness and clarity. Used by many consumers goods companies and in their packaging.

Orange: calls attention, is a friendly, cheerful, and confident color.

Green: relaxing, points to fertility and growth. Used by almost every green-based, eco-company.

Purple: denotes luxury, royalty, mystery. Is soothing and calm. Used in the wealth management and insurance sectors.

Black: dramatic and formal. Used for upscale consumer products companies and by professional groups, such as attorneys and doctors.

In my next post I'll cover the top 10 global brands and discuss what these brands have in common.

Best,
Jim Lavorato

FAILURE = GROWTH

Yep. Failure from doing something that didn't work out or not doing something that should have been done or just plain making a dumb decision does have a bright side - it makes you Grow. Failure makes you a better decision-maker and better manager/business operator.

Entrepreneurs are noted for not having great people skills. Idea and conception is one thing, implementation and day-to-day management is another. Regardless, one must strive to minimize failure as you grow your business and develop its culture. Here are some thoughts:

- Keep in mind that you can be a good company and a good business -there is a difference.
- Be as open source as possible have it become part of what your company does.
- Use metrics. If you don't measure things, you can't improve them.
- We, at Fund House, have a weekly all staff meeting called, 'State of the House'. It is critical in              today's business environment that all staff are familiar with all aspects of the business.
- Good people are the key to success. Skills can be taught - good staff needs to be celebrated.
- Traveling takes too much time, use the internet for customer contact. Use videos and blogs.
- Learn to say NO. It's not about what you can do, it's more about what you will not do.
- Protect your Brand at all costs.
- The office and location do not make the business you can work from anywhere.

Best,
Jim Lavorato
 

The 4th Stage of Business : 2nd Growth

This is the final part of a four part post on the stages of business growth: Start-Up, Emerging, Performing, and 2nd Growth.

Like an Oak businesses have growth stages

Now, not every business reaches the 2nd Growth Stage, but that is not to say that those businesses that don't are unsuccessful.  Performing business are great. They are profitable, have reach a level of growth and can expand via vertical and/or horizontal integration. They have good management, a great brand and an excellent culture - but they may never reach the 2nd Growth Stage.

2nd Growth businesses are the great success stories. They can be small, medium, or large entities that go the next step in development.  This normally takes, what I term, big bet decision making and usually includes a major investment, merger, acquisition, new product line, or other impacting action that propels that business to reinvent itself. Apple's development of the iPhone, Netflix's switch to streaming from the mail order business, Amazon's decision to e-tail everything from just books - these are examples of 2nd Growth stage development.

We witness 2nd Growth in the technology, healthcare, and cleanspace sectors but it can occur in any type of business. Bose was a manufacturer of high-end audio speaker systems in New England and through innovative product development and a great branding program propelled itself to a 2nd Growth stage and is now a household word in audio products.

Businesses have growth stages. Like a sturdy oak that goes from acorn to sapling to tree businesses go from Start-up to Emerging to Performing and in special cases have a 2nd Growth.

Jim Lavorato

BRAND and CULTURE

A business's culture is sometimes short-changed but it is vitally important for any company's success.
Culture increases productivity and is certainly a factor in retaining employees and reducing turnover. It also improves customer satisfaction.

But, culture isn't enough by itself - it must be integrated and interfaced with the company's Brand.
A mutual and re-enforcing relationship must be established between what your business does on the inside (Culture) and how it is perceived on the outside (Brand).

The Culture must:
- express your brand's purpose and value
- develop employee mindsets and behavior that enable them to deliver on-brand experiences
- get everyone on the same page regarding the company's unique challenges and opportunities.

Your goal is to integrate the Culture and the Brand so together they give the company sustainable power. To do this you must:

- Adopt a Single Brand Purpose: to inspire, focus, and guide what the business does, what the Brand stands for. This defines the purpose of why the business exists.

- Articulate One Set of Core Values: that permeates inside and outside the organization. One set of core values that describes the way you do things, both as an company and brand.  You must engage your employees and customers with the same set of values.

- Assess the Existing Alignment and Integration: of the Culture and Brand of the business. What values should be embraced by the business to achieve the desired Brand - fusing internal Culture and external Brand is essential.

Culture and Brand go hand-in-hand, they must be developed together and used in tandem for both to be successful.

Jim Lavorato

Diagonal Disruption

The new dynamic impacting businesses around the globe is termed: Diagonal Disruption. Normally, businesses grow vertically or horizontally. Vertical integration strengthens a business's core, while horizontal, its reach; however, diagonal growth crosses the normal growth routes and disrupts the status quo.

The digital domain has given rise to diagonal disruption. Two good examples of diagonal disruption are crypto-currencies, such as Bitcoin or Ether, and Amazon's intended purchase of Whole Foods.

Crypto-currencies are changing the way national currencies are valued and used. Start-ups are using these internet-based currencies as a path to obtain venture capital. They collect the cyber-currencies from investors and exchange them into dollars to spend on operational expenses. Many large corporations have joined the non-profit, Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, including JP Morgan, Toyota, Merck, and Samsung.

Crypto-currencies have had a phenomenal rise. Bitcoins hit a record last week, being valued at $2,600 per coin. While the value of Ethers has risen over 4,500 percent since their inception  last year.

Amazon's incursion into the mass-market food industry will drastically alter the way supermarkets will be operated and managed. If Amazon repeats what it has done to other markets it has entered, one would expect food costs to be lowered as it increases its volume - this strategy has been part of Amazon's core culture since day-one. Amazon has been looking to expand its on-line grocery business and Whole Foods' 430 stores will allow Amazon to offer curb-side pick-up of on-line orders.

