Get Cash Keep Control BLOG

By Stefania Aulicino

This is a financing strategy based on your dreams.

Mike, a business builder, used his engineering background to develop a proprietary seating system for people confined to wheelchairs. As an inventor, he was proud to have gotten the price down to $1000, so he could not understand why sales were not growing.

Jim, an experienced executive, had been designing insurance reimbursement IT programs for his large publicly held employer for 15 years. He was ready for a change.

As soon as Jim had the opportunity to see what Mike was up to, Jim knew he could help. Jim offered to design and implement a software program that would allow Mike’s existing distributors to deliver an 80% reimbursement to the consumer at Point-Of- Sale. The net result: Mike’s seat dropped in price from $1000 to $200 by dint of the 80% reimbursement rate.

Mike was so impressed that he offered Jim a share in future sales. Instead of taking cash out of the company, Jim deferred any compensation and put in a small investment to catapult the marketing launch!

Did you know that Angels come in 2 extremes? Some Angels have more time than money; some have more money than time. Most people have heard of Angels who will invest cash and offer high level guidance. That’s excellent for some situations, but my experience is that the more passive the investor the higher the cost of money. Why? Because passive Angles must add a risk premium to a future which has not yet been realized. In contrast, active Angels – with more time than money – can also contribute critical talents to convert unknowns into profits. Their investment therefore, does not include a risk premium for any portion of the unrealized future they know they can personally manifest. In many high growth situations, this can be a significant reduction in capital costs, as it was for Mike.

I believe that virtually any successful business person knowledgeable in your industry could become your Angel, if you inspire them with your excitement and clarity of your business dream.

To learn more about how we facilitate this matching process using the Brain Trust LinkUSA™ visit us at http://www.CapitalLinkUSA.com or email me at

Stefania (at) CapitalLinkUSA (dot) com

Stefania Aulicino is founder president of CapitalLInkUSA. For 20 years Stefania has helped business builders uncover the right capital for their optimum growth strategy so you get cash and keep control to build the business you really want. www.CapitalLinkUSA.com

By Stefania Aulicino

No matter how much you plan, the future is unpredictable. That means growth can put all that you have at risk unless you address 2 different kinds of expenses:

1.    the “known” expenses– e.g. rent, advertising,  employees or service providers etc. and

2.    the “unknown”- what you can’t predict. For a fast growing company in a global marketplace, there are lots of unknowns!

There are lots of ways to finance the known expenses, including bank financing, vendor credit, barter etc.I teach clients how to use my Mosaic Approach™ to increase their options for funding the known expense.  To understand this concept, think of a decorative mural made up of different flecks of color. The concept of a Mosaic applied to finance takes advantage of the concept of divide and conquer. This involves dividing your financing needs into small pieces so that with each piece you put in place, you lower the risk to the next piece, so you conquer abundant resources. The more pieces you attract, the more credible your future becomes. Using this concept of divide and conquer, no single financial piece is responsible for your success and you are hostage to none!

Unfortunately, too many companies stop financing after addressing their known expenses. What about the unknowns? Just like your family has a cash reserve- in case of emergency – your company needs a safety net. There is only one way to finance the unknows: with equity.

That’s good news because equity can be your cheapest form of funding when your future is bigger than your past! Too many entrepreneurs assume that $5 million of equity cost more ownership and control give up than $1 million- but it’s not true, if you can get credit for your future today! The Mosaic Approach helps you make your future tangible enough for investors to buy today.

Getting the highest valuation from investors is not just a good idea. It’s a confirmation that you have found the right investors–those who see your future where others only see risk.

Click here for my free online course for details on getting money to grow your business while keeping control by addressing these 2 kinds of expenses.

Stefania Aulicino is founder president of CapitalLInkUSA. For 20 years Stefania has helped business builders uncover the right capital for their optimum growth strategy so you get cash and keep control to build the business you really want. www.CapitalLinkUSA.com

By Stefania Aulicino

Which set of financial projections should you share with a prospective investor:

• the most conservative?
  
• the most aggressive?
  
• the most probable?

It’s a trick question. None of the above! You should only share financial projections of the future YOU would fund if all the capital needed was your own. That’s your Optimum Growth Strategy™.

Each of the other projections has its own purpose: The most conservative is appropriate for your banker; the most aggressive is great to discuss with your management team; the most probable is valuable to use with your accounting for tax planning. However, in the hands of an investor, each of these other plans would match you up with the wrong kind of funding source: too conservative, too aggressive, too undistinguished in a competitive landscape.

