Get Cash Keep Control BLOG

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