We'll be witnessing more and more diagonal disruptions as time goes on as the internet, robotics, and other emerging technologies bring unseen opportunities to light. We at the FUND-HOUSE will be doing just that - looking for the diagonal disruptors to invest in.

Jim Lavorato

Performing: The Third Growth Stage of a Business

The Performing Stage

This post is the third in a four part series regarding the Growth Stages of a business: Start-Up, Emerging, Performing, and 2nd Growth.

In the Start-Up and Emerging stages it's all about development and establishing a solid base upon which to build a growing and, more importantly, performing business.  In the performing stage, the business is now established and profitable. It continues to expand and scale by adding new clients/customers. Tattooing its brand on consumers' consciences and increasing its profit margin.
Growth is now the issue: increasing sales, marketing, and H.R. in general. Product development and
quality control are key issues. A confident, mature management is now well established and ready to implement a strategic, multi-year plan for future prosperity. In the Performing Stage, organic expansion is evident and acquisitions or a merger may be in the offing.

The Performing Stage is just that - the business is now established and running effectively, efficiently, and profitably.  Whether or not a performing business will ever reach the 4th stage of 2nd Growth is now dependent upon management and their vision and adaptability.

Emerging: The Next Phase of a Business

The second growth phase for any business is the Emerging phase. Emerging - when you further define your brand, customer base, marketing focus, staffing, and management culture.

Emerging: The time to take hold

Your business is now establishing itself - you're building revenue while keeping an extremely close watch on expenditures. The management team is finding a niche in the marketplace and being savvy about doing things right from the get-go.

Additional funding may be required for expansion and market penetration as the business begins to scale.  This is when venture capital may come into play as a sound emerging business is one that is not destined to stay small but exhibit significant growth opportunity.  This is when the decision is made on whether the business will remain small or warrants a significant investment in its potential to become a much larger enterprise.

It is the owners/initial investors that drive emerging businesses to the next level - Performing. Exhibiting operating cash flow growth is an essential mark that the business is now fully emerging and that management is right and ready to address the future.

Unlike the Start-Up phase, which is normally of a short duration, 6 to 18 months, the Emerging phase can take several years to develop.  Obviously, the shorter the duration the better and it is not uncommon for businesses in the technology or healthcare sectors to move from Start-up to Emerging to Performing in short-order.

The Growth Stages of Business - A Four Part Series

There are four Business Growth Stages:

- Start-Up
- Emerging
- Performing
- 2nd Growth

In this post I will be addressing the first stage: the Start-Up. In subsequent posts I will speak-to the other stages.

Start-Up

The Start-Up stage is most critical as it sets the foundation and initiates the business launch.  This is when crucial early-stage funding is required and must be utilized properly and prudently.

Pre-launch requirements are complicated for even the most basic of  ventures. Legal, tax, and financial requisites. Physical presence (location, size, and necessary infrastructure) can, for many businesses, determine success or failure. Establishing management roles (who does what), hiring, training, establishing policies and procedures, and spawning the business' culture. These are all start-up activities.

Marketing is extremely important as this is when the business establishes its identity and initiates its branding strategy. Creating a logo and perhaps a byline is required. Both traditional and new forms of promotion and advertising must be addressed.  Social media is requisite. A website is a necessity for even the smallest of companies and promotion through Amazon, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google, and a company blog must all be considered. Traditional marketing outlets, such as, ads in newspapers, magazines, and trade journals. Radio and TV spots and a variety of promotional activities, especially at launch, are required.

In almost very case, the Start-Up stage requires assistance. Capital infusion from outside sources, such as angel investors or venture capitalists, may be required. Consultation from start-up specialists and legal and accounting experts may be required. The hiring of a website developer and/or a graphic artist will be needed. The issue is: you can't do it alone. Given the complexities of today's business environment it is almost impossible to conceive, research, plan, implement, market, and launch a profit (or for that matter non-profit) entity without outside professional assistance.

Remember: the Start-Up is the foundation upon which you build the business and prepare for the next stage - Emerging. This is when you begin building the business, solidifying your brand, increasing sales, developing a solid customer base, finding the niche, and nailing-down the product and service fulfillment.

The Fund House - Your Business Launch Pad

Who and Why To Read 'Launch Pad'

Fund House Logo

This is the very first post to the new Fund House blog. It is intended to be viewed and read in concert with the Fund House website, on-line videos, and social media interplay.

Fund House exists to provide two distinct and critical aspects to start-up and small business ventures: consulting and investment.

Consulting: We provide early-stage businesses and start-ups with the vital tools required to successfully launch and then maintain momentum which is critical to sustainability is the very harsh business environment we currently find ourselves.

Investment: We will provide micro/angel funding for those entities in the green space, technology, medical, and media/performing arts that we deem to have great potential and management and which compliment our portfolio.

Our strength lies in the ability to, not only analyze, but foster a forward-thinking business philosophy which builds high-performance, results-oriented cultures.  We are facilitators in the development of influencer products and services.

Why View/Read This Blog

As our logo depicts, the Fund House is a tri-union between our client, their business venture, and ourselves - working together to provide greater success than would be achieved otherwise. This blog will adhere to that credo. It will provide the best advice and information available without bias or sales pitch to the benefit of all small, early-stage, or start-up businesses.