In contrast, the Optimum Growth Strategy details your vision- a vision no one can see unless you share it. The Optimum Growth Strategy is a very specific strategy based on your personal insights as a Business Builder; your knowledge of your marketplace- its risks and opportunities. It is also based on your distinctive know-how that makes your future different from anyone else’s. As a result, the Optimum Growth Strategy is the strategy that delivers the highest return for the lowest risk. That is the business definition of optimum.

I help clients discover their Optimum Growth Strategy because sharing it ensures you will attract abundant resources that will help you get where you want to go. That makes for a good marriage! One where the investor you attract wants YOU in control! The result is a synergy where you just might just exceed your own greatest corporate ambitions. Profitable growth. Faster. Safer than you ever thought possible!

Stefania Aulicino is founder president of CapitalLInkUSA. For 20 years Stefania has helped business builders uncover the right capital for their optimum growth strategy so you get cash and keep control to build the business you really want. www.CapitalLinkUSA.com

By Stefania Aulicino

Here’s a really great book – a must for any serious Business Builder:

“Blueprint to a Billion”
7 Essentials to Achieve Exponential Growth. By David G. Thomson (2006 John Wiley and Sons, Inc.).

I couldn’t put it down!

Did you know that only 5% of companies that IPO’ed since 1980 have reached $1 BILLION?

That’s an average of 31 a year (irrespective of business cycle, recession or boom).

That’s a total of 387 “Blueprint Companies”.

Why so few? What does it take to get to a billion? Should you care?

The answers are in this book. Replete with statistics to back them up.

Take a-ways include:

~Blueprint Companies think differently than slow growth companies. They are guided by a mission, a big picture motivates management, electrifies the brand and excites the customers.

~20%+ EBITDA is the norm. This level of earnings occurs as early as $25 million revenue and is consistently maintained during fast growth.

~Management: It takes a dynamic duo! A Mr/Ms Inside and a Mr/Ms Outside. Sears and Roebuck, Roy and Walt Disney, Hewlett and Packard. It’s more than myth, the statistics show Blueprint Companies do spring from such parings.

~No industry dominants the list (the same principles apply across high tech, specialty stores, financial services etc.)

~Blueprint Companies deliver more than a product or service. They deliver break-through benefits: defined as the value and meaning a customer attaches to the product or service. Capturing the mind and heart of the customer adds significant value to why they want to do business with you.

The book researched all American companies that grew to $1 billion since going public after 1980. Only 387 companies of 7,454 (5%).
But those 387 companies account for 56% of 2005 employment and 64% of market value.

The book ends with a call for more Blueprint Companies. Is that YOU??

For complete list of 387 Blueprint Companies visit

www.blueprinttoabillion.com

Stefania Aulicino is founder president of CapitalLInkUSA. For 20 years Stefania has helped business builders uncover the right capital for their optimum growth strategy so you get cash and keep control to build the business you really want. www.CapitalLinkUSA.com

By Stefania Aulicino

Everyone knows business strategy and finance strategy are interrelated. But which one should dictate?

If you are an entrepreneur, your future is your most valuable asset. Let’s face it- investors can only generate interest on their money. It takes an entrepreneur to generate profit! For an entrepreneur, business strategy must dictate finance – never the reverse.

The first place to start is to imagine the future you would want if you had unlimited resources.

When Wayne got turned down by the bank for the $1 million he needed to grow is business, he made an assumption that resources were scare and expensive. Wayne began to dwarf his vision of his company’s future. That’s what happens when you let finance strategy dictate business strategy. Wayne was not even aware of the assumption he had made or the devastating effect on his company- until I brought this to his attention. We worked with Wayne to re-vision his potential, assuming unlimited resources, built upon his deep and real passion and developed a strategy that resulted in him attracting $10mm for a minority stake of his company.

How did an entrepreneur who got turned down by the bank for $1 million get $10 million and keep control? Certainly not based on his past!! He shared his passion about the future he really wanted to build!

When you follow your passion you get the best outcomes: You easily attract customers, vendors, talent and finance. Pursuing your passion lets you capture your best opportunities- for profitable growth. Faster. Safer.

When you don’t follow your passion, you end up with a sub-optimal strategy. The result is extra risk making it much harder to attract customers, vendors, talent and especially financing.

When you follow your passion and harness it with a powerful, directed business strategy, better financing results. This is the right way to link passion and key strategic thinking and implementation to achieve your Optimum Growth Strategy™. We’ll be covering our exclusive Optimum Growth Strategy and much more in my upcoming blog entries so please re-visit our blog

Stefania Aulicino is founder president of CapitalLInkUSA. For 20 years Stefania has helped business builders uncover the right capital for their optimum growth strategy so you get cash and keep control to build the business you really want. www.CapitalLinkUSA